Tribute being planned for accident victim, 12
Mayor's office collecting donations to help family
BY MICHAEL ACKER
Staff Writer

MICHAEL ACKER The guard rail where 12-year-old Wen J. Zheng died on Laurence Parkway by the Route 35 intersection is adorned with flowers. The Carl Sandburg Middle School student tripped and was struck by a pickup truck last week.

OLD BRIDGE - The community is coming together to pay tribute to a 12-year-old boy who died in a tragic accident last week.

Wen J. Zheng was crossing Laurence Parkway with his grandmother in front of the Krauszer's near Route 35 when he was struck by a vehicle at 7:22 p.m. June 4. The driver, a 24-year-old Perth Amboy man, was turning onto Laurence Parkway from Route 35 in his pickup truck when the boy fell over a guardrail into the path of the vehicle.

A police investigation ruled it an accident and did not charge the driver with any violations.

Wen was a sixth-grade student at Carl Sandburg Middle School, Route 516, and was a resident of Prospect Avenue in the township's Laurence Harbor section.

Wen was born in the United States but lived in China most of his life. His family moved to Old Bridge two years ago, and he attended Cheesequake Elementary School last year as a fifth-grader, according to Sandburg teacher Janice Weber.

"This was such a well-loved young man," Weber said. Weber, who taught Wen in her language arts class, said the boy was enrolled in the school's English as a Second Language program.

"He was doing beautifully with his English as a second language," Weber said. "He just made such tremendous leaps this year and he was proud of himself. He loved to read. He was always the first to raise his hand. He even read with such expression, and then he would smile because he knew he did a good job."

A funeral is being planned for next week in Spotswood, Weber said, noting that the ceremony will be in accordance with the family's Buddhist tradition.

Wen's uncle and aunt, with whom he lived for a number of years, are in the process of acquiring their visas from the American embassy in Beijing to attend the funeral, Weber said. Congressman Frank Pallone was contacted to help expedite the process.

Victoria Mikrut, who also teaches at Sandburg, said staff, parents, residents and township and school officials are coming together to help the boy's family.

"The community is taking part in the healing process," Mikrut said. "It is incredible."

The Laurence Harbor Little League, several local businesses, and friends and neighbors of the boy's family are collecting money to help the family in its time of need, Weber said.

"I mean, it is unbelievable. It is such a horrible tragedy. The community has really come together under these horrible circumstances," Weber said.

The community will pay tribute to the boy in September with a ceremony at Sandburg that will include the dedication of a plum tree in Wen's memory. The Matawan World of Gardening, Route 516, is donating the tree.

Wen's friends and fellow classmates knew him as a polite and generous boy, Weber said.

"He made such an impression on the other students," she said. "He was always smiling, he always had a positive attitude toward anyone, and he was always the first one to assist anyone. He was like a flower that was not allowed to bloom, being taken away like this.

"It's rare for somebody so young to make such an impression on so many others," Weber added.

Donations to the family are being accepted through the office of Mayor Jim Phillips. The money will help the family pay for funeral expenses. Checks can be made payable to the "Zheng family" and sent to the attention of the Office of Mayor Jim Phillips, 1 Old Bridge Plaza, Old Bridge 08857. For more information, call the mayor's assistant at (732) 721-5600, ext. 2040.