MSU student killed in car accident

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Friends and family of Jeremy Sobczak-Obetts remember his natural talent in every endeavor, his ambition to pay his way through college and his irreplaceable sense of humor, which kept everyone around him laughing.

“He always had the ability to make everybody laugh,” said Michelle Sobczak, his mother, who called Sobczak-Obetts one of her best friends. “He will be missed daily, because there just wont be the humor anymore.”

Sobczak-Obetts, a 23-year-old food service management senior, died at about 3:15 a.m. Saturday after the vehicle he was riding in veered from the road and wrapped around a tree in Ada Township, in Grand Rapids, a Kent County Sheriff’s Department official said. The white SUV was ripped into multiple pieces when it struck the tree, said Eric Hutchinson, an emergency communications operator with the department.

Hutchinson said alcohol was a factor in the accident. The car was driven by Sobczak-Obetts’ neighbor and friend of 15 years, Andy Tittle. Tittle suffered minor injuries and is being held at the Kent County jail. Hutchinson said he did not know what charges were being sought against Tittle.

Sobczak-Obetts’ sister, Stacy Obetts, said her family supports Tittle. She said they understand nothing can bring Sobczak-Obetts back, and they don’t want Tittle to suffer further.

“I hope I can remember Jeremy through Andy,” she said. “He’s so close to our family, maybe he can become like a brother, too. Our family is going to be bound together forever because of this.”

A 2004 graduate of Northview High School, Sobczak-Obetts planned to graduate in December and had dreams of moving to Tampa, Fla., to work with his mother in a nursing agency. He also was a talented athlete, ranked No. 3 pitcher in Michigan as a junior in high school.

“He was good at everything he did,” Sobczak said. “He picked up a Ping-Pong paddle and knew how to play Ping-Pong. I remember one time he sat down at a piano and knew how to play piano. … What can I say? I’m his mother, but this is the truth.”

To his friends, Sobczak-Obetts was a fun person to spend time with, his close friend and criminal psychology junior Courtney Grant said.

“He was definitely a lot of fun,” Grant said. “He liked to joke around a lot. We always laughed when he was around.”

Stacy Obetts said she remembers the irreplaceable sense of humor she shared with her brother through a love for comedian Dane Cook and the text messages he sent her each day.

“The other day, he took a picture while he was in class and writes under the text, ‘Doesn’t this look like fun?’” she said. “He was my everything.”

Sobczak-Obetts will be “missed dearly” by friends and family, his father, Tim Obetts, said.

“We’re looking forward to seeing him in a different place at a different time — a special place in a different time,” he said.

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