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March 10, 2010 in City
Family of cyclist remembers the good times
David Squires had been riding his bike for years. His didn’t drive, and his 18-speed bicycle was the longtime electrician’s way of getting around Spokane.
Squires, 56, was riding that bike when he was struck by a car and killed as he crossed Sprague Avenue while southbound on Division Street.
Now, after more than a week of grief, his family is hoping to share good memories of a man known for his sense of humor, storytelling and generosity.
A celebration of life will take place Friday at Mama’s Thai Lounge in Spokane Valley, where Squires’ stepdaughter, Alicia Fowler, works.
“I just want to be able to laugh about the good times and not cry about the bad times,” Fowler said. “Dave wouldn’t want us to be sad.”
Friends sometimes called Squires, a father of six, “Dave, Dave, the electrical slave” because of his work ethic, said Fowler, 24.
A white bicycle sits near the crash site as a memorial to Squires. His family doesn’t know who placed it there. Similar “ghost bikes” have been placed at the scenes of deadly bicycle accidents around the world.
Squires was riding from his home to Dick’s Hamburgers to get a burger for his wife, Christy Fowler, when he was struck by a Dodge pickup turning onto Sprague from northbound Division, Alicia Fowler said.
He fell off his bike and was run over by the truck, which police believe was driven by Scott C. Reckord, 49.
Reckord, who owns Sullivan Scoreboard in Spokane Valley, faces charges of vehicular homicide and felony hit-and-run after witnesses followed him through downtown after the collision. Police say he failed a sobriety test when he returned to the scene.
Reckord is out of jail on $50,000 bond and is scheduled to be arraigned in Spokane County Superior Court on Monday. He did not return a phone call seeking comment.
Bobby Curtis and her son followed Reckord’s truck, flashing their lights and honking the horn, as her husband, Jeffrey Curtis, gave Squires first aid, police said.
Bobby Curtis “confronted the defendant when they got back to the scene and he denied realizing he had hit anything,” according to court documents.
Squires was pronounced dead at a downtown hospital from skull fractures caused by blunt impact to the head.
Squires was born in South Dakota and raised in Spokane, where he graduated North Central High School in 1971. His mother owned a bar in Spokane Valley; that’s where he met Christy.
“They were soul mates,” Alicia Fowler said. “She’s never been alone in 20 years.”
Christy Fowler, a bartender at Mayfair Restaurant in downtown Spokane, hasn’t returned to work since her husband’s death. Alicia Fowler said she hopes friends can help cheer them up Friday with stories of better times.
Alicia Fowler’s husband is a drummer in the rock band Nighthawk, which will perform at Friday’s benefit. Squires often attended the band’s shows.
Meanwhile, Alicia Fowler is urging her sons to be cautious on their bicycles.
“You always worry about your kids getting hit, but you never think about your father,” she said. “If it can happen to a grown man it can happen to anyone.”
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CharlesBillford on March 10 at 11:16 p.m.
$50,000 bond is chump change. It should be up in the hundreds of thousands.
Its way past due that the legislatosr make vehicular homicide on the level of 1st/2nd Degree murder and aggravating factors for hit and run, and dui.
3 years in prison and out in 2 for good time does not make it.
On the other hand the legislators are futzing around in Olympia doing evil work that we will have to undo after we vote them out of office.
This new law should be known as Squires Law.
philipgregory on March 11 at 8:06 a.m.
A nice family with a remarkably good attitude about the loss of this good man.
Now, an example needs to be made of Reckford to help reduce chances of more innocent people dying at the hands of drunks!
Reckford is not only a killer he is a liar and a coward. He knew he did it or he wouldn’t have tried to avoid Curtis - a good samaritan who went out of his way for justice for Squires.