ALPINE, Calif. (KGTV) - A celebration of life ceremony was held Thursday to remember an Alpine teenager killed in a head-on collision this month.
William Burton, 17, was killed in a car crash last week.
He was remembered by speakers including his parents, cousins, friends, and coaches. They spoke of Burton's contagious sense of fun, and fierce loyalty to his many friends.
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"William was my brother when I didn't have my brothers with me," said one of his oldest friends, Jackie Welch. "He would protect me through thick and thin. He would have beaten up any boy for me."
Burton was a passenger riding home with friends Monday, December 11 from a Granite Hills High School football banquet in Alpine. The driver lost control and hit another car head on. Burton was not wearing a seat belt, and was thrown from the vehicle.
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"I'm going to miss wrapping my arms around him every single day and giving him a great big kiss on the cheek," said Burton's mother, Donna.
Burton was a star athlete in football and baseball at Granite Hills, and was weighing options for continuing his career in college at the time of his death.
