Sometimes it’s anticipated, and sometimes it’s sudden. But no matter when you lose a loved one, it’s never easy.

Friends and family of Cameron Malozzi gathered outside Saturday morning at Pleasant Valley High School for an outdoor celebration of his life. The 2020 graduate died in a car crash on Dec, 1, 2020, at 122 Interchange Road, Route 209 in Lehighton. He was 18 years old.

His parents, Nancy and Troy Malozzi, said they have been so touched by the outpouring of love and support since Cameron’s passing. Nancy Malozzi said they have many people to thank.

“We are so appreciative of the entire community,” she said. “We are very humbled by the love shown to us and truly grateful to God for letting us have the time we had with Cameron.”

Cameron was also a graduate of the Monroe Career and Technical Institute in diesel mechanics and was employed by E.F. Possinger and Sons in Stroudsburg. His favorite pastime was hanging out with his friends and working on their diesel trucks.

“He loved getting dirty,” Troy Malozzi said.

Cameron was also very active in his church, St. Peter’s United Methodist Church in Saylorsburg, where he was known to always be available to lend a hand.

“He was very compassionate, caring and loving,” Nancy Malozzi said. “He would do anything to help anyone.”

This was evident as one person after another spoke about their friendship with Cameron. Young and old, pastors, classmates and a woman with a walker stepped forward to tell everyone what he meant to them.

With some help from the pastor at St. Peter’s, Mary Sharer of Saylorsburg made her way to the microphone and read a poem she wrote.

“He was always there to lend a hand, to light the church candles on their stand. To do a kind gesture at church for me, by pouring and carrying my cup of coffee. His gentle being could be felt by all, our Cameron quiet, handsome, tall,” she read from her poem.

Another woman from his church read a letter from his Sunday school teacher, Sally Seip, who could not be there in person. Seip wrote about how he attended Sunday school long after most teenagers stop. She said she told him he was an angel because of all the good things he did for people.

“He knew the power of love. … ‘Love one another as I have loved you,’ ” she quoted from the Bible. “He lifted our spirits.”

Cameron was active in marching band. At PVHS, he started off as a bass drummer his freshman year and rose to snare drummer and section leader by his senior year. Newcomers to band and school talked about how he befriended them when they were lonely and didn’t know anyone.

“I’m going to miss him. We’re all going to miss him,” said Curtis, a classmate from the band.

To honor him, PVHS Marching Band Director James DeVivo presented to his parents and sister, Elizabeth, his uniform framed with his drum sticks.

“It was such an honor to just have Cameron in the band,” DeVivo said. “He would give the shirt off his back for you.”

The memorial service also included a display of the trucks Cameron worked on and his own truck, music played by the marching band, and a large drawing done by his girlfriend, Ericka Herfurth. The drawing showed his truck and him in the clouds with the light of God behind him.