A ghost bike – a vintage bicycle painted white and rendered useless with the removal of its tires – was hung on the railing outside 1912 East Lehigh Avenue in remembrance of bicyclist Gregory Loper.
On Tuesday, November 22 at 5:30 p.m., the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia organized the candlelight vigil and placement of the ghost bike for Loper, the 49-year-old father of 11 who was killed by a drunk driver. The vigil, held at the intersection of Lehigh Avenue and Jasper Street, was overrun by anger and sadness at the loss of the family man.
Brett Truskin, 22, of Ivyland, PA, was allegedly behind the wheel of his mother’s 2011 Toyota RAV4 when he struck Loper on Friday, Nov. 18. While some reports claim that he died in the hospital, the family has been told by observers that Loper died on the street while a female witness held his hand.
Loper’s family, friends and strangers who had been touched by the story of his death huddled under a canopy of umbrellas and hid beneath the hoods of their rain jackets that cold, wet evening, united by outrage at the legal system that allowed Truskin to go free just hours after his possible involvement in another DUI.
After a short speech from Alex Doty, the executive director of the BCGP, a man who identified himself as Jay from Tom Cat Town Watch, made a rousing speech about how he’d been hit when he was 16. “We gotta take these streets back and make the law for us,” he said.
Renee Cuffee, Loper’s sister-in-law, responded to this saying that Loper’s family is seeking life without parole for the driver who took his life. Following this, those in attendance chanted “Life without parole.”
“Look at my baby sister. Look. Look what he left behind,” Renee said as the chanting died down.
Bettie Cuffee, the victim’s wife, thanked those present for their support. She would sue Truskin and his family, she said. In addition to taking her revenge, Cuffee was sure justice would be hers when Truskin’s Judgment Day came.
“You never know when Judgment Day gonna come, ‘cause God judge everybody,” Loper’s widow said. “And when your Judgment Day come, my husband gon’ be there. You gon’ see him sittin’ there and he gon’ ask you why, ‘cause I asked him why he leave me with a water bill that I can’t pay.”
Once more, she thanked everyone for attending the vigil. Then she greeted a few one-on-one before heading back with her family to her house.
Back at the Cuffee-Loper household, the tone was much more happy. Loper’s children, 12 grandchildren and friends talked with smiles on their faces of the man they all love so much. The family expressed thankfulness for their loving, supportive, hardworking father.
Loper was, they all agreed, going to be sorely missed. “They take the good ones and leave the wrong ones,” his sister-in-law Renee said.
Markedia Cuffee, 25, may have been Loper’s stepdaughter but she had never known another father. “He was a good man. Loved his grandbabies,” she said with a smile on her face. He was proud of his kids, all of whom had graduated 12th grade – except for the three under the age of 12.
Education was very important to him, agreed several of his children. Loper recently helped his stepdaughter Sabrina, who he called “Brin-Brin” and who called him “Frankie,” pass her final exams.
“He said go to school, stay in school and have a good job,” Sapphire Cuffee, 10, said.
Loper was a dedicated man who worked hard to provide for his family. “He was a hardworking man. He felt less of a man if he sat in the house,” Sabrina Cuffee, 20, said.
He “did anything to keep us healthy and good,” Loper’s 10-year-old said of her father.
Everyone could see that he took good care of his family. “He did what he had to do,” Sara Berrios, 46, said of the man who provided for her best friend.
Loper wasn’t your typical father, said his stepdaughter Marktina. He was very into science fiction, she said, especially Star Wars. “He was an out-of-the-box thinker,” Marktina added.
Although much of the discussion focused on Loper’s good qualities and better times had with him, the circumstances under which their loved one was taken from them were never far from the minds of the Cuffee-Loper family.
Loper’s wife was at home in bed with one of her grandchildren when the news broke that someone had been hit on Lehigh Avenue. “Oh my God, that don’t make no sense. Somebody got hit on Lehigh Avenue again,” she remembered saying. “God bless,” she added as she watched the report.
The fact that she hadn’t known it was her beloved left her sounding a bit dismayed. “I’m looking at the ambulance goin’ past and all along they goin’ to pick him up and I didn’t even know it was him,” she said.
Cuffee has concluded that she must be happy for what she had. And she’s relieved to know that he’s in a better place, she said. “He up there with God now. He with his mother, his uncle, his dad, his little cousin, his aunt. He’s fine and I don’t gotta worry about him. He don’t gotta worry about his feet hurting,” Cuffee said.
Loper’s stepson Charles Cuffee, 24, may be comforted by that same notion but all he could talk about was his anger at the situation that led to Loper’s passing. “The driver didn’t take my dad, the judge took my dad when he let [Truskin] go,” he said.
Although the family must still contend with the financial burden left by Loper’s absence, they seemed to have found a way to carry the emotional burden, with Loper’s children staying strong for their mother.
“At first my mom was sad so we had to be strong for her,” 10-year-old Sapphire said. “I’m hanging in there,” she added.
Sapphire’s older sister Sabrina agreed. “He was my mom’s backbone and she was ours so it’s hard [but we have] to be strong for her,” the 20-year-old said.
The family is accepting donations to help pay funeral costs and other out-of-pocket expenses. Those who wish to make a donation can contact Markedia Cuffee via email at cuffeemarkedia@yahoo.com.
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This piece appeared on the front covers of both the Northeast Times and the Star today.
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