Armonk Mourns Sudden Loss of ‘Great Kid’ and ‘Mentor’
The Armonk community grieved the sudden loss of Byram Hills High School alumnus Jamie Love last week
Love, 20, a University of Vermont junior who was enrolled in the School of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, was found dead in his dorm room in Burlington early on Feb. 17. Authorities in Vermont were still investigating the cause of death but have reported no foul play.
He was a member of the school’s cross country and track teams and the Ski and Snowboard Club.
Scores of relatives, friends and current and former classmates and teammates of Love attended his wake on Friday and early Saturday at Beecher Flooks Funeral Home in Pleasantville and his funeral late Saturday morning at a packed North Greenwich Congregational Church.
Armonk resident Jim Olivo, a family friend who coached Love for two years in travel soccer while he was in middle school, said he was a “great kid and a great athlete” but that’s not what set Love apart.
“What I think struck me that not a lot of people have, and especially for someone in high school, I think he was a person who knew himself in life,” Olivo said.
One of the reasons why Love chose to go to school in Vermont and engineering as his major, for example, was his love of skiing and snowboarding, he said. If he couldn’t buy the right snowboard he wanted to learn how to make one.
Olivo also said Love was also an excellent student.
“The thing that he had is that whatever he did he did with gusto,” Olivo added.
Love was born on July 27, 1992, in New York City to Michelle and James Love. The family moved shortly afterward to London. He returned to Armonk to attend Byram Hills schools, graduating in 2010 from the high school where he ran cross country and track.
At his memorial service and in the community last week, Love was remembered for his integrity, humor, exuberance and many capabilities and being a good friend to others.
Skip Beitzel, owner of Hickory & Tweed bike and ski shop, said Love began working at his Main Street store when he was a high school freshman. He would return on breaks from college to work at the shop, most recently during the Christmas holiday break. He also rode mountain bikes for Team Tweed.
Beitzel said that Love was an outstanding youngster and someone who he could rely on as “the go-to guy” around the store.
“He was a quietly confident person, an excellent mentor to the younger kids who followed him at the store,” Beitzel said.
In addition to his parents, he is survived by his sister, Noelle, and grandparents Doug and Pam Love and John and Kathy Bachmann. He also had 24 aunts and uncles and 33 cousins.
A special memorial service was also held on the campus of the University of Vermont on Feb. 20.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/
