In 2024, the Gatica family lost their only son, Kyler, in a car accident on Highway 840, just 30 minutes from home. He was 16. He would have graduated this year.
But the story of Kyler Gatica didn’t end on that highway. In many ways, it’s just beginning.
Governor Bill Lee recently signed legislation naming a two-mile stretch of 840 the Kyler Gatica Memorial Highway. It’s a tribute to a teenager who was known at school for one thing above all: kindness. He had a gift for befriending the kids who were hardest to reach, the ones who needed a friend most.
His parents, Matt and Stephanie, have channeled their grief into action. They launched the Kyler’s Impact Foundation to carry on the values their son lived by. A buddy bench at his elementary school bears his memory. And now, so does the road their family traveled every day.
When people pass those mile markers, the Gaticas hope it prompts something simple. “Be kind to others,” Matt said. “Treat them like you want to be treated. Because kindness, even in its smallest forms, can change someone’s life. Can save a life.”
Kyler was 16. He is forever 16. And now, he is forever on the highway he called home.
To learn more, visit kylersimpact.org.
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