I wish I was not posting this right now.

Dear Friends and Family of Jim Chu,

On May 19, Jim Chu was riding his bike during his lunch hour, in the bike lane and with a helmet, and was struck from behind by a Boise ValleyRide van. He passed away Thursday, May 21st at St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center as a result of severe traumatic brain injury.

Memorial services will take place at Cathedral of the Rockies Emmaus Center in Boise, Idaho at 1:00PM on Friday, May 29th. If anyone has photos of or stories about Jim they would like to share, please forward them to me by Wednesday, May 27th to have them potentially included in the video memorial. Following the service, bicyclists will lead the procession to the burial service at Dry Creek cemetery in Eagle. It will be a new tradition in Boise. This will be a very special and unique ceremony, and we hope you will join us in honoring Jim and his life.

Additionally, a “ghost bike” ceremony will be held tomorrow, on Memorial Day, at 11am near the site of the incident. A bike has been painted white and will be decorated with flowers. Location is about 300 feet north of the intersection of Aeronca and south Orchard south of I-84 on Orchard on the east side of the street. If you attend, please part along Aeronca for safety, not on Orchard.

Much Love,

Lisa, Sara, Jenny and Jim’s Family

This family is beautiful and amazing and needs our support right now. You may not have known Jim but we all ride the same roads together. Making a journey to the ghost bike will be a very meaningful way to help this family know that there is a community thinking about them. Do it if you can. If any of you folks maintain bike-centric blogs and are reading this please do not hesitate to post this letter.

The procession/escort is in the works. You will be lead by a motorcycle escort towards the cemetery. You will not go all the way to Dry Creek. It will be a silent ride. Our route is not yet planned but will be by Friday. If you plan on riding in the procession (and I hope you do) you should wear a helmet. Please spread the word through our community.

This family is very interested in not only honoring Jim's memory but also making a very strong statement about being very aware of bicycles. -Bart
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Barton Loyd Kline M-851
barton.kline@gmail.com
208.407.9719
208.363.0510