Motocross star Lusk remembered at memorial service in Menifee
09:58 PM PST on Monday, February 16, 2009
By MIRJAM SWANSON
The Press-Enterprise
MENIFEE - More than 1,000 mourners, including many of freestyle motocross' biggest names, gathered at an emotional memorial service to honor Temecula resident Jeremy Lusk, a freestyle motocross star who died last week at 24 after crashing at a competition in Costa Rica.
As rain pounded down on Revival Christian Fellowship Church, a capacity audience listened to the Rev. Carmen Rieg and a series of speakers eulogize Lusk in a nearly two-hour service.
One after another, they remembered the San Diego native for his silly dancing, his riding talent and his eagerness to help.
Stan Lim / The Press-Enterprise
During the memorial for Jeremy Lusk at a Menifee church, freestyle motocross pioneer Brian Deegan describes how Lusk was baptized a year ago.
The theme most often revisited was Lusk's close relationship with his father, Chuck Lusk.
"I know how proud you are of Lusk, but Lusk, he was just as proud of you," fellow freestyle motocross rider Ronnie Faisst told Chuck Lusk. "He'd talk about you all the time. Anytime it had to do with lifting, or eating right, he'd be like, 'Lemme call my dad.'
"You were his hero, for real. He had so much love for you," Faisst said.
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More than 1,000 people gather at Revival Christian Fellowship Church in Menifee to honor freestyle motocross star Jeremy Lusk on Monday.
Jeremy Lusk died as a result of brain trauma Feb. 10 in San Jose, Costa Rica. His wife, Lauren, as well as his parents, parents-in-law and a few close friends were with him.
That group included freestyle motocross pioneer Brian Deegan, who founded the popular Metal Mulisha riding group that Lusk, an X Games gold medalist, was a part of. Through tears, Deegan said Lusk was baptized a year ago at Deegan's home and recently got a tattoo on his chest that read, "In God's Hands."
"I miss Jeremy and I wish he were here with us now," Deegan said. "But I take comfort that he is truly in God's hands."
Grandfather Tom Lusk quoted Theodore Roosevelt's speech, "The Man in the Arena," saying that it helped him understand Jeremy's dangerous lifestyle.
The speech, in part, read: "... The credit belongs to the man who ... at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."
Reach Mirjam Swanson at
mswanson@PE.com 
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