'Beautiful, Shiny, Amazing': Legacy Of South OC Boy Lives On

COTO DE CAZA, CA — Over 200 bouquets filled the front yard of a residential home in south Orange County last week — the legacy of one young Coto de Caza boy who died unexpectedly in September.

The community-based effort spearheaded by Mission Viejo resident Tephani McCleave aims to help the Rofer family after the loss of 8-year-old Bradley Rofer by continuing a charity that Bradley created in 2020: Bradley's Beautiful Bouquets.

The idea was special and simple: crowd-source flowers, vases and other clippings to create beautiful bouquets to sell and donate the money to the Rofer family. Dozens of residents, young and old, volunteered their time and garden trimmings. Florists across Orange County agreed to donate flowers in bulk.

The call to action resonated deeply withMcCleave, as her family had personally been “blessed” by Bradley’s Beautiful Bouquets in November 2020, she said. Her family was one of many to come into contact with Bradley’s light.

McCleave posed the idea to Facebook, where she was inundated with responses from residents looking to help.

"We had people clipping ferns in their backyard, citrus leaves - it was truly a community endeavor," McCleave said.

In the end, the effort was successful — the Orange County community was able to raise roughly $2,000 for the Rofer family.

"Everyone who showed up really found joy in the work," McCleave said. "I already have people asking me, 'when are we doing the next one?'"

McCleave and the dozens of south Orange County volunteers who helped with the first batch of bouquets are looking to solidify Bradley's legacy by converting the bouquet business into a local nonprofit.

Accomplishing that feat is hard work, and the effort needs a few more helping hands to get it running.

Most pressing, McCleave said, is the need for a tech-savvy volunteer who can help create a website to process bouquet orders. She asked residents interested in volunteering to contact her through Facebook for more information.

She's also looking for potential nonprofit board members, residents looking to volunteer time and donations needed to keep the flowers and vases rolling in. Through this effort, McCleave and the rest of the south Orange County community are ensuring that Bradley's legacy lives on.

But that's just one part of a story that goes full circle, McCleave told Patch.

An Upstanding Young Boy

Bradley Rofer believed not only in being a part of his community, but in going above and beyond to make sure that those who needed a helping hand — or a hug — got one.

This belief propelled Bradley through his life and made him an infectious joy to be around for loved ones and strangers alike, McCleave said.

Bradley passed away after he was struck by a truck near his Coto de Caza home on Sept. 1. According to police reports, Bradley was riding his bike to school with his helmet on through a crosswalk when the driver of the truck made a left turn.

The crash left Bradley with critical injuries that ultimately took his life. His mother, Josette Rofer, described him as "shiny, beautiful and amazing" to the Orange County Register.

“Anybody who knew him knows he was an old soul,” Rofer told the OC Register. “I went to him for guidance.”

Reading dense novels at the age of six, starting businesses to benefit the Orange County community — these are only a few notable accomplishments Bradley achieved in his life, but McCleave said nothing could express the lasting impact that Bradley left on the lives of south Orange County residents.

A Young Business With A Big Heart

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Bradley had little interest in passing time by playing video games or watching television. The boy took it upon himself to start a successful business of his own: Bradley's Beautiful Bouquets.

It was a flower business just like any adult would run — except for one significant detail. Bradley would give the money he made through selling bouquets to young cancer patients in Orange County.

"This little boy at six years old thought, 'what can I do during COVID? I'm sitting and bored out of my mind...' And then he just started with picking up donated flowers and making a few bouquets," McCleave said. "It just started growing bigger and bigger, and now, we’re here two years after."

McCleave's son, Bradyn McCleave— known affectionately as BAM McWarrior by his family and friends — was one of the first recipients of Bradley's fundraising efforts. Three-year-old Bradyn was diagnosed with cancer just sixty days after he was born, his mother said.

Unprompted, Bradley raised a little over $1,700 for Bradyn and his family — an act that would bond the Rofer and the McCleave families for life.

"We developed a friendship and watched their family grow," McCleave said. "We were heavily involved in baseball, and we’d run into each other in the baseball fields — on bad days, Bradley touched base with me to see how we were doing."

"Bradley was a little old soul. It was almost like you were talking to somebody who has lived a thousand lives before," she continued. "He was wise beyond his years and very empathetic, and when you were dealing with him you weren’t dealing with a grown up … he knew when he didn’t know what to say, he would just ask if he could give me a hug."

Nothing could prepare the close-knit community of south Orange County for the sudden loss of Bradley, McCleave said. She said Bradley touched the lives of many residents in need of a little brightness and did more in his brief time on earth than many adults do their entire lives.

She and the community are honored to continue Bradley's legacy through fervent hard work and love for both Bradley and his family.

"He brought an entire community together during a pandemic, and when the community started to divide, he brought them back together in this post-pandemic lifestyle,” McCleave said. "I genuinely believe that despite the fact that he was taken away so soon from us, he left behind a legacy, and maybe that was what he was here for — to bring awareness to his mission, his platform. And that’s what he did.”