Teammates Help Put Drowned Youth to Rest

Joel Burchfield’s beloved baseball and basketball teammates helped put him to rest Monday, walking solemnly down the aisle of the Holy Cross Church in their red and white uniforms, one balancing a basketball in outstretched hands, others bearing a giant baseball formed of flowers.

Only a mile from where the 11-year-old drowned last week in a rain-swollen creek, his family and friends joined more than 900 others in an emotional ceremony to mourn his passing. Joel was buried earlier Monday at Valley Oaks Memorial Park.

Honoring the baseball team he loved passionately--the Moorpark Reds--Joel’s mother, Laura, wore a vibrant red dress to the memorial service. While mothers passed tissues to weeping children, Joel’s teammates brought single red roses to Laura Burchfield, filling her arms with the flowers.

On his way home from school in a torrential downpour Wednesday, police believe Joel slipped while trying to cross the Arroyo Simi, a flood-control channel easily forded in mild weather, which the storm had turned into a four-foot-deep, fast-moving river.

After Joel’s body was found seven miles down the river the next day, speculation arose that the boy--who was short for his age--had opted not to ride the school bus home Wednesday afternoon because he feared being taunted by older bullies. Moved by the story, neighbors familiar with the sight of children scampering across the arroyo questioned why a footbridge--long-planned for the crossing--had not yet been constructed.

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Joel’s parents chose not to speak publicly about his death, instead releasing a written statement that left no doubt that they blame no one for their son’s death.

“What happened to Joel was an accident--not the fault of a politician who didn’t vote to construct a footbridge,” the statement said. “Nor was it caused by bullies on a school bus. Joel did not take the bus for one reason: because he’d rather walk.”

That message was emphasized again during the service by Mike Hiserman, a family friend who had coached Joel’s basketball team. Hiserman told a poignant story of sending Joel out on the court during a game a few weeks ago, pairing him against a player who was eight inches taller and 60 pounds heavier.

“Joel never blinked,” Hiserman said. “He went full speed at that kid.”

After the game--which Joel’s team, the Bulls, lost badly--Hiserman approached the youth, expecting to have to deliver words of encouragement or solace. He had to do neither.

“I remember his smile,” Hiserman said. “He said three simple words. He said, ‘That was fun.’ ”

Hiserman asked friends and community members to view Joel’s death with the same resilient spirit.

“As Joel looks down on us, we don’t need any finger pointing,” he said. “We don’t need any talk of kids on the school bus. . . . Joel would want us to do whatever he did when he found himself in a bad situation: He would want us to gather together and do the best we can.”

Hiserman said Joel had been told by his parents to take the school bus home that day. But the boy liked to walk, and he was eager to get home to prepare for a basketball game later that afternoon. The shortcut down Liberty Bell and across the Arroyo Simi into Arroyo Vista Community Park would have been faster than riding the bus.

“He wanted to get home so he could get with his dad and get revved up for the game against the all-stars,” Hiserman said.

Msgr. Joseph Cosgrove, who officiated at the service, urged the hundreds of children in the church to listen to their teachers, do their homework and aspire to good grades as a way of remembering Joel, who was a bright and eager student. And he asked them to heed parental warnings.

“Listen to your parents,” Cosgrove said. “Listen to them when they tell you some things are dangerous. . . . They are not trying to control your lives. What they are really saying is, ‘I love you; I care about you.’ ”

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Both of Joel’s grandfathers spoke briefly at the service, thanking the hundreds of community members who have sent cards, flowers or contributions to the trust set up in their grandson’s name.

“Never have I experienced such an overwhelming outpouring of love and caring,” Tom Burchfield said.

One of Joel’s teammates left a note on the altar at Holy Cross suggesting that he found comfort in thinking that Joel is now playing his best baseball game ever.

It read: “I am very sad that Joel died but he is playing basball with babe ruth.”

* Contributions may be made to the Joel Burchfield Memorial Fund, c/o Roger Willis, 4498 Forestglen Court, Moorpark, Calif. 93021.