7/27/09
SANTA MARIA - "He could have been whatever he wanted to be, he had such potential, it was amazing."
Jeremiah Palmerston reflects on the life of his high school buddy Eric Okerblom.
"He never had anything bad to say about people", Palmerston says, "and so I think for that reason no one had anything bad to say about him."
The CHP says 19 year old Eric Okerblom was struck and killed by a pickup truck while riding his bicycle on Telephone Road, east of Santa Maria, just before 7:00 pm Saturday night.
19 year old Katelin Edwards was driving the Chevy Silverado truck and was not seriously hurt.
Both Edwards and Okerblom graduated together from St. Joseph High School last year.
"People have been out here in the last two days and hugging each other and crying", says Kevin Will who lives near the accident scene, "it's sad, it breaks our heart."
Will knows both of the families involved in the tragic accident.
He says ever since a packing cooler opened on the narrow and rural Telephone Road, traffic has increased ten-fold including 18-wheel big rig trucks.
"I'm all for agriculture and everything but it's a dangerous road", Will says.
The CHP says drugs, or alcohol, were not involved nor does it appear that a cell phone was in use at the time of the accident.
The agency says Katelin Edwards, who was not arrested, was traveling about 60 mph at the time of the collision in a 55 mph zone.
"It's not a place that anybody and their bikes should be out riding on," adds Kevin Will.
The electronic billboard at St. Joseph High School reads a message of support to the Okerblom family, sentiment shared by many in the tight-knit Catholic high school community.
Jeremiah Palmerston says Eric Okerblom was an outstanding and exceedingly bright student who'd just completed first year classes at U.C. Berkeley.
"He really enjoyed learning", Palmerston says, "whether it was in school or out of school, it didn't matter to him."
Palmerston says the last time he was with his good friend was when the two went surfing at Pismo Beach and they sat in the water because there were no waves.
"We talked about the bacteria in the water and then went and had Old West cinnamon rolls", Palmerston recalls, "that was something he really liked to do was go to the beach and we'd always hit Old West after the beach."
Palmerston says he was exchanging text messages with Okerblom on Saturday just before he was killed.
"I'm still definitely in shock", Palmerston says, "like Eric is going to call me and ask me if I want to go play golf this afternoon."
Funeral services for Eric Okerblom are pending.
Eric Okerblom
