`We all walked away crying'

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Friday, December 18, 1998 3:00 AM CST

Friends, families plan early morning prayer vigil for victime at Horlick High

BY MARCI LAEHR TENUTA Journal Times

photos by Jim Slosiarek

RACINE Little is left at the intersection of LaSalle and Hagerer Streets that would distinguish it from any other residential corner in the city. But the memory of the two teens who died in a horrific car accident there Tuesday will forever mark the site.

A memorial of evergreen wreaths and flowers rested next to a home on the west side of LaSalle Street Thursday, in the spot where Shane Klema, 18, of the town of Caledonia, and Anthony Miller, 17, of Racine, lost their lives.

David Scholzen, 18, of Racine, was critically injured. Scholzen remained in critical condition Thursday at Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital in Wauwatosa.

The group of three friends were in a car that struck a city bus Tuesday night. The collision caused their car, driven by Klema, to veer off to the west, hit the side of a home at 1000 Hagerer St., and rest on the sidewalk next to it.

The impact caused the bus to strike a parked car, a utility pole and a car parked in a driveway with two occupants.

The bus rolled the car over onto its roof and landed on top of it.

The boys in the car, 16-year-old Parvez Awan and 8-year-old Romero Ramirez were both treated for their injuries and released.

Klema's grandmother, Beryl Klema, said she, Klema's father and stepmother, Gordon and Paula Klema, and Klema's girlfriend, Ruth Arent brought roses to the accident site Thursday.

``We went over to where the accident happened this morning," she said. ``There were flowers and a can of Mountain Dew which was Shane's favorite. We all walked away crying."

Beryl also said the family, as her grandson requested, has donated all of Klema's organs.

``It can't bring him back to life, but it can help someone else," she said. ``That was Shane."

Beryl continued: ``It's a shame that it went the way it did. We feel although Shane is gone, someone else will live. That's the way Shane wanted it. He told his girlfriend Ruth that he wanted his organs donated. She was such an influence in his life."

Obituaries for both Klema and Miller can be found on page 2C.

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