By Hector Gutierrez
Rocky Mountain News
August 30, 2005

Brian “Bubba” Kapko packed a lot of living in his 19 years. And he made a lot of friends along the way.

He recently spent time in San Francisco with his brother, Matt, to attend a couple of concerts. Earlier this year, he traveled with his pals to Lake Powell.

He was a member of the Eagle Scouts. He played football for Estancia High School in Orange County, Calif.

Two weeks ago, he moved to Denver, planning to attend college.

On Sunday, hundreds of his friends gathered at the Costa Mesa, Calif., home of his parents, Rick and Nancy Kapko, to share their grief. Brian Kapko was killed when the driver of a suspected stolen car crashed into the sport utility vehicle he was riding in.

Because so many of his buddies came to offer their condolences, police had to be called to the neighborhood to direct traffic.

“We’re talking just hundreds of friends showing up all day long,” Matt Kapko said Monday. “He was very popular. He was the 5-year-old kid who everybody knew.”

Matt Kapko, a reporter for the Bay City News in San Francisco, said his brother and friends were returning home after watching a volleyball tournament in Boulder when their vehicle was struck by a Honda in Adams County.

Brian Kapko was ready to start classes next Tuesday at Johnson & Wales University in Denver.

In addition to his parents and brother Matt, Brian Kapko is survived by another brother, Adam, 22, of McKinleyville, Calif.

“You couldn’t really box him in or anything, and he has friends from different walks of life from kindergarten all the way up,” Matt Kapko said.