Leonard Janes never stops thinking about his son, Daniel, whose early death at 17 this past September stunned him and the community.
Daniel was well-liked, though his father was not aware of just how popular a kid Daniel was until the day of the funeral. Scores of kids from the high school showed up to help mourn his boy’s passing.
“They were wonderful,” Leonard said, recalling how moved he was by the show of affection both at the church and later at the grave site.
Leonard said he later recalled moments when he should have expected how wide an association his son had with other kids, such as the list of names in Daniel’s instant message address book
Leonard said he has found great comfort in his son’s popularity and the fact that Daniel’s classmates continue to demonstrate their affection by raising money for a scholarship fund Leonard established in his son’s name.
The scholarship fund was Leonard’s idea – a way to preserve his son’s memory through a fund that could help other kids by giving $250 yearly to a student who is moving on to a college to pursue a career as a writer/journalist.
Daniel left portfolios filled with writing and appeared poised to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather and uncle, both of whom had worked as an editor or writer for a local daily newspaper.
Editorial flair
“He had sent writing to the University of Scranton, and they appeared to be interested,” Leonard said, noting that the representative from the college had – based on the samples submitted – suggested Leonard seek a publisher for the remaining work.
But the wound is still too fresh for him to broach that chore or to delve into his son’s work, hearing Daniel’s voice again through the printed word.
Born in Secaucus, Daniel lived nearly all of his life in Bayonne. He attended Henry Harris Elementary School before moving onto Bayonne High School, from which he expected to graduate next year. In September, he died of a heart attack.
The attack left Leonard with yet another huge gap in his life. After his wife had passed away in 1998, Leonard seemed to grow even closer to his son, and wanted to give his son the best of everything – especially his Bar Mitzvah, a moment in time that Leonard calls “a perfect day,” where all the right people came together at precisely the right time to celebrate one of the most important moments in his son’s short life.
Leonard, the owner of Unique Book Store on Broadway, and Daniel shared time at the store together – and though Daniel did many of the physical projects such as unpacking books and setting up window displays, father and son often talked about each other’s tastes in books.
“He had varied tastes,” Leonard recalled. “He liked Harry Potter. But he also liked humor such as John Stewart and George Carlin. Lately, Danny had started reading books I gave him, books that I really enjoyed and I hoped he would, too. We were always talking a lot about books. I remember we talked about the ‘DaVinci Code,’ a book we both had read. And we talked about Harry Potter.”
Leonard started the scholarship fund with the idea of helping other kids who might be thinking of following the same career path Daniel had planned, a little boost with expenses that would help defray the cost of books or some other college related expenses.
“What we’re trying to do is raise $10,000 or more, put in into a CD (certificate of deposit) and not have to touch the principal, but give out a $250 scholarship each year,” Leonard said. “I’m in the process of getting all the paperwork done.”
So far, between the efforts of school kids and those conducted through the store, Leonard has raised about $1,200. He said people interested in donating can call the store at (201) 436-4426 or stop in during business hours at 464 Broadway.