Connor LaFrance 1993-2007

When he was younger, Connor asked his father, Dave, for a dirt bike. Dave agreed, but on one condition, the 5-year-old needed to save up his own money and his father would match the number he was able to come up with.

Immediately, Connor began loading up his wagon with shiny rocks and the salesman went door-to-door in his Geyser Crest neighborhood looking for buyers of his $5 rocks.

Molly Brindle was one of LaFrance’s neighbors that bought some rocks because Connor could “sell ice cubes to eskimos.” A few nights ago, she returned the rocks to Connor’s family.

Connor, 14, an eighth-grader at the Maple Avenue Middle School, passed away last Friday following an accident while practicing in Alabama for an upcoming race.

Connor was the son of Dave and Andrea LaFrance, the brother of sisters, Emily and Brittanie, and a friend of this community.

Connor, also known as “Ginger” because of his red hair, was the team mascot of his father’s racing team and all of the riders took him under their wing. Dave LaFrance was hoping his son would ride one day.

“I wanted him to race, but I wanted him to race for himself and not for me,” Dave LaFrance said Wednesday morning at his Grand Avenue home. “Last year, I said if you want to do it, we’ll do it and he never looked back.”

Connor was an instant success. Within his first five races, he made it all the way to Nationals, where he got a fourth-place finish.

He kept moving up, even beating riders twice his age. As successful as he was on the track, Connor was also the kind of kid that made an impression on everybody he met.

“From a father’s and parent’s point of view, you want your children to first be good children. I truly believe that he was a good kid,” Dave LaFrance said. “He had a lot of compassion.”

The stories of his goodwill are endless and his parents have more and more pouring in by the day from family, friends and total strangers.

“One of the local boys, who was eight, came up to me and said that he was so sorry Connor died. He said that he was really sorry he died because he promised to ‘make me a fast motorcycle racer,’ ” Dave LaFrance said. “Connor would take the time to take this kid riding because it was important to that little boy.”

For the last few months, Connor’s racing column graced the pages of Saratoga TODAY. Below you can find his final column and see in his words just how passionate he was about riding.

Calling hours were held Wednesday afternoon and night at the Presbyterian New England Congressional Church with a Thursday funeral.

The nearly three-hour wait outside the church for the wake was fitting of a king, or in Connor’s case, a prince. Leading up to the front steps sat his bikes and a young child sat on one of them trying to emulate his fallen hero, who lay lifeless nearby.

Droves of children walked out of the church with tears flowing uncontrollably as they continue to deal with feelings that were foreign to many of them only days before. A family can prepare a child for the death of an older loved one, but the loss of one of their peers is especially challenging.

Yes, Connor died doing what he loved and despite his young age, he knew exactly what he wanted to do with his life. We can all learn from his example.

So the next time a kid stops by your house and tries to sell you rocks, make sure not to laugh at him or her and shut the door in his or her face. You may be buying much more than a rock. You might be helping them fulfill their dreams.

Sports Editor Eric DeGrechie can be reached at 581-2480, ext. 214, and edegrechie@saratogapublishing.com.