Brian Belanger, Jr., was born on Thursday March 20, 1986 at 7:39 p.m. in Leominster (MA) Hospital to our parents Brian and Donna Belanger. He weighed in at 5lbs 14oz and he was 19 inches long and was welcomed home by his two older sisters Lisa and Crystal. Growing up was a difficult task for him because he was the only boy and was often blamed for everything. He was easy to get along with and often spent his time trying to get himself out of the trouble my sister and I had blamed him for.
Brian became a wonderful man. He was very close to his family and spent a lot of time with them which was unusual for a 19 year old. Although we didn't always get along or see eye to eye on certain things, he would always go out of his way to make me laugh or smile if I was having a bad day. That's just the type of person he was
He loved music. We would often argue about the music that he listened to and I would constantly tell him to "turn that crap down". He also enjoyed working on cars, chillin' with his "boys", being an Uncle, and spending time with his family.
Brian LOVED being an Uncle to a niece, Selena, and two nephews, Kameron & Tylar. Brian got his nickname "B" from his niece Selena. She couldn't say Brian so she called him Uncle B and it just stuck! No matter how much he picked on them or how much he aggravated them they always went back for more! He would do anything for them and had no problem showing them just how much they were loved. He loved teaching them new things and getting them into trouble. They all learned at a young age to carry on the tradition of blaming him for everything, just as we had done when we were younger, "Uncle B did it". It was obvious that all three of them adored their Uncle simply by the look on their faces when he walked into the room.
Brian grew up to be everything that a man should be. He was responsible, outgoing, smart, funny, kind, understanding and just plain fun to be around. He could light up any room with his big smile and infectious laugh. He stayed close to his family and helped with anything that they needed even if he did complain while doing it.
Not only did he spend time with us at home, he also spent time with his family at work. He worked at Tire Warehouse as the head tire technician with his father, Brian Sr., "brother" Jimmy, and brother-in-law, Kory. They were the best of friends. We all lost a part of ourselves the day he was taken away from us.
The Day That Changed Our Lives Forever
In the early morning hours of Monday, October 3, 2005, our lives were changed with a simple phone call. There had been an accident, Jr was hurt and was being life flighted to UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester. We all scrambled to get there as soon as we could. We got to the hospital and just waited and waited until the doctor finally came in to see us. He told us that there had been an accident and that Jr was seriously injured. As he ran off the list of his injuries our hearts sank. After more tests and more waiting it was determined that the pulmonary artery to his heart was twisted and could not be repaired. After learning this devastating news we were allowed to see him. We were also told that there was nothing more the doctors could do for him and it was only a matter of time before he would leave this earth. NOTHING could have prepared us for what we were about to see. Those images continue to haunt me and will continue to haunt us for the rest of our lives. At 4:20 a.m., surrounded by his family, Brian passed away and became our guardian angel.
We will be participating in the Walk Like MADD event again this year. It will be held on Saturday October 4, 2008 in South Boston.
We would love some new members. Everyone is welcome to join and/or donate! We hope to beat last year's total! You can register to walk or make a donation by visiting:
13 yrold goes missing comes home drunk / Trisha (friend)
hey brian,
i need so much help.lastnight my friend ashley her little brother went missing for a couple of hours and we didnt know where he went.me and his mom went out looking for him till 1245 we were so scared we called all his friends and nobody ...
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Frustrating Times / Lisa (Sister)
So, as you are aware the walk is coming up in October. It happens to fall the day after the anniversary of your death. I've been trying to involve your "friends" in everything we have planned since the crash almost three years a...
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Spring Time! / Lisa (Sister)
I hope that you are enjoying the new flowers that we planted for you. I'm hoping that the bulbs actually bloom this time!! I put tulips and lillies in the back and a few annuals in the front. I'm counting on you to make sure they co...
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Happy 22nd Birthday! / Lisa (sister)
I hope that you enjoyed your birthday in Heaven. I wish so much that we could have been with you today, but I know you were with us. I hope you enjoyed the cake. I know that Selena, Tylar and Kameron all ate extra pieces just f...
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Constant reminders / Lisa (sister)
I know it's been a while since I've written on here. I guess I haven't had much to say. Perhaps that is why I am here today. Last night I was putting Selena's newest school picture in my wallet and I pulled out the pictures that I c...
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Woman's efforts deserve support Woman's efforts deserve support Editorial / Opinion Sentinel & Enterprise Sentinel & Enterprise Article Launched:04/04/2007 11:10:26 AM EDT
It would have been totally understandable if Lisa LaDue decided to do nothing but grieve privately after her brother, Brian "B" Belanger Jr., died at the age of 19 on Oct. 3, 2005, following a crash near the corner of Main and Day streets in Leominster.
But instead LaDue has become an outspoken advocate calling for young drivers to slow down and drive more carefully so as not make another family go through what she and her family have endured.
LaDue's comments were featured prominently in the Sentinel & Enterprise's special public-service report, "Speed Kills," which focused on the deadly consequences of teenage speeding and reckless driving.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving helped LaDue's family after her brother died in the alcohol-related car crash in 2005.
Now, LaDue wants to raise money to help MADD spread their message that young people need to buckle up, drive safely and stay sober when they're behind the wheel.
"If I can help one person, it's worth it," she said about her efforts.
LaDue's brother died when a car driven by Derek Ricker, 22, of Leominster, crashed. Police say Ricker, who was a childhood friend of Belanger, was speeding and drunk at the time of the wreck.
A judge sentenced Ricker to serve one year in the Worcester County House of Correction.
MADD contacted LaDue's family and had a representative go to all the court dates with them, LaDue said.
The support helped Belanger's loved ones deal with the tragedy, LaDue said.
So now LaDue is organizing a benefit for MADD to be held Saturday, April 21, at the Leominster Lodge of Elks from 7-11 p.m.
Tickets cost $15, and there will be food, dancing and raffles. All the proceeds will go to MADD.
People who want to attend will have to buy tickets ahead of time.
To buy tickets and find out about donating and getting involved, e-mail LaDue at benefit4b@yahoo.com.
LaDue is also organizing a team for MADD's "Strides for Change" walk in Boston on Sunday, June 3, at 10:30 a.m.
We urge people interested in making the roads safer to help LaDue in her efforts.
Sister of drunk-driving victim raising money for MADD
Lisa LaDue holds a photograph of her cousin, James Bond, and deceased brother, Brian Belanger, in Leominster, Monday. (SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE / SARAH BRITAIN )
LEOMINSTER -- Mothers Against Drunk Driving helped Lisa LaDue's family after her brother died in an alcohol-related car crash in 2005.
Now, LaDue wants to raise money to help MADD spread their message that young people need to buckle up, drive safely and stay sober when they're behind the wheel.
"It's preventable," LaDue said.
LaDue's brother, Brian "B" Belanger Jr., died at the age of 19 on Oct. 3, 2005, following a crash near the corner of Main and Day streets in Leominster.
Belanger would have turned 21 this week.
A judge sentenced the driver of the car Belanger was riding in, Derek Ricker, to serve one year in the Worcester County House of Correction.
Ricker and Belanger were friends since childhood, according to LaDue.
MADD contacted LaDue's family and had a representative go to all the court dates with them, LaDue said.
The support helped Belanger's loved ones deal with the tragedy, LaDue said.
LaDue is organizing a benefit for Saturday, April 21, at the Leominster Lodge of Elks from 7-11 p.m. Tickets cost $15, and there will be food, dancing and raffles. All the proceeds will go to MADD.
People who want to attend will have to buy tickets ahead of time.
To buy tickets and find out about donating and getting involved, e-mail LaDue at benefit4b@yahoo.com.
LaDue is also organizing a team for MADD's "Strides for Change" walk in Boston on Sunday, June 3, at 10:30 a.m.
She urges anyone who wants to join or donate to contact her.
LaDue has been outspoken about how young people need to drive responsibly.
"If I can help one person, it's worth it," she said.
Victim's sister: 'Slow down' teens
By J.J. Huggins Sentinel & Enterprise Article Launched:02/11/2007 10:44:02 AM EST
Lisa LaDue's teenage brother died more than a year ago in a car wreck, and she has advice for kids getting behind the wheel in light of the recent devastating crashes in this area.
"Slow down," said the 26-year-old, whose brother, Brian 'B' Belanger Jr., died in an accident near the corner of Main and Day streets in Leominster on Oct. 3, 2005.
The man who drove the car Belanger was riding in, Derek Ricker, survived and later pleaded guilty to motor vehicle homicide by operating under the influence and is serving a one-year jail sentence, according to court documents.
Police said Ricker drove drunk and did at least 72 mph in a 30 mph zone.
Belanger's family has been left to carry on without their son and brother.
He leaves behind LaDue, her daughter, Selena, 9; his father, Brian; his mother, Donna; another sister, Crystal, 23, and her twin three-year-old sons, Kameron and Tylar.
The children are now growing up without their adoring uncle around and LaDue said her daughter had looked forward to being taken to a dance by him.
LaDue wants people to drive carefully, so they won't kill themselves or somebody else -- and so another family won't have to go through what her family experienced.
"I just want them to think about what will happen to their families and to the people that know them," she said. "Because most teenagers are self-absorbed."
The pain of losing her brother never goes away, she said.
"You live with it every day. The constant what-ifs, the constant sadness," she said.
She even catches herself picking up the phone to call her brother occasionally, only to remember he's gone.
Belanger would be turning 21 next month if he was still alive, LaDue said.
Car accidents repeatedly in the news
Seventeen-year-old Leominster High School senior Rebecca Richard lost control of a Jeep Grand Cherokee and struck Brandon Martinez, 15, who was walking home from school last Monday, killing Martinez.
A witness told police Richard was speeding and trying to pass a car in front of her near the rear entrance to the school, according to Tim Connolly, a spokesman for Worcester County District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr.
Eighteen-year-old Jennifer Hackney of Shirley crashed on Tuesday night in Fitchburg, according to police.
Rescue crews had to airlift one of the victims in Hackney's car, Adam Richards, 19, of Fitchburg, to UMass Memorial Hospital in Worcester.
"Every time I read one of these stories, it just breaks my heart," LaDue said. "I know another family is going to go through what we went through."
Young people still drive recklessly, despite the potentially fatal consequences, LaDue said.
"They think it won't happen to them," she said. "We all think that when we're a teenager -- that nothing is going to happen to us."
LaDue said she thinks there are more teens on the road now, compared to when she was in high school.
"Parents work, they don't want to cart their kids around," she said.
The state's Junior Operator's law forbids drivers under the age of 18 from having their underage friends in the car for the first six months they have their licenses, but it doesn't seem effective, LaDue said.
"Obviously, that's not working because they're still driving with people in their cars, still speeding," she said.
Richard had a teenage girl with her in her Jeep at the time of Monday's crash, according to Connolly.
Victim's Sister Tries to Find Answers By J.J. Huggins Sentinel & Enterprise Article Launched:11/30/2006 10:57:42 AM EST
Lisa LaDue recently talks about her brother, Brian Belanger, who died in October 2005. (SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE / SARAH BRITAIN)
Lisa LaDue thinks a fitting punishment for someone who gets drunk and hurts someone in a wreck is to force them to volunteer in an emergency room.
That way they could see firsthand the pain and suffering they cause, said LaDue, 26.
LaDue and her family saw her little brother, Brian 'B' Belanger Jr.'s devastating injuries after a crash on Oct. 3, 2005.
The driver of the car, Derek Ricker, 22, of 29 Penn St., Leominster, Belanger'sfriend, was speeding and had been drinking at the time of the wreck.
"It was really hard to see him when we got there because it didn't look like him," LaDue said as she fought back tears during an interview. "And that's the last image I have of him. It's something that my family has to live with. That's sometimes what I see when I go to bed."
The wreck occurred near the corner of Main and Day streets in Leominster.
The entire passenger side of Ricker's BMW, where Belanger, 19, sat, was "completely totaled," LaDue said.
Ricker pleaded guilty in October to motor vehicle homicide by operating under the influence and is serving a one-year jail sentence, according to court documents.
He will spend two years on probation after his release from jail, according to court documents.
But he never had to survey Belanger's injuries after rescue crews whisked them away from the crash scene.
"That night at the hospital, Derek wasn't there. He couldn't see my brother," LaDue said. "He (Ricker) had a scratch on his face and his arm. That's it."
It might be easier to deal with her younger brother's death if the person who caused it was a stranger.
But LaDue knows Ricker well because he and Belanger grew up together.
"You want someone to be mad at, but you know him because you grew up with him," LaDue said. "I used to baby-sit him when I was younger. I have a lot of mixed feelings. I don't know if I'm mad. I know it was an accident, but he still made that choice to drive."
Nothing they could do
LaDue's father, Brian Belanger Sr., called her around midnight on the night of the crash to tell her what happened.
She and other family members rushed to the hospital. LaDue thought her brother would somehow make it.
"The doctors came in and told us there was nothing they could do. His pulmonary artery was twisted, so we sat with him until he passed away," LaDue said. "I kept telling myself, 'Oh no, he'll be fine.' But it didn't happen that way."
Belanger also suffered severe head injuries, broken ribs and two broken arms, his sister said.
He and Ricker were hanging out at a friend's house prior to the wreck.
They had both been drinking and got into Ricker's car to go to the store, according to LaDue.
LaDue said her parents always told her and her siblings that if they were at a party and had too much to drink, they could call and their parents would pick them up without getting angry.
LaDue is mad at her brother for getting in the car with Ricker.
"Kids, when they're young, think nothing's going to happen to them," she said.
Belanger, a Leominster resident, spent a lot of time with his family.
"I can't even put it into words. It has been awful. It doesn't get any easier," LaDue said about losing her brother. "People say it gets better with time, but it doesn't."
Man Pleads Guilty in 05 Wreck Case Sentinel & Enterprise by Jonathan Graham
October 24, 2006
LEOMINSTER -- Lisa LaDue, 26, said it is a bittersweet feeling knowing her little brother's best friend will spend the next year in jail for his role in her brother's death.
"We've known him since he was really young," LaDue said outside her parents Hamilton Street home Monday.
But, she said Derek Ricker's one-year sentence "kind of was what my parents were looking for."
Derek Ricker, 22, pleaded guilty Thursday to motor vehicle homicide by operating under the influence, as well as speeding and a marked lanes violation, according to court documents at Fitchburg District Court.
Police say Ricker was speeding and drunk when he crashed his car off Day Street on Oct. 3, 2005.
The wreck killed LaDue's brother, Brian Belanger Jr., 19, of Leominster, who was a passenger in the vehicle.
Ricker suffered only minor injuries.
District Court Judge Patrick A. Fox sentenced Ricker to two years at the Worcester County House of Correction, with one year to serve.
The balance of the sentence is suspended, and Ricker will serve two years probation after his release in October, 2007.
LaDue said she did not get a chance to speak to Ricker, who has remained close with the Belangers, after he pleaded guilty.
"I just would have given him a hug," LaDue said.
LaDue said the end of the criminal case against Ricker did not give the family as much closure as they had hoped.
"We were all hoping that it was going to ... but none of us feel any better," LaDue said.
LaDue said the family didn't want to see Ricker go to jail, but they also wanted him to accept responsibility for his actions.
LaDue said the family is just glad the case did not go to trial, where they would have been subjected to all of the accident's details.
"I think we prefer (the plea agreement) then going through a trial," LaDue said.
Police said "the minimum speed of impact" when Ricker crashed on Day Street was 72 miles an hour. The speed limit is 30 miles an hour.
Ricker told an officer he drank "at least five beers" before driving, Sgt. Michael Goldman wrote in a police report.
Ricker will also have to remain drug and alcohol free, submit himself to random testing, serve 100 hours of community service, and will lose his driving license for 10 years.
"Community service is to be done in part at high schools speaking about drinking and driving," Fox wrote in court documents. "Also, community service is to be done at a hospital or facility where patients have suffered injury from automobile accidents."
A woman who answered the door at Ricker's home address declined to comment Monday.
Tributes and Condolences
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