CSUN University News Clippings

CSUN student Elaine Panlaqui talks about legacy of Ron Grace, who was killed in Metrolink crash

(September 29, 2008)

By Veronica Rocha

Roosevelt Middle School counselor Ron Grace affected the lives of hundreds people and his legacy will not be forgotten after his tragic death in a Sept. 12 train collision, mourners at a memorial service were told Saturday.

Hundreds of friends, family and students, some of whom traveled from as far away as Hawaii, Illinois and Washington, gathered to honor Grace’s life at the San Fernando Mission Cemetery, at 1160 Stranwood Avenue in Mission Hills.

“Dad, you were my mentor, my companion and my inspiration,” his son, Brian Grace, said at the service while he read a letter he wrote to his father.

“Without you my life has undoubtedly changed forever,” he said.

Grace and 24 others, including Metrolink engineer and La Crescenta resident Robert Sanchez and three Burbank public workers, were killed when a commuter train collided with a Union Pacific freighter.

To former student Elaine Panlaqui, Grace was more than a school counselor, he was person to aspire to be.

Panlaqui is studying at California State University Northridge and receiving training to become a high school counselor.

“I am going to become a high school counselor to inspire students like Mr. Grace did to believe they can do anything,” she said.

When she was struggling at school and her chances of moving toward graduation looked grim, Grace helped get her into the Advancement Via Individual Determination program, which prepares students for college.

Panlaqui excelled and was recognized by the Glendale Unified School district, which sent her and other students on a trip to Russia to meet with political leaders.

“I would have never have graduated from high school if it wasn’t for Mr. Grace,” she said.

Panlaqui stood inside a packed chapel at Grace’s memorial and listened other friends and family spoke about his life.

Daily High School counselor Pat Ryan met Grace about 20 years ago when they worked together to help transition students from middle school to high school.

“He was devoted to all of his students,” she said at the memorial service. “He believed in kids’ potential.”

Grace’s dedication to his students even stretched as far as paying for after-school programs with his own money, Roosevelt Principal Maria Gandera said.

Barbara Zatarain, who worked with Grace at Roosevelt, became close friends with him after they studied together for a test.

“He was a brother to me,” she said. “I trusted him about more than anyone besides my family.”

Her and Grace’s family often got together to watch sports games, Zatarain said.

Grace loved sports, Monty Python, and Mexican food, especially Zatarain’s husband’s tacos, she said.

She believed Grace would come to her house hungry so he could eat as many of her husband’s tacos as he could.

Grace helped Zatarain and her husband sell their house and purchase their current residence, she said.

“He was someone who always cared,” Zatarain said, and added that he was a believer.

“He made [people] believe they could do great things in their lives,” Zatarain said.

She said Grace was the “kind of friend you meet rarely in a lifetime.”

Grace was the fourth of six children born in Brooklyn, NY, and who later moved to Glendale, his brother Jack Grace said.

“He grew up in the streets and playgrounds of Glendale,” he said, adding that Grace passed on going to Stanford University to attend Glendale Community College with his friends, he said.

Before becoming a high school counselor, Grace was a Realtor.

“He chose a life that is not pathway to riches or fame,” Jack Grace said.

Grace became history teacher and later a counselor at the middle school, he said.

He was an avid surfer, who often joined his sister, Lorraine Grace, in Hawaii to surf, she said.

He enjoyed following her throughout the world, so that he could “play” with her, she said.

“Ron was my Peter Pan,” Lorraine Grace said.

Publication: Glendale News Press