Have You Seen This Roadside Memorial?

Nobody seems to know when the flowers first began to appear, but sometime this past summer is a reasonably good guess. In fact, the clue's right there, hidden in a collage of images surrounded by yellow roses wilting in the sun: "May 31, 2011."

That’s the date when the young man in the photos appears to have died at the age of 19. Identified only by his first name, Paul, he is described as “a loving son, loving brother, cool cousin, rebel nephew and wonderful friend.” There is no mention of the cause of his death.

Unless you live on the western edge of Eagle Rock, in the leafy residential area directly behind , chances are you haven’t seen the rows of flowers and black ribbons lining the sidewalk along Rock Glen Avenue. Tied to a metal fence between the street and the parking lot, the flowers are a tribute to someone clearly missed by his family and friends.

“People have been leaving flowers there since summer,” wrote Eagle Rock Patch reader Ashley Atkinson in an October 24 news tip. “A group of teenagers used to hang out on the steps there, but not anymore.”

An elderly Filipino American woman who has lived in the area for decades—she retired from Montgomery Ward, the Sears-like department store that was the predecessor to Target—reports seeing the flowers since at least September. “Before, it was small,” she says, referring to the floral collection. “Now it’s getting bigger.”

Just who Paul was—and why there’s a makeshift memorial to him on an obscure sidewalk near the 2 freeway—remains a mystery.

“I don’t know—maybe he lived nearby,” says Jati Aryanti, a Target employee collecting shopping carts in the chain store’s parking lot. “I heard by word of mouth that he died of a heart problem.”

If that sounds plausible, it’s at least partly because there are no police reports about a road accident—or a homicide—that might have resulted in the young man’s death on the street.

“He had a joy for life and a passion for art,” reads the unsigned tribute, printed on a piece of laminated paper. “Paul learned the most important thing in life—‘it is more important to be beautiful inside than outside.’”

Note: A reader points out that the full name of the department store that preceded Target was Montgomery Ward, not "Montgomery," as we initially had it. The retail chain filed for bankruptcy on Dec. 29, 2000, prompting a flood of customers to its Eagle Rock branch two days later, according to a Los Angeles Times article that you can read by clicking here.