She said her brother wanted to be an architect. For a time, he had attended Jackson Community College in Adrian, Mich., where he lived, and was planning on going back. He sometimes fixed things in neighbors' houses, even helped build a few, she said, and had a lifelong dream of starting his own construction business.
"Michael is like every kid," she said. "We all struggled through our 20s. He was trying to find his way in life. He was trying to find his purpose."
He and his brother used a Ford pickup truck for their work - the vehicle that police say Michael was driving on the night of the accident. Michael Gagnon had spent part of Sunday evening with his brother and some friends at the Rodeo Bar and Grill in Oregon, near Toledo, when he left abruptly, his brother told The Sun.
Michael Gagnon was seen later at a Taco Bell, where employees deemed him so intoxicated that they called police. Before an officer arrived, he got back into his truck and headed the wrong way on Interstate 280 for about four miles, police said, before the collision with Griffin's minivan.
The Griffin family has issued a statement asking the media to respect their privacy as they grieve.
Lindsay M. Komlanc, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Public Safety, said yesterday that her agency is seeking witnesses "to the individual's behavior at the bar."
Specifically, she said, investigators were trying to determine whether Michael Gagnon had been served alcohol after it was clear that he was inebriated.
Theresa Gagnon said yesterday that she and other members of her family were open to speaking with anyone in the Griffin and Burkman families at any time.
"We understand," she said, "that it's hard right now."
nick.madigan@baltsun.com
A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday at St. Luke Evangelical Lutheran Church, 7001 Harford Road. Carney Elementary School, which two of the children attended, has set up a Burkman/Griffin Fund to help the two families at Bank of America, 1952 E. Joppa Road, Baltimore 21234.
Statement from the Gagnon family
To especially the Griffin and Burkman family, but to also all of the readers of this article:
