‘Zane’s Day’ celebration remembers 12-year-old, grandfather
SAXONBURG — While residents gathered Saturday, Oct. 28, to celebrate the lives of Zane Rupert and his grandfather David A. Faulx, who died earlier this month in a vehicle accident, family and friends reminisced.
“We were his biggest fans,” said Cheryl Faulx, David’s wife and Zane’s grandmother.
Zane, 12, and David, 65, died Oct. 13 in a collision with a tractor-trailer in Winfield Township.
Watching the crowd grow for “Zane’s Day” — a memorial celebration in the borough — Cheryl recalled ringing a cowbell at Zane’s Saxonburg Spartans youth football league games.
“Zane would shake his head like, ‘Gaga!’ But I knew he loved it,” she said with a chuckle. “He called me ‘gaga.’”
Cheryl said Zane and his grandfather — “pappy” — were close, and that David “did a lot for him.”
“He had his own bedroom in our house, he rode the quad, and my husband bought him a dirt bike” she said. “His Xbox and everything was in his room. He had anything he wanted.”
On the night of the accident, Cheryl said her husband had taken Zane to a football game at Knoch School District.
“They were on the way home when the accident happened,” she said.
Kristin Faulx, Zane’s aunt, remembered him as a kind, “sweet” boy.
“The last time I saw him, he came over — he lives across the street from me — he came over in white socks just to give me a hug while I was taking my dog out,” she said. “Just to give me a hug.”
Kristin said she had teased Zane about getting his socks dirty.
“I said, ‘Your mom’s going to be so mad — you’re wearing white socks,’” she said, laughing.
And according to Kristin, her father David was a genuine family man.
“My dad just literally lived for our family,” she said. “My dad would do anything for us — everything for us.”
Cheryl agreed, saying her husband was devoted to Kristin and Zane’s mother, Lindsay Bandi.
“He loved his girls,” she said. “Anytime they called, he was there.”
“He really was,” Kristin said.
Knoch Middle School seventh-grader Kixton Sherman said he came to Saturday’s event because he was close with Zane. They walked home together from school every day.
“If he was alive, I would tell him that I would try and spend every moment with him,” Kixton said.
The Saxonburg Volunteer Fire Company opened its carnival grounds Saturday afternoon for “Zane’s Day,” inviting the community together in the wake of the tragedy.
One of the local organizers, who asked to only be identified as “Dave,” said the event was a reminder to be grateful for friends and family.
“There’s no promise for tomorrow,” Dave said. “If the person standing beside you has done anything kind to you and you appreciate them in anyway in your life, tell them now.”
Fire Chief Christopher Dean provided the carnival grounds free of charge, according to Dave, with the celebration including live music by local musicians, an open stage for karaoke and a reflective “silent walk” lead by Zane’s youth football league.
Jay Haefner, Zane’s head coach, said the celebration was “a great representation” of a community rising above tragedy.
“This is just a day to bring anybody and everybody together to celebrate. Period,” he said. “It’s not necessarily, ‘in memory.’ It’s just to bring people together and have a good time.”
While the event’s main organizers have asked not to be identified, according to Haefner, he said they “started the ball rolling” on what became a massive community effort.
“The Pittsburgh Steelers got involved, the Saxonburg Rotary Club has some food and drinks, the volunteer fire company has a concession stand set up and there’s the live band and music,” he said. “It’s basically just an opportunity to get the community together and continue our support.”
The event included a 50/50 raffle and a basket raffle — featuring Steelers tickets — with proceeds benefiting Zane and David’s family.
“You know, we honor the family and the player we lost and the grandfather we lost,” Haefner said, “but at the same time we just try to get everybody together and enjoy each other.”
Haefner said he enjoyed coaching Zane, who had a “spark” that he did not often see in players.
“Zane was very talented,” he said. “He had a spark that, as far as football goes, who knows where he could have went.”
Zane’s gifts both on and off the field earned him the nickname “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” according to Haefner.
“There was the Dr. Jekyll: He’s the funny, sarcastic, goofy kid,” he said. “And then there’s the Mr. Hyde when he went out on the field: he could hit, he could take over a game and he was just a big force on the football field.”
Haefner called Zane’s passion “incredible.”
“To obviously lose him at such a young age, we’ll never know his potential,” he said.
