Max Close And Alejandro Mercado Memorial - Stories And Photos
Max’s and Alejandro's Parents Thank The Lakewood Community
by Johany Mercado and Brock Close
At this time the Mercado family would like to join with the Close family to thank the Lakewood community, schools, teachers, friends, family and strangers for your support, prayers and donations. Words are not enough to describe how thankful and proud we are to be residents of this awesome community.
Lakewood Mourns The Loss Of Two Of Our Children
by Betsy Voinovich
On Sunday, February 21 2021, Lakewood lost two of its children in a car accident. Max Close and Alejandro Mercado were both 19 years old, and Lakewood High School graduates from the class of 2020. A joint funeral was held Monday March 1st with both families, including a public webcast of the service to accommodate the many famiies who wanted to honor the memory of the boys and pay their respects to the families. GoFundMe pages can be found here for Alejandro: https://www.gofundme.com/f/alejandro-mercado-funeral-fund?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unknown&utm_campaign=comms_yb6g+alejandro-mercado-funeral-fund
and here for Max: https://www.gofundme.com/f/2ae40ki05c?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unknown&utm_campaign=comms_yb6g+2ae40ki05c
Memorial contributions may be forwarded to the Cuyahoga County Animal Shelter, 9500 Sweet Valley Drive, Valley View OH 44125.
Godspeed.
Close And Mercado Memorial And Scholarship
by Brian Siftar, Lakewood Schools
In the early morning of February 22, Lakewood High School tragically lost two of our Class of 2020 graduates. As the parents, families and community continue to grieve the loss of Max Close and Alejandro Mercado, Lakewood High School and the West Shore Career-Technical District have been planning a tribute to our former students whose lives tragically were cut too short.
With the support of many, we plan to create a living memorial at LHS with benches and trees in remembrance of Max and Alejandro. Additionally, a scholarship in their names will be awarded in conjunction with the Lakewood Council of PTAs and the Project Lead the Way Engineering Program.
For those wishing to make a donation to the scholarship fund, please make your check out to Lakewood High School and send to 14100 Franklin Blvd. Lakewood, OH 44107. You can also donate by credit card by calling 216-529-4047.
Our thoughts continue to be with the families and friends of Max and Alejandro.
Alejandro, Our Shining Star
by Johnny Mercado
On February 8th, 2002 we welcomed our firstborn son Alejandro Ramon Mercado. He is and will always be our shining star. He is the oldest brother to Antonio and Alfonso. Alejandro enjoyed and loved to spend time with friends and family. He enjoyed trying all kinds of new foods especially if it was spicy. He enjoyed his grandmother and mom’s cooking. He was willing to try anything and appreciated everything. Gratitude is his legacy. Building others up is how he expressed that gratitude. He was proud of his family and friends. He never held grudges and friends describe him as the mediator, the rock, setting a example of forgiveness as he would point out the good in people. This was the kind of engineer he hoped to be, someone who sees a challenging situation and has an idea for a solution. Alejandro wanted to help and focused on ways to develop resources and assistance to underserved populations. He had a vision of improvements to basic infrastructure that would upgrade living conditions as well as the quality of life for folks globally. We will continue to carry his dreams and goals.
Max, The Kindest Silliest Guy
by Brock Close
Max was the kindest silliest guy I knew. I loved hanging out with him, he was an amazing son and one of my best friends. I am so proud of him. I will miss our projects, games, road trips, and most of all his happy go lucky way of approaching life. He brought so much happiness and joy to the world. His legacy of kindness will live on in us forever.
Max, I love you buddy. I know you and Hondro are out there having a blast in the great beyond. Take care of each other and know that I love you so much.
Memories Of Max And Alejandro
By Joseph Kelly
Alejandro was a close friend of mine. He was a quick witted and intelligent guy with a good heart. He was also kind of a pistol too. I would always laugh and laugh after he tore into someone in an online game and then proceed to politely ask how I was doing. He was always up to being with me and other people. We would always play games or watch tv as one big group. He had always had something clever to say whatever the situation. If it were in person or over the internet, I could always expect a good time to be had if he were around.
Max was a man with a great sense of humor. If I could pick a word to describe him it would be “class clown”. He would always wear these silly matching sweatshirts and pants every Friday. I know he took pleasure in making us laugh. He also had this little voice he would do sometimes that always cracked me up. His voice would get low, and he would say something like “oooooooOOOOOOOOoooh”, or “mmmmmmhhh yeah”. I know that sounds a bit silly but if you knew him personally, you would know exactly what I am talking about.
They were two of the best guys I ever knew. They never did anything wrong to me and they always treated me with respect from the beginning. I keep telling myself that I have gotten over it and moved on. However, whenever I stop and realize that they are never going to talk to me again a little part of me dies inside. I hope that all the people who read this treasure life. It is not worth losing loved ones over something like an argument because they can be taken away from you so easily. It is important to always be nice to others, it’s even more important to respect life. Never assume it is okay to do something you know is dangerous to others or yourself. Thank you for reading, have a nice day.