| Graduation Year | Class of 2003 |
| Date of Passing | Aug 04, 2001 |
| About | Nashua Telegraph: Rachel Michaud's tears were gently wiped away by her mother as the two walked away from a roadside shrine erected in memory of two popular Pelham teens. The 16-year-old knelt by the side of the road, cars whizzing behind her, reading the memorials written in the longhand of young people. "I couldn't believe it. It doesn't seem real," said Michaud, who had just seen Michael Pace last week at the Mall at Rockingham Park. Two well-liked Pelham High School juniors, Pace, 16, and Juliann Hojlo, 15, were killed Saturday night in a car crash within sight of the mall on Lowell Road, also known as Route 38. Pace was driving the car as Hojlo sat in the passenger seat of the 1992 Honda Prelude. The past few days have been like "a bad dream you just can't wake up from," said one friend of the teens. By themselves and in groups, friends and classmates of the popular teen-agers stopped at the crash site. Many left bouquets of flowers, some left poems, while others left photographs of smiling young people. A Chicago Bulls tank-top shirt, with the number 23 of Mike's beloved Michael Jordan, draped the metal gu! ardrail. Pace was a standout on the high school varsity basketball team. Many mementos from Hojlo's cheerleading career lay beside the road along with pictures of the young couple, who started dating a few months ago. A woman made the sign of the cross on herself as her car passed the flowery shrine Near the flowers were the orange-colored spray-paint marks left by police investigators who continue to investigate the crash. Michaud remembered how Pace, who was in her social studies class, cheered her up when she sat feeling lonely in the high school's library. "He was such a nice guy," said Michaud, who lives at 5 Lori Lane. Friends are preparing to mourn their deceased classmates over the next two days. Just hours after Hojlo is buried Wednesday, people will visit Pace's family at his wake. Michaud's mom, Nancy, intends to make sure her daughter attends both wakes and funerals. She feels a special concern for the parents of the tee! ns. "I cannot even fathom the pain they are in. No parent dese! rves to go through that," she said. Ben Mallard, 14, and Aubrie Stankiewicz, 16, both of Pine Ridge Road, and Kristal Dagenais, 16, of Hudson, plan to pay respects to the families of Hojlo and Pace. The two teens were their friends, classmates and neighbors. Stankiewicz has suited up as a cheerleader for nearly five years with Hojlo for various teams and programs. "She was a great cheerleader," she said, "Very, very enthusiastic," Dagenais interjected. And in a class they shared, where students talked aloud about school and teen-age stress with peers and school faculty, Hojlo, an honor roll student, was a good listener, the teens said. "If you were sad, she'd be there to cheer you up," Dagenais said. Despite published reports that the car might have been involved with drag racing on the two-lane road, friends found it hard to believe. "They were such good kids. They never did anything wrong," said Tara Flanders, 12, who knew Hojlo from when the older gi! rl taught Flanders and her cheerleading squad. Classmate Dagenais said the idea of the two teens racing would be out of character. "It doesn't sound like them," said. The fatal crash happened around 9:45 p.m. Saturday on the two-lane road. Police has said the Honda crossed the center line and crashed head-on into an oncoming Dodge pickup truck. The driver of the truck received minor injuries. Hojlo was killed in the crash. Rescue workers rushed Pace to Holy Family Hospital in Methuen, Mass., but he later died. Flanders' mother, Dawn Lever, 30, of Dutton Road, said the past few days have been a difficult experience for her daughter. "She has to remember bad things happen to good people," Lever said. In memory of Juliann Hojlo and Michael Pace, two Pelham teens who were killed in an automobile accident this summer, a fund has been set up to collect donations for two benches for Gibson Cemetery. Anyone wishing to donate can do so in person at the First Essex Bank, Pelham Plaza, or any First Essex Bank, Mail Teller B11, P.O. Box 1000, Lawrence, MA 01842-9877. Contributions should be made out to the Hojlo/Pace Memorial Fund. Excess funds will be given to the Pelham Scholarship Fund in memory of the two teens. For more information, call Cecile at 635-7942. |
