A CLOSER LOOK

An athletic scholarship has been started in Joshua Libby’s name. Proceeds will be used to help support athletic activities in the Gray-New Gloucester area. Donations can be sent to: Joshua Libby Memorial Fund, Androscoggin Bank, P.O. Box 1269, Gray, ME 04039

The photographs making up a memorial to Joshua Libby seemed to document every moment of his young life, most of it spent in a sports uniform and on the playing field, all of it spent making friends and dazzling those around him with his smile, quick wit and endless energy.

It is the smile that jumps out in every photo, whether it shows him as a baby or last year as a member of the basketball team at Gray-New Gloucester High School, where Libby, 16, was finishing his sophomore year when he died last week in an auto accident. Low and flat with a hint of mischief, it was the smile that was mentioned most often at Libby’s funeral, held Tuesday in front of more than 1,000 people in the high school gym.

“Same smile, just different hair,” his father, Kendell Libby of Gray, said of the photos on display on tables inside the town’s American Legion Hall, where Joshua Libby was a member of the Sons of the American Legion, where the vivacious teen was remembered at a gathering following the funeral.

Joshua Libby was killed June 9 when the Ford Explorer SUV he was riding in collided with a van at the intersection of Route 100 and the Long Bennett Road in New Gloucester. The driver of the SUV, Benjamin Farynaz, 18, of Gray, a senior classmate of Libby’s, was seriously injured in the accident. He had emergency surgery at Central Maine Medical Center and is expected to survive. Travis Dunn, 20, of Gray, a passenger in the SUV, was also injured, as was the driver of the van, Melvin Durland of New Portland.

The crash occurred shortly before 3 p.m., when the SUV ran through a stop sign at the intersection while turning from the Long Bennett Road onto Route 100. Durland was heading north on Route 100, and the van hit the passenger side of the SUV, knocking it on its side.

Kendell Libby will always remember the day of the accident, and the day he said goodbye to his son.

But he will also remember all the people, young and old, who came Tuesday to pay their respects and say how much they will miss his son. He’ll remember Josh’s young friends, wearing t-shirts and hats reading “R.I.P. J-LIB.” And he’ll remember the adults, the ones who knew Josh from school and from sports and from his job at Gray Recreation.

“This right here, this is what I’ll remember, how he has touched so many lives,” said Kendell Libby. “It’s what happened today that is going to make me happy.”

One of the lives Libby touched was that of Bruce Macomber Jr. of the Gray and New Gloucester Recreation Department. Macomber spoke at the funeral Tuesday, remembering how, just days before the accident, Libby had told him he was looking forward to being a role model for his teammates now that he would be a junior and one of the top players.

His coach, Scott Flagg, also recalled Libby’s devotion to the team, how he came to each game with the same enthusiasm, even after an injury put him on the bench during its playoff run.

“It was important for him to be there for his teammates,” Flagg said.

Libby was aggressive and quick on the court, a defensive wizard. Off it, he was everybody’s friend. When Flagg first met him, he was “a little boy with a big smile who would strike up a conversation with anyone.”

Flagg also read a letter from three of Libby’s friends: Bobby Anania, Adam Jensen and Josh Farynaz, the younger brother of the driver in the accident. To Libby, who was always giving nicknames, the three were better known as “Bobcat,” “Rico,” and “King.”

“There are so many things about you that we will miss,” they wrote. “Most of all, we will miss just hanging out with you. Remember just last Sunday the four of us playing basketball over at Newbegin? We never dreamed it would be our last time.”

After the funeral, outside of the American Legion Hall, which was packed with Libby’s friends, his father, his eyes red, managed to crack a smile. He talked about how he and Josh lived alone once in a small apartment, how it made their relationship closer than ever. He talked about how well Josh had melded with the family of Kendall’s girlfriend, Lynelle Anania, when they all moved in with each other last year.

And he talked about all the people who had made a point in the last week to seek him out and tell him what they thought of Josh.

“I knew that a lot of people loved him. I just didn’t know how many,” said Kendell. “I didn’t want to find out like this.”

Joshua Libby of Gray, who died June 9 in an auto accident in New Gloucester, was remembered this week for his vivacious spirit and wide smile, as well as his love of the outdoors. “I hope there are fish in heaven,” said Bruce Macomber Jr., who worked with Libby at the Gray Recreation Department. Josh Libby, 16, was a rising star on the Gray-New Gloucester High School basketball team before his death June 9 in a car accident.