Tuesday, May. 13, 2008

Fun-loving Cale liked to get the last word with friends

Travis Cale’s bonds of friendship began in his Greenville neighborhood, sustained him through school and died with him in a North Carolina beach town.

The 19-year-old USC freshman grew up in an upper-middle-class Greenville neighborhood that had the unimaginative name of Round Pond.

“We would put five people in a little johnboat and go fishing,” said Brayden Wynn, a friend of Cale’s since the first grade. “Growing up around Round Pond, that’s what we did for fun.”

A snapshot of a younger Cale fishing on the tranquil pond was on the cover of his funeral bulletin Saturday.

The group fished in the neighborhood pond most days, sometimes even before going to school, Wynn, 20, said.

When Cale wasn’t fishing or four-wheeling he was strumming his guitar, listening to country tunes or lovingly taunting his friends.

From the seventh grade through their senior year at J.L. Mann Academy, Cale and Wynn cemented their friendship on the baseball diamond.

Cale played second base. Wynn was a first baseman on the junior varsity and varsity teams.

Cale reveled in having the last word with his wide group of friends.

Brendan Smith recalled a rare occasion of winning an argument with Cale as girls they both wanted to impress listened. “Well, at least I don’t have red hair,” Cale said in a parting shot.

“All the girls laughed at me and my face turned redder than my hair,” Smith said.

Yet on a day when Smith was having a particularly tough day dealing with his father’s death from cancer, Cale skipped school and they went fishing on the pond where both found solace.

During Cale’s wake Saturday, his johnboat floated gently on the pond. On that day, his fishing pole and one of his mighty collection of USC baseball caps poked from a spray of funeral flora.

The Cales are a USC family. Father Steve Cale graduated from the school, and raised his son’s in Gamecock traditions. USC’s signature song, “2001,” was played during the wake.

Burns Cale, 24, enrolled at USC while Travis was in high school and then joined the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. His little brother followed him to Columbia and the fraternity.

Together, the brothers “had a certain swagger that separated them from the crowd,” Smith said.

“He was a real good guy,” Burns Cale said of Travis. “It’s been real hard on my family.”

Cale’s striking girlfriend, Emily Yelton, attended Mann but was part of a Clemson University family. She became a Tiger but continued to date Cale. They both died in the charred beach house.

Cale’s group of friends at Mann included best friend Justin Anderson as well as Tripp Wylie. Wylie was the only one of the high school group to leave the beach house alive.

Relatives describe Cale as laid back and comical once he became comfortable with new acquaintances.

Cale’s good looks, big smile and confidence made him a bit cocky, Wynn said.

Yet mostly, Cale was easy-going, warm and caring.

“He just sets you at ease,” said cousin Robert Wooley, 25. “He was a typical college student, going to games, hanging out with friends.”

But to Wynn he was more than a typical friend.

“We just knew what each of us was feeling,” he said. “You always felt wanted when you were around him.”

Thinking back on the crew from Mann high school, Wynn said, “We’ve got a good group of friends. We’ll be there for each other.”

Reach LeBlanc at (803) 771-8664.

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