Obituaries
Family and Friends Mourn the Loss of St. Charles East Senior
Seventeen-year-old Alex Guyer was killed in a kayaking accident while out of town on spring break.
When moved to St. Charles with his family in 2002, his outgoing personality helped him make friends immediately.
“I was so happy to see him make tons of friends,” said his older sister Alysa Guyer. “He always made friends really well.”
After moving around quite a bit with his family in his younger years, Alex found a home in St. Charles to he and his family. It was the city they ended up living in for the longest time.
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Alex attended school at , , and was a senior at , when he passed away suddenly on Thursday, March 31 at the age of 17.
His untimely death happened during a kayaking accident while he was away with friends on spring break in Arkansas.
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According to his sister, from his earliest years, Alex always had a great sense of adventure.
“He’s always been curious and adventurous,” she explained, adding that this adventurous side was with him during his trip to Arkansas.
“He was having the time of his life,” she said.
In addition to his love for adventure, Alex had a love of music as well. A few years ago, he decided he wanted to play guitar and began to teach himself. He was able to become quite advanced on the guitar without taking a single lesson.
“He was playing guitar every single day,” said Alysa, who recalls a recent “jam session” he had with his mother, Katherine Duran.
“He started playing “Santa Ria” by Sublime, and he asked my mom to sing with him,” Alysa recalled. “She got the lyrics, and they were jamming in his room.”
Alex’s friends, still trying to come to terms with their loss, organized a candlelight vigil in his honor this past Tuesday, which was held at St. Charles’ Mount St. Mary’s Park.
“He had a lot of friends,” said Alysa.
To his sister, Alex was simply her little brother, with whom she always had a loving relationship.
“We hardly ever fought,” she said. “He was just so special to me.”
In addition to his mother and sister, Alex is survived by his father Ralph Nevarez, another sister Kaylee, and his step-father Davis Duran.
Funeral services were held on Friday, April 8 at in St. Charles.
