For Family, Joyful Weekend Turns Tragic

Steve Masalin described his 15-year-old son, Levi, as an outgoing boy who loved to be around people. “He was the life of the party – but in a good way,” Masalin said Monday of his youngest child. 

Levi spent much of this past weekend surrounded by family and friends as they celebrated milestones and new beginnings. On Saturday, his sister, Hillary, graduated from Three Rivers Community College. The ceremony was in New London, and the Masalins had to rush out of the Garde Arts Center to make it to the North Stonington Bible Church, where Hillary was to be a bridesmaid in her cousin’s wedding Saturday afternoon.

The bride’s only brother, Sr. Airman James Austin, 22, had come all the way from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota. He had been given a special leave to attend the wedding.  

With so many friends and relatives gathered from all over, the celebration continued on Sunday. It was a weekend filled with happiness and great promise for the future.

But the joy turned to despair on Sunday afternoon when cousins James and Levi left to go for a motorcycle ride from which they would not return.

Stonington Police responded to a crash on Route 184 near Taugwonk Road shortly after 4 p.m. Sunday. Austin, originally from Ashaway, RI, was pronounced dead at the scene. His young passenger was taken to Westerly Hospital, where he died a short time later.

News of the tragedy spread quickly through Ledyard, where Steve Masalin, the town’s public works director, is a well-known and respected public official.

Mayor Fred B. Allyn Jr., Masalin’s boss, said he drove to the family’s home at 24 Maple Terrace Sunday night. The house was empty. “There are no words,” Allyn said. “I just wanted to give him a hug.”

Town Councilor Bill Saums, a good friend of Masalin, said he sent a note Monday afternoon. “Just to say I’m here for you, and our hearts are breaking,” he said.

Like all of Steve and Elizabeth Masalin’s children – including David, Alisa and Hillary – Levi was homeschooled. Still, he knew a lot of people in town. His father said he had been a member of the Gallup Hill Baptist Church basketball team for eight years.

“He had many outlets,” Masalin said. “He was just a beloved kid in so many realms. He was a loyal friend.”

On Monday, Ledyard schools Superintendent Dr. Michael Graner said the counseling staff at the high school had reached out to a number of Levi’s friends with the offer of grief counseling.

“We’re just heartbroken by the loss of a young man, 15 years of age,” Graner said. “As you know, we’ve had more than our share of loss in this community, so our hearts go out to the family and we’ll keep them in our prayers.”

Elizabeth Masalin’s mother, Mrs. James Chappell, said the North Stonington Bible Church family has provided an abundance of food and emotional support. “People have been so giving,” said Mrs. Chappell, who lost two grandsons in the weekend crash.

A spokeswoman at Minot Air Force Base said Sr. Airman James Austin was a Response Force member with the Fifth Security Forces Squadron, having enlisted in the service in 2007.

On Monday night the Masalin home was filled with Coast Guard cadets, as it has been on many occasions since Levi’s older brother, David, attended the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. “Levi had a great relationship with the Coast Guard cadets,” Steve Masalin said. “He was like a surrogate little brother to them.”

Masalin said a memorial service for Levi is being planned for Saturday, May 28, at which speakers from various facets of his life will remember him. He said David Masalin is in China and the family is hoping to bring him home in time for his brother’s memorial service.