City in mourning

Suzie Harrison

The words are hard to come by to express the sense of loss a mother,

father, brother, friend or family member is feeling since last

weekend. But they are not alone; the entire Laguna Beach community is

grieving the loss of Laguna Beach High School junior Max Sadler, 16,

and sophomore Mark Tiner, 17.

The boys were killed in a car accident Friday night in Dana Point.

Max was to turn 17 on Sunday and Mark just had his 17th birthday.

The police report said the accident occurred at 8:30 p.m., on Coast

Highway at Ritz-Carlton Drive.

Mark was pronounced dead at the scene. Max was taken to Mission

Hospital Regional Medical Center where he died at 1:45 a.m. His

parents were at his side.

Orange County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Jim Amormino said the

cause of the accident is under investigation.

“We do know that no drugs or alcohol were involved,” said

Amormino, a Dana Point resident who was called to the scene and spent

most of Friday night and some of Saturday there.

Max was driving south on Coast Highway in a Mercedes Benz

registered to his parents. Mark was wearing a seat belt, it is

unknown if Max was, Amormino said.

“The car was coming up a slight incline where there is a slight --

very slight bend, not a curve -- in the road when the driver lost

control and veered straight across the north-bound lanes and into a

dirt berm,” Amormino said. “The reason the driver lost control of the

vehicle is not yet known.”

As it crossed the lane, the Benz clipped a northbound SUV.

“It was not a head-on collision,” Amormino. “There was a long

trail of tire marks [not skid marks] that led into the berm.”

The driver of northbound SUV tried to avoid the Benz and almost

succeeded, Amormino said. Neither the SUV driver nor his 13-year-old

daughter, who were about 1/2 mile from their Dana Point home,

sustained life-threatening injuries.

French teacher Odile Dewar spoke with tears in her eyes about both

boys who were students in her class.

“Both were wonderful, genuine, amazing souls who inspired all of

us,” Dewar said. “We can never forget their mark in our lives -- they

were authentic hearts who brought peace, joy and brightness

everywhere they went.”

She said that other students have commented on how they both

touched their lives in a deep way, and told her that they want to

remember them forever and bring Mark and Max’s message to the world.

“It’s a message of peace, love and lightness of being,” Dewar

said. “Especially Mark, he would make people reconcile their

differences. And Max was a free spirit with a golden heart and caring

for people beyond the natural call for his age.”

Brett Landrum, 17, said the best times he had with Max and Mark

were when the three of them were together.

“We’d take off driving and surfing and together ... going to

Mark’s house from Max’s house, skateboarding and just hanging out --

Mark doing his rap music and Max playing his guitar,” Brett said.

At a memorial their friends created at the scene of the accident,

students have been writing notes, giving flowers and other mementos.

Others stood in silence.

Hundreds of bouquets were intermingled with things such as Mark’s

volleyball jersey, a volleyball and Max’s cross-country team

sweatshirt. There was also a broken surfboard next to Max’s surfing

championship trophies.

Near a wooden cross, a guitar neck first was placed in the dirt to

recognize their love of music. Mark was a rapper and Max loved to

play guitar.

Three girls were tending to the site, planting flowers on Tuesday.

With tears rolling down her face Jessica Harmon, 16, waited to speak.

Stephanie Darnell, 15, Lorren Butterwick, 16, would talk at the same

time, sharing each other’s thoughts.

“Everyone calls him [Mark] ‘Big Tiny,’ he’s like the funniest guy

ever, he smiles at everyone,” they said. “He makes up raps and put

out a CD.”

Stephanie said they were planting the flowers in their memory.

“[Mark] he’s the one person in the world that deserves to be

alive,” Stephanie said. “He’s the funniest, most laid back person.”

Lorren said she feels the same.

“He made everyone laugh and everyone at school loved him,” she

said.

Stephanie said Max had a smile that could be seen a mile away.

Jessica said Mark was one of those people who would call her

“Jess” without even knowing her well, that he was friendly and

familiar in an instant.

“He was such a good person, it’s so unfair that this happened

because they were trying to avoid another accident,” Jessica said.

She recounted a story of the time they shaved two big patches of

Mark’s hair and he was all smiles and not afraid of what other people

thought.

“He was in my AP Euro class, he wore the coolest clothes ever and

everyone thought he was like the coolest guy ever,” Jessica said.

“Everyone is devastated.”

She was sporting a T-shirt she made that said I’m with “Big Tiny.”

“I’m making these shirts, everybody wants one,” she said.

Principal Nancy Blade is there for the students, as are counselors

Gretchen Ernsdorf and Brian Bannon. “Every year we have a yearbook

assembly and at the end of the assembly there’s a video that takes us

through our year, the activities and fun things,” Blade said. “This

year there was a pause at the end and then there was footage of Mark

doing this rap routine, and after that footage of Max surfing.

“It’s been such a very sad, sad week and I was worried it would

make us even sadder. When it first showed Mark rapping the kids

started cheering and then Max surfing they cheered.

“Then there was one last picture of Mark rapping and Max watching.

Even though it was so sad, it was such a positive thing and the whole

school was there, clapping and clapping.”

Ryan Fair, 16, said he’s been in French class with Max since

seventh grade and he remembers Max helping keep him awake and keeping

the class interesting.

“I used to go surfing with him nearly every weekend at Three Arch,

he’s one of the best surfers I knew,” Ryan said. “He lived a double

life ... when he was with us he was the most outrageous kid, back

flipping off a cliff and would turn around on his surfboard and take

a wave.”

Ryan was on the yearbook committee with Max.

“Max would say let’s go surf, we’ve got to go surf right now, the

waves are so good,” Ryan said. “The last few weeks were so good we

surfed every day.”

He said that Brett, mainly, and he have been working on a film for

about a year and a half.

“It’s one of our top priorities to finish the film, it has Mark

and Max, Mark rapping and Max playing the guitar and dancing like a

crazy kid,” Ryan said.

He explained that for the last six months Max had been saving up

for a guitar and finally got it.

“Everyday at yearbook he was sitting there playing,” Ryan said.

Both Mark and Max were involved very involved with the youth group

at Laguna Presbyterian Church and inspired many with their

spirituality.

Ryan had many stories about the boys and how they have touched his

life, as did many others. Both the Tiner family and Sadler family are

learning even more how much their sons were loved.

Eleanor Tiner is a teacher’s aide at the high school and her

husband Peter has taught there for more than 12 years.

Max’s mother, Carolen Sadler, teaches history and yearbook, and

his younger brother, Brooke, is a freshman.

The Sadler family recounted Max’s last day so eloquently,

recounting that he did the things he loved most.

Family friend Kathryn Rooklidge has seen Max gow up.

“The whole Sadler family is such a remarkable family, they are

both such caring parents and Max was always a thoughtful, deep boy,”

Rooklidge said. “Max was really committed to what he believed in, he

felt things particularly about his faith and took it very seriously.”

She expressed how much the family appreciates the outpouring

support from the community.

“They are feeling very loved and supported.”

Eleanor Tiner said she wants to thank the whole community for

their prayers and support.

“It’s meant the world to us, I don’t know how we would have gotten

through without it, it’s been wonderful,” Eleanor Tiner said.

She spoke about Mark and told about some of the things he was

involved in, including being an Eagle Scout in Troop 287, a middle

blocker on the junior varsity volleyball team, a surf team member, on

the principal’s honor roll and a Christian Club member.

“He was known to argue and debate against drugs and alcohol,” she

said. “He said he was from the hood, he was funny, entertaining and

made people laugh.”

He was really caring and loving and loved younger kids and helped

them through the youth group at the church.

“He was a very strong-willed kid, knew what he wanted and

committed to the lord,” Eleanor Tiner said.

He also loved to travel and went to Thailand as a Boy Scout and

with the family to Turkey, Austria, Switzerland and Canada.

“He loved sushi and wanted to go to Japan, he loved the culture

and loved to philosophize with his dad,” Eleanor said. “He was a deep

thinker and he adored his uncle Steve.”

She said he was close to his brother, Sean, 20, who attends Brown

University.

A memorial for Max and Mark will be held at Laguna Presbyterian

Church, 415 Forest Ave. at 3 p.m. today. For information, call (949)

494-7555.

The families have set up scholarships in their sons’ names. For

Max Sadler send donations to Laguna Presbyterian Church for junior

high and high school ministries. Mail donations to 415 Forest Ave.,

Laguna Beach, CA 92651.

For Mark Tiner, send donations to the Scholarship Fund at Laguna

Beach High School, 625 Park Ave., Laguna Beach, CA 92651. For

information call (949)497-7750, ext. 212.