East County celebrates lives of Lakewood Ranch students

When 17-year-old Brendan Shreve returned home and greeted his family Friday night, he caught a glimpse of his aunt, Pam Palmer, visiting from Land O’Lakes and sitting on the lanai with a plateful of food in her lap.

He approached with a smile.

Normally, the occasion would warrant an embrace, but Brendan told her not to worry about getting up. So when she put her hand to her mouth and blew him a kiss, Brendan reached out and pulled it from her outstretched palm.

“She said, ‘Don’t just put it there. Rub it in,’” his mother, Crystal Shreve said. “And he rubbed it (into his cheek).”

Just hours later, Brendan and his friend, Jared Duran, 15, died in a one-vehicle car crash in the median of Lakewood Ranch Boulevard, less than a mile from Shreve’s Summerfield home.

A Florida Highway Patrol report stated the 2012 Mercedes that Shreve was driving crashed into a tree, separating the vehicle into two pieces, after it hit the curb and jumped the median shortly after 5 a.m. Oct. 10, just north of Clubhouse Drive. They were pronounced dead at the scene.

By Saturday afternoon, the crash site had become a memorial for the boys with bouquets of flowers piled at the base of the tree and their photograph attached to its trunk.

“It’s the biggest loss you could ever have,” said Brendan’s father, Bernie Shreve.

Crystal added, “It’s devastating. I don’t even know a word to describe what we feel about (the Duran’s) loss as well.”

Both Brendan and Jared, students at Lakewood Ranch High School, were known for their easy-going personalities, approachability and humor.

“It was just fun being around them,” said friend Michael Silver, 16, a student at Cardinal Mooney High School. “Whenever they were together, it was a lot of fun. It’s scary how that can happen to any one of us.”

“They were there whenever you needed them,” he said. “I was closer to Jared. If you were down, he was there for you without judgement.”

Aliyah Anderson, 15, described Jared as “super social,” someone who would walk up to strangers, introduce himself and give them a fist bump. Friends said he always wore a smile and regularly wore a sombrero, just for fun.

“Jared was memorable,” said his friend Georgia Sanacore, 15, with a smile creeping through her tears. “He was hilarious.”

“He was such a good friend,” Braden River High sophomore Melissa Lynch said. “He always had a smile on his face.”

Brendan, too, was unforgettable.

His parents described him as a trend-setter amongst his friends, a pro at boardgames and someone who simply loved being “comfortable.”

“He made everybody else smile,” Crystal Shreve said. “He was a jokester and a prankster.”

Bernie said, “I don’t think anybody was ever mad at him.”

Friend John Rivera, 16, who knew Brendan since third grade, said Brendan had a knack for turning negative situations into positive ones and was someone people naturally wanted to be around.

“If we all were hanging out, he’d be the one to do something funny and have everyone laughing,” he said. “It was nonstop like that. He was probably the nicest kid I ever met. Super energetic.”

A health nut with a sweet tooth only for chocolate, Brendan was a natural athlete who grew up playing soccer and running, and had plans to run a 5K with his older sister, Tyler, in a few weeks. 

“He worked out on a daily basis,” Bernie Shreve said. “We never told him to do these things. He was a very self motivated young man that any father would be proud of.”

“Brendan was both witty and charming and focused on becoming his own boss one day. He wanted to be ‘the man,’ not work for ‘the man,’” said Crystal Shreve, who noted that he had talked about attending the University of South Florida to study business.

“The kids knew he was going to be great,” she said, adding his desk is full of law, business and books by motivational speakers. The Shreves said Brendan planned to return to Lakewood Ranch after college, no matter what.

“He loved this community,” Bernie Shreve said. “He had a great childhood here.”