Hoover High community mourns 16-year-old classmate killed in motorcycle collision

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A candlelight vigil to remember schoolmate Eric Sarokhanian in the quad at Hoover High School on Wednesday, October 12, 2016. About 200 students surrounded the quad with candles with a center ring for students could talk about their memories. Sarokhanian was killed Monday night in a motorcycle collision. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Aris Sarokhanian, the father of Eric, puts his head in a hand at a candlelight vigil to remember his son Eric Sarokhanian in the quad at Hoover High School on Wednesday, October 12, 2016. About 200 students surrounded the quad with candles with a center ring for students could talk about their memories. Sarokhanian was killed Monday night in a motorcycle collision. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Sad faces glow at a candlelight vigil to remember schoolmate Eric Sarokhanian in the quad at Hoover High School on Wednesday, October 12, 2016. About 200 students surrounded the quad with candles with a center ring for students could talk about their memories. Sarokhanian was killed Monday night in a motorcycle collision. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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A group of students recall their memories at a candlelight vigil to remember schoolmate Eric Sarokhanian in the quad at Hoover High School on Wednesday, October 12, 2016. About 200 students surrounded the quad with candles with a center ring for students could talk about their memories. Sarokhanian was killed Monday night in a motorcycle collision. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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A portrait of Eric Sarokhanian in a shrine to him at a candlelight vigil in the quad at Hoover High School on Wednesday, October 12, 2016. About 200 students surrounded the quad with candles with a center ring for students could talk about their memories. Sarokhanian was killed Monday night in a motorcycle collision. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Parents Anita and Aris ask students to be safe at a candlelight vigil to remember schoolmate Eric Sarokhanian in the quad at Hoover High School on Wednesday, October 12, 2016. About 200 students surrounded the quad with candles with a center ring for students could talk about their memories. Sarokhanian was killed Monday night in a motorcycle collision. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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at a candlelight vigil to remember schoolmate Eric Sarokhanian in the quad at Hoover High School on Wednesday, October 12, 2016. About 200 students surrounded the quad with candles with a center ring for students could talk about their memories. Sarokhanian was killed Monday night in a motorcycle collision. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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A student talks at a candlelight vigil to remember schoolmate Eric Sarokhanian in the quad at Hoover High School on Wednesday, October 12, 2016. About 200 students surrounded the quad with candles with a center ring for students could talk about their memories. Sarokhanian was killed Monday night in a motorcycle collision. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Students talk at a candlelight vigil to remember schoolmate Eric Sarokhanian in the quad at Hoover High School on Wednesday, October 12, 2016. About 200 students surrounded the quad with candles with a center ring for students could talk about their memories. Sarokhanian was killed Monday night in a motorcycle collision. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Three girls listen to memories at a candlelight vigil to remember schoolmate Eric Sarokhanian in the quad at Hoover High School on Wednesday, October 12, 2016. About 200 students surrounded the quad with candles with a center ring for students could talk about their memories. Sarokhanian was killed Monday night in a motorcycle collision. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Students, parents and family members listen to Principal Jennifer Earl speak at a candlelight vigil to remember schoolmate Eric Sarokhanian in the quad at Hoover High School on Wednesday, October 12, 2016. About 200 students surrounded the quad with candles with a center ring for students could talk about their memories. Sarokhanian was killed Monday night in a motorcycle collision. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Sad students listen to fellow students recall their memories at a candlelight vigil to remember schoolmate Eric Sarokhanian in the quad at Hoover High School on Wednesday, October 12, 2016. About 200 students surrounded the quad with candles with a center ring for students could talk about their memories. Sarokhanian was killed Monday night in a motorcycle collision. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Parents Anita and Aris at a candlelight vigil to remember schoolmate Eric Sarokhanian in the quad at Hoover High School on Wednesday, October 12, 2016. About 200 students surrounded the quad with candles with a center ring for students could talk about their memories. Sarokhanian was killed Monday night in a motorcycle collision. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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A student speaks at a candlelight vigil to remember schoolmate Eric Sarokhanian in the quad at Hoover High School on Wednesday, October 12, 2016. About 200 students surrounded the quad with candles with a center ring for students could talk about their memories. Sarokhanian was killed Monday night in a motorcycle collision. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Glendale school board member Greg Krikorian address students and family at a candlelight vigil to remember schoolmate Eric Sarokhanian in the quad at Hoover High School on Wednesday, October 12, 2016. About 200 students surrounded the quad with candles with a center ring for students could talk about their memories. Sarokhanian was killed Monday night in a motorcycle collision. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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A girl’s face glows at a candlelight vigil to remember schoolmate Eric Sarokhanian in the quad at Hoover High School on Wednesday, October 12, 2016. About 200 students surrounded the quad with candles with a center ring for students could talk about their memories. Sarokhanian was killed Monday night in a motorcycle collision. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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The Sarokhanian family, sitting in front, surrounded by students and parents at a candlelight vigil to remember their son and schoolmate Eric Sarokhanian in the quad at Hoover High School on Wednesday, October 12, 2016. About 200 students surrounded the quad with candles with a center ring for students could talk about their memories. Sarokhanian was killed Monday night in a motorcycle collision. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Students stand with candles at a candlelight vigil to remember schoolmate Eric Sarokhanian in the quad at Hoover High School on Wednesday, October 12, 2016. About 200 students surrounded the quad with candles with a center ring for students could talk about their memories. Sarokhanian was killed Monday night in a motorcycle collision. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Students and family members at a candlelight vigil to remember schoolmate Eric Sarokhanian in the quad at Hoover High School on Wednesday, October 12, 2016. About 200 students surrounded the quad with candles with a center ring for students could talk about their memories. Sarokhanian was killed Monday night in a motorcycle collision. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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A student places a candle into a shrine at a candlelight vigil to remember schoolmate Eric Sarokhanian in the quad at Hoover High School on Wednesday, October 12, 2016. About 200 students surrounded the quad with candles with a center ring for students could talk about their memories. Sarokhanian was killed Monday night in a motorcycle collision. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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A girl puts a candle into a shrine at a candlelight vigil to remember schoolmate Eric Sarokhanian in the quad at Hoover High School on Wednesday, October 12, 2016. About 200 students surrounded the quad with candles with a center ring for students could talk about their memories. Sarokhanian was killed Monday night in a motorcycle collision. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Instructor Edgar Melik-Stepanyan speaks at a candlelight vigil to remember schoolmate Eric Sarokhanian in the quad at Hoover High School on Wednesday, October 12, 2016. About 200 students surrounded the quad with candles with a center ring for students could talk about their memories. Sarokhanian was killed Monday night in a motorcycle collision. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

By Kelly Corrigan

Oct. 13, 2016 4:59 PM PT

Hundreds of Hoover High students held candles and wept Wednesday evening during a vigil for their classmate Eric Sarokhanian, who died two days earlier in a motorcycle accident.

The 16-year-old Glendale resident was remembered for his contagious smile and the way he could cheer up his friends when they needed support.

Many of them recalled the fun times they shared with him recently, playing dodge ball or laser tag, watching him run barefoot in the snow, hide in the trunk of a car or amuse his friends with several of his funny accents.

One of his life’s greatest joys, they said, was his motorcycle.

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Yeraz Sarkissian, a Hoover High senior who helped organize the vigil, recalled how Eric talked about raising his grades so he could get a motorcycle, and many of his friends observed how much he enjoyed riding it.

Eric’s classmates also remembered him for the unique friend he was to many.

“Eric created such an impact on everybody here,” Yeraz said. “I love him so much.”

Teni Moradian, another senior who also helped organize the vigil, met Eric while the two were attending Toll Middle School.

If she was ever going through a rough time, Eric would bring up an old inside joke to get her to laugh.

Eric attended Hoover through the end of last school year, where he was regarded as a bright and respectful student, but academics couldn’t hold his attention.

The daily school routine at Hoover suffocated him, he told his mother, and as much as Hoover’s administrators and educators tried to rein him in, principal Jennifer Earl said Eric was “a free spirit that couldn’t be contained.”

During the last school year, when Eric was in Javier Luna’s introductory auto-shop course, Luna recalled how Eric would greet his classmates at the start of the second-period class.

“Every day, he made my day by opening the door for everyone and saying, ‘Welcome to the shop.’” Luna said. “He was a great kid.”

Eric’s younger sister, 12-year old Elin Sarokhanian, said she was proud of her older brother, who “brought joy and happiness to our family,” she said.

She told the hundreds of students at the vigil that her brother had decided to donate his organs to others.

“You made me proud,” she said of her brother. “And now it’s my turn.”

Kelly Corrigan, kelly.corrigan@latimes.com

Twitter: @kellymcorrigan