Jay Thomas Patton, a 6-year-old Northeast Alabama boy accidentally killed late last week, will be taken to the grave by a John Deere tractor, one of the passions from his footsteps on planet earth.
The Gadsden Times reports Patton will live on via the playground equipment purchased in his memory from donations to a fund that already has been set up. He'll be buried Wednesday in a cemetery behind the Collinsville School, where he was a kindergartener. That school's playground will see installation of equipment, such as a tractor or a backhoe.
"We want it to be something that will keep his memory alive," family friend Michelle McPherson told the publication, noting Patton also loved the outdoors.
On Friday afternoon, Patton - while wearing a helmet - was in a four wheeler that overturned. He was transported to a regional hospital and pronounced dead shortly after 5:15 p.m.
The first piece of equipment that will memorialize Patton's memory will be installed at the family's church, which is Collinsville First United Methodist. McPherson said Patton's family prefers donations to the playground fund rather than flowers.
Late 6-year-old to be escorted by Deere tractor
The coffin holding Jay Thomas Patton, 6, of Northeast Alabama will be transported to the cemetery by a John Deere tractor, one of the young man's passions.