The Monday evening air was filled with the roars of revving engines making their way down Bear Creek Pike, each roaring out in tribute to a Culleoka Unit School sophomore’s greatest passion.
Kayden Patterson, 16, died Saturday due to injuries sustained from a car accident while traveling down Mooresville Pike in Columbia. Officers and firefighters were dispatched at approximately 3 p.m., where they discovered the car had rolled over at the scene. Patterson was the vehicle’s sole occupant.
As news of Patterson’s death soon spread across social media, his friends, fellow students and community members banded together to honor the known car enthusiast.
Patterson’s friends and family said he was a person who had many passions, from dirt biking to board games, anime and being outdoors. He also took pride in his job at Chick-fil-A, but it was working on cars where Patterson found his greatest happiness.
As a budding car enthusiast, the family issued a request Sunday, literally “calling all cars” to line up outside Heritage Funeral Home for one last Cruise for Kayden, taking vehicles down Bear Creek Pike toward Culleoka, before rolling through the heart of the town Patterson called home.
“This is just so beautiful to see, just to see all these people coming out here for Kayden makes me happy,” Zachary St. Clair, a close friend of Patterson’s, said. “He was a good kid, and this might be the biggest car show he ever went to.”
Wes Dugger, who grew up with Patterson’s stepfather, Alex Franks and is a mechanic by trade, said he often let the young 16-year-old work alongside him, learning things like how to change oil and make custom mods.
When word got out that the community’s car lovers were getting together in tribute, Dugger said he knew he had to be there, bringing his 2005 Acura TL to join the lineup.
“When I heard they were doing this for Kayden, I thought this would be something I’d want if I had a kid who was a car enthusiast,” Dugger said.
Others, like Ron Conn of Columbia, who brought his beloved 1957 Ford Fairlane, did not know Patterson personally, but showed up because “it was the right thing to do, and so sad this had to happen to someone so young.”
“My son is 15, and when I saw this young man’s picture, he reminded me a lot of my son,” Conn said. “It broke my heart, and so I wanted to come out and show support for his family, and for these young kids to know they are not alone in this. It also reminds you just how fragile life is.”
Gary Patterson, Kayden’s grandfather, said the students and community’s support has soothed the grieving process for the family, because it shows how much “his buddy” was loved, and how much he will be missed by everyone who knew him.
“It really hurt us, shocked us really bad to get the phone call that he was in a car wreck and dead, and it’s going to be hard to get over,” Patterson said.
“He was a good kid, very loved, and he was very loving. He was my buddy, and while he won’t be in [the cruise], he’s sure going to see it.”
Jay Powell is a general reporter for The Daily Herald. Get up-to-date news in your inbox by subscribing to The Daily Herald newsletter at www.ColumbiaDailyHerald.com.
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