J.P. Taravella
Graduate
Remembered
For ‘Huge Heart’
Published May 26th, 2008
By Nicol Jenkins
Editor
Friends say they will remember
a J.P. Taravella
High School graduate
for having a huge heart.
Eric Brown, 19, passed
away May 17 around 5:12
a.m. after he was struck by
a vehicle on the Sawgrass
Expressway.
Brown was
traveling in a 1997 Acura
southbound on the Sawgrass
Expressway when he hit the
outside guardrail, which sent
his vehicle into the center
lane facing east, according
to Florida Highway Patrol
reports. Brown then got out
of his car and was standing
next to the driver’s side
when he was hit by a 2008
Toyota Highlander drove
by Stanley abinowitz, reports
show. Brown was pronounced dead on the scene. Rabinowitz,
67, was transported to North Broward
Medical Center for injuries. No charges
have been filed.
Brown’s close friends say they will
honor his memory.
Family friend Lauri Oliver described
Brown as a “special kid who always had
a smile on his face and a huge heart.”
“He was very family oriented and had
an unbelievable relationship with his
mother and younger sister, and he had a
million friends. When a handicapped girl
in his neighborhood heard what happened,
she went to his mother’s house
and said that Eric never made fun of her
and saw her for who she was,” she said.
“He will be missed.”
Brown just finished his first year at
Florida Gulf Coast University majoring
in sports medicine. He returned home
for the summer just three weeks prior
and was working at a deli in Boca Raton
and planning to take summer classes at
Broward Community College before the
tragic accident.
J.P. Taravella former classmates and
staff will also honor Brown by setting
up a foundation in his name which will
provide students with scholarships.
“He was a very outgoing and charismatic
young man who loved wrestling,”
said principal Shawn Cerra.
Eric’s family requests any donations
be made to the Broward Education
Foundation at 600 SE 3 Ave, Fort
Lauderdale, 33301, and put Eric Brown
in the memo section on the check.
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