Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
WOODS CROSS — Family members say Jesse Western was a kind and caring person who was always out riding his bicycle.
"(He) loved his bike. He was on his bike 24/7," said Karen Berthold, Western's aunt. "His bike was his life, he did everything on his bike."
As Western, 49, of Woods Cross, was attempting to ride his bike over a railroad crossing that had the crossing arms already down Tuesday morning, his bike was clipped by an oncoming train and Western was killed.
Because of an illness that left him with special needs for all of his adult life, Western's family said he often rode his bike with his head down to concentrate.
"His concentration wasn't great, so a lot of times he was just always looking at the ground when he would ride his bike and focus on the ground," Berthold said. "So if you would pass him and try to talk to him, he'd very seldom look up. … I'm sure he didn't know there was a train because a train would have scared him and he wouldn't have ever gotten close to it."
Western had trouble sleeping at night, so he would often get up and just ride his bike, according to family members.
As he had done so many times before, he rode to an Apple Food Store, 1504 S. 800 West, Tuesday morning to get a muffin and a drink, something that brought him joy, Berthold said.
"I sent him on his way like I do with every customer. 'Have a nice day. See you tomorrow,'" store clerk Elaine Snarr, the last person to see Western before the accident, emotionally recalled.
Focusing on both riding his bike and holding his morning treat, Berthold believes Western didn't see that the crossing arms were down near the intersection of 950 West and 1500 South.
He would get up in the snow, rain, sleet, no matter what the weather was, ride his bicycle here from Woods Cross all the way up to the high east part of Bountiful and take care of his grandma, vacuum her house, do her dishes, shovel her snow. And that's just the things he would do. He didn't really work. He'd just work on helping people.
–Karen Berthold, Western's aunt
"I'm sure he didn't know what even happened," she said, calling the incident nothing more than a tragic accident.
Western was born in the Philippines and got a severe fever when he was 6, leaving him with permanent mental challenges, said Rachel Waters, a cousin. He never drove a car during his lifetime.
"He was a man, but to us he was a boy because to us he never really surpassed that age," Berthold said.
But both women say Western had a great spirit.
"He never saw me that he didn’t hug me and tell me he loved me," Berthold said.
He also loved taking care of his grandmother, who passed away a year ago.
"He would get up in the snow, rain, sleet, no matter what the weather was, ride his bicycle here from Woods Cross all the way up to the high east part of Bountiful and take care of his grandma, vacuum her house, do her dishes, shovel her snow. And that's just the things he would do. He didn't really work. He'd just work on helping people," Berthold said.
"We're all managing. It's obviously devastating. We know he's in good hands now," Waters said.
"He'll be greatly missed, that's for sure," added Berthold.
Western was hit by a Union Pacific train. The FrontRunner tracks were affected by the incident. The Utah Transit Authority set up a temporary bus bridge during the morning commute until about 7:30 a.m.
Contributing: Sandra Yi, Shara Park, Nicole Vowell and Peter Samore
