By Pete Soyer
A 12-year-old Havre boy killed last weekend in a car crash was an adventurous, energetic and inventive person, his father said.
Jeremy Henderson "liked to take stuff apart and rebuild things," Gerald Henderson said today.
Jeremy died when he was thrown from a car he was riding in near Montana City on Saturday.
Gerald Henderson was quiet-spoken and talked slowly while remembering Jeremy. "It's not easy to lose a young life," he said.
Henderson said Jeremy "pulled apart one of the motorized Barbie cars and pulled the wheels apart" to put dual wheels on his bike, like a dualy pickup. He built an axle and connected everything, Henderson said. Jeremy wanted to get a dualy pickup when he was old enough to drive, he said.
"He was really mechanically inclined," he said.
Jeremy was headed into eighth grade at Havre Middle School this fall, Henderson said. He was on the football team and was a member of the culture club.
Jeremy was well-known and liked around town, Henderson said.
"He was a real great boy," he said.
Jeremy was visiting his aunt, Cynthia Henderson, in Montana City when the accident happened. He had been there for about a week.
Jeremy and his aunt had just left Montana City when the accident occurred. "Just after they left the house he was killed," Henderson said.
Caralie Kelly, a friend of Cynthia Henderson, was driving the 1986 American Jeep. According to the Montana Highway Patrol report, Kelly was distracted by something that caused her to run off the right side of I-15. She over-corrected, causing the Jeep to roll two and a half times, ejecting both passengers. The accident occurred at 11:30 p.m.
Kelly was treated and released from St. Peter's Hospital in Helena. Cynthia Henderson remains in St. Peter's Hospital and was in satisfactory condition as of Sunday.
