Update:
UCF student James Birk will be laid to rest Thursday at 11 a.m. Thursday, December 3. The funeral will take place at Trinity Memorial Gardens, 12609 Memorial Drive, New Port Richey, FL 24655.
ORIGINAL STORY FROM 12/2
Thousands of UCF students hit the roads last week to spend Thanksgiving with family at home, but what should have been a happy time turned tragic for one family instead.
UCF student James David Birk, 21, never made it to his family’s Thanksgiving celebration. He somehow lost control of the 2007 Dodge Charger he was driving, smashed into several trees and flipped, according to reports. He later died at the hospital.
Birk was reportedly on his way to Hillsborough River State Park, a place where he and members of his extended family camp each Thanksgiving and share a feast. He was on U.S. 301, just outside the park, when he crashed.
He was by himself and not wearing a seat belt, troopers said. The Land O’Lakes native had just left a friend’s house, his grandmother told the St. Pete Times, where he was watching a football game.
Birk’s grandmother, June Cannon, said her grandson was on his way back from watching a football game at a friend’s house. He was alone in the car and wasn’t wearing a seat belt, the Highway Patrol reported.
“Everyone in the family loved him,” his grandmother, June Cannon, told the paper. “He was someone everyone wanted to be around.”
His cousin, Stacie Garcia, agreed.
“He was the type to come home from Orlando and instead of going out with his friends, he would sit at his house with his parents and sister and brother. … He would drop anything to be here if one of us needed him,” she told the Times.
Memorial services are scheduled from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, December 2. His funeral is scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday, December 3. Both will take place at Trinity Memorial Gardens, 12609 Memorial Drive, New Port Richey, FL 24655.
His obituary says the Freedom High School graduate “was the most loving and spirited person a family could have,” and that he “simply adored his brother and sister, and touched the lives of everyone he knew.”
He is survived by his loving mother, Linda; his father, Tim; his sister, Samantha; and brother, Houston Adamo; girlfriend, Jackie Filippi; grandparents, June and Earl Cannon, Burnice Birk, Betty Adamo and Jim E. Birk, according to the obituary.
“He will also be missed by his extended family members and many, many friends,” the obituary said.
The Highway Patrol was reportedly still investigating if alcohol was a factor.
If you knew Birk and have anything to say about what he will be remembered for at UCF, please e-mail us at news@knightnews.com, or simply leave a comment below.
