Edison High community turns out for vigil in support of brothers killed in car crash

Hundreds gathered on the Edison High School campus in Huntington Beach Monday night for a candlelight vigil for brothers Josh and Jeremy Page.

Josh Page, 18, a senior at Edison High, was killed in a crash between the pickup truck he and his younger brother were in collided with a city of Huntington Beach vehicle Monday morning at the intersection of Newland Street and Yorktown Avenue.

Josh Page was a senior at Edison High and member of the football team.

(Courtesy of JP Westerbeck Photography)

His younger brother, Jeremy, 17, a sophomore, was in the hospital in critical condition but later died, an official confirmed Tuesday.

Although Orange County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Carrie Braun did not release the name of the deceased due to his juvenile status, she did confirm that the 17-year-old passenger of the pickup truck died late in the evening Monday.

A woman on Tuesday passes by a growing memorial of candles and flowers at Yorktown Avenue and Newland Street, the site of a two-vehicle accident that took the lives of two teenage brothers in Huntington Beach Monday morning.

(Raul Roa)

The Page brothers leave behind their parents, John and Shaya, and older brother Jovanni. A GoFundMe has been set up by Edison High wrestling club president Ed LaLonde to support the family, and nearly $80,000 had been raised as of Tuesday morning.

Josh Page’s girlfriend of more than two years, Rachael Arnold, told grievers that Josh planned on joining the U.S. Navy this summer and hoped to study underwater welding.

“He would make sure that when I would go to bed, I was asleep, and he would turn off the lights and say goodbye to my dog and cat,� Arnold said. “He was that kind of guy. He really loved everybody he met ... and he was strong, even though he was probably the most stubborn person, next to me.�

Josh and Jeremy Page both played football at Edison High. Both linemen, they wore jersey numbers 56 and 57.

A football was left at a makeshift memorial set up at the crash site. The Page brothers were well regarded by their football coach.

(Raul Roa)

“You can always tell a lot about somebody by just the way they treat people,� said Edison football coach Jeff Grady, who coached the eldest brother, Jovanni, as well as Josh and Jeremy.

“The Page brothers, all three of them ... they treat people the way they wanted to be treated, and they’re just special, special guys.�

Students gather in the Edison Bowl Monday for a candlelight vigil in honor of students Josh and Jeremy Page.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

Josh and Jeremy were described as loving the outdoors; Josh had recently earned a promotion to Eagle Scout within his Boy Scout Troop 558.

“Most of all, he would want you to go do a workout,� Arnold said, laughing through her tears. “He would want that more than anything. So sometime this week, I better see everybody at YMCA doing a bench press, because that’s the Josh workout.�

Candles stand in a row at the makeshift memorial for Josh and Jeremy Page, who died following a two-vehicle crash in Huntington Beach Monday morning.

(Raul Roa)

Irvine police are investigating the crash because a Huntington Beach city vehicle was involved in the incident, Huntington Beach public affairs manager Jennifer Carey said.

Police responded to the scene at around 8:15 a.m. Monday, Carey said. They found a white 1990 Ford F-250 that had collided with a white 2018 Chevrolet Silverado belonging to the city of Huntington Beach.

Two male teenagers were found inside the F-250 and transported to local hospitals. The driver of the other vehicle, a 38-year-old male, was uninjured, the news release indicated. Officials did not say whether the driver of the Silverado was a city employee or if he was on duty at the time of the crash.

Local resident Anthony Yturralde on Tuesday stops by the makeshift memorial on Tuesday morning. He said he passed by the intersection Monday after the crash and saw the truck the teens had been riding in bent around the post. “It was so mangled up,� he said.

(Raul Roa)

Anthony Yturralde, who lives around the corner from the accident site, said he saw the passenger side of the F-250 bent around a post when he drove by the site around 9 a.m.

“It was so mangled up,� Yturralde said. “That’s what made think that whoever was in it, it was going to be very tough on them. The other vehicle didn’t look like it was damaged that much.�

Daily Pilot photo editor Raul Roa contributed to this report.

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