Notes for: Leland Foster ("Bear") Bodine, Jr.
I did have his name as "Leland Foster, Jr." However, his sister wrote me in February of 2001 and called him "Leland Foster Bodine, Jr." She also said that he had recently passed away.
From Ronny Bodine:
From: Corpus Christi Caller-Times of 18 March 2000.
Leland Bodine, 14, and Ryan Thurman, 16, were inseparable, Leland's grieving mother said. The two fished together off the dock they built themselves, played paintball together and were together on a motorbike that Ryan was driving when they were struck from the rear on Farm-to-Market Road 2444 on Thursday. Neither teen was wearing a helmet. The accident killed Leland and broke Ryan's arm. The boys were thrown about 200 feet into a water filled ditch when a southbound truck rear-ended them as they slowed to turn onto South Oso from the two-lane, shoulderless road, Channel 6 News reported. The driver of the truck, a 48-year-old woman, told police she was blinded by the setting sun and she didn't see the two teens, said Corpus Christi Police Capt. Wayne Tisdale. Leland died at about 11:13 p.m. that night. "This is such a tragic thing," said his father, Leland Bodine . "He was just the kindest, most considerate boy. He never wanted to cause any trouble. He's too young for this. There's too much in life that was left for him to do." Bodine wishes something would be done about the FM 2444. This is the second death of a Corpus Christi youth in recent months on the road. The first was of 10-year-old Rachel Thurman, Ryan's little sister, last September. She was killed when another vehicle struck the one in which she was riding. Her accident was about a half-mile away from where Leland was killed, Bodine said. "Farm-to-Market roads aren't the kinds that are created for a lot of traffic," Bodine said. "But there's so many houses being built out here that they need to do something with the road. I don't know exactly what the solution is. It's not safe and it's traveled very heavily." Since Rachel's death, nearby residents have requested that state and city officials to lower the speed limit and add shoulders to the road so people can turn off safely, Channel 6 News reported. They even have petitioned state Rep. Jaime Capelo, D-Corpus Christi. Texas Department of Transportation officials say there are plans to widen the road, but not for at least six months, Channel 6 News reported. Since Rachel's death, the speed limit on FM 2444 has been lowered from 70 mph to 65 mph. Other projects, including the resurfacing of the Crosstown Expressway and the widening of Holly Road, have taken precedence over widening FM 2444, state highway officials told Channel 6 News. But for Leland's mother, Virginia Boland, the price of losing the child she calls Bear is a high one. Leland smiled a lot and delighted in making everyone laugh at and with him. And he imitated his father by flopping his feet loudly on the floor or gnawing on a toothpick. "And he loves his basset hound, Jenco," Boland said. "When he had a headache he would sneak Jenco in the house, even though his father didn't want the dog in, and they would lay together and Bear would feel better. Jenco misses him. I just keep thinking that I want him to come home." Leland Bodine 's biggest regret is that he still had a lot of adventures he wanted to share with his son. "There were so many things I wanted to do with him and now can't," Bodine said. "I have three daughters and one son - it happens in a split second, when you turn your back - and now I have no son."