![[Anczarski picture]](Anczarski_J.JPG)
John Anczarski (1991 - 2010)
Accident victim
John Anczarski, Ringtown, passed away last week due to injuries sustained after he was hit by a vehicle during a cross-country bike ride for breast cancer awareness.
Support continues for fallen cyclist's family
By Amanda Leigh Brozana (Copy Editor)
Nick Meyer (Staff Photographer)
RINGTOWN -- The continued outpouring of support for the family of a young man struck and killed while biking cross-country to raise funds and awareness for breast cancer, is a perfect example of small-town America, according to Mayor Albert Bresnik.
Bresnik, who is also the owner and director of the borough's funeral home where the funeral for John Anczarski, 19, of Ringtown, will be held Wednesday, said, "This is small-town America at its finest in its darkest hour. It goes to show you the character of the people here. The people of this area are just genuinely good people.
"With everything that's going on in the area, this shows true small-town life."
Anczarski was riding as a part of a team of four young men, all North
Schuylkill Jr./Sr. High School graduates, called "The Pink Pedal," when he was
hit by a vehicle in New Laguna, N.M., part of the Laguna Indian reservation,
about 1 p.m. Mountain time June 21.
Anczarski suffered serious head trauma as a result of the crash, which fellow bicyclist Ty Bereskie, 20, of Ashland, said involved an older man driving a sport utility vehicle.
Anczarski was pronounced dead by University of New Mexico hospital personnel about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday according to the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator, and his organs were donated as per his wishes as a registered organ donor.
While an offer was made by the Sysan G. Komen For the Cure foundation to have the body and possibly the family aid the rest of The Pink Pedal ‹ Travis Brown, 20, and Nicholas Gober, 21, both of Ashland‹flown home free of charge, that arrangement never materialized. The four cyclists were riding to raise money for the Komen foundation.
The foundation's partner, American Airlines, could not accommodate the offer until after July 4 because many flights were full due to the upcoming holiday Bresnik said.
"When (American Airlines and the Komen foundation) were not able to do so, I took it upon myself to tell them that I would personally see to it that I would get him home in a timely manner at my expense," Bresnik said.
Bresnik said the admirable mission Anczarski was on makes stepping in to assist the family in any way "a no-brainer."
"This man unselfishly got on a bicycle and was doing something for a foundation, for breast cancer awareness," he said; "If this kid was going to do something unselfishly, it's a no-brainer. We have to do what we have to do to help the family."
Since news of Anczarski's death became public, community members adopted the color of the cause The Pink Pedal team was riding for and have been hanging pink ribbons throughout northern Schuylkill County Pink pew bows are also on sale to raise funds for the family and the cause.
Bresnik said seeing the pink ribbons and light is inspiring.
"The community as a whole ‹ the support that the family has ‹ it is phenomenal," Bresnik said. "As the mayor of Ringtown, I am just so proud of my community and the support that my community is giving the family "
The three-day total of donations from bow sales ‹ from Thursday through the end of Saturday ‹ is more than $4,300, said Natalie Cicioni, 20, of Frackville, who was a classmate of Anczarski's at North Schuylkill for six years and one of about 10 classmates and teachers coordinating just one of the many fundraising efforts in Anczarski's memory.
The family has also set up a memorial fund in Anczarski's name, from which funds raised will be disbursed to charities that were dear to him, many of which will be local organizations and efforts.
From: Hazleton Standard-Speaker, June 28, 2010.
John Anczarski (1991 - 2010)
Pink Pedal bicyclist mourned
By Amanda Leigh Brozana (Staff Writer)
RINGTOWN -- More than 1,000 people on Wednesday mourned the loss and celebrated the life of a Ringtown bicyclist who died after he was struck by a car last week in New Mexico.
The eight-hour viewing for John Anczarski, 19, at St. John's Lutheran Church, Ringtown, was a chance for the steady stream of visitors to begin a road to closure.
"It's so hard," said Karen Sanchez, 21, of Ringtown. The loss of Anczarski, she said, "has had such a huge impact on everyone, and through the loss it has brought a lot of people together."
Anczarski's parents, John Sr. and Joyce, as well as his two younger brothers, Jamie and Jayden, stood to receive the visitors while Anczarski's "Pink Pedal" teammates ‹ Ty Bereskie, 20, Travis Brown, 20, and Nicholas Gober, 21, all of Ashland ‹ spoke with friends and community members at the back of the church, where a video montage played featuring photos and songs special to Anczarski.
Anczarski, Bereskie, Brown and Gober departed from Schuylkill County bound for San Diego on May 23, hoping to raise money and awareness for breast cancer. They had about 10 days left on their more than 3,000-mile journey when Anczarski was struck by a vehicle June 21 in New Laguna, N.M. He died the next day.
On Wednesday about 50 people were already in line before the church opened for the public viewing at 1 p.m.
Many of the mourners wore pink or had pink ribbons to symbolize the cause for which Anczarski's team was riding. Ringtown and the surrounding area also donned the color of pink, with pink light bulbs illuminating front porches as ribbons hung from utility poles and street signs.
"I can't drive through Ringtown without smiling and crying when seeing those bulbs and ribbons," Sanchez said.
While the community came together Wednesday to grieve, the
family is still left with few answers about the investigation into the crash.
On Tuesday Darrin E. Jones, a press liaison with the FBI, Albuquerque office, confirmed the investigation into the crash that led to Anczarski's death is in the hands of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, a federal law enforcement division.
Jones said the thoughts of his agency were with the family writing in an e mail Tuesday "I cannot imagine the grief and frustration the boy's family must be experiencing. Please extend the condolences of the FBI for their tragic loss."
Repeated calls and messages by The Republican-Herald to the Bureau of Indian Affairs Division IV criminal investigation office in Albuquerque, which has jurisdiction over the case, have gone unanswered.
Bereskie provided the name and contact information for the agent who interviewed The Pink Pedal riders after the crash. Messages to his office were also not returned by press time Wednesday evening.
From: Hazleton Standard-Speaker, July 1, 2010.