Former Batavia Student Who Died of Cancer to be Honored at Friday's Game

BATAVIA, IL — Batavia and Geneva high schoolers will put their rivalry aside at Friday night's varsity football game to honor a former Batavia high school student who recently died of cancer.

2010 Batavia High School graduate Jay Burger died in June at age 24 after a 21-month battle with Ewing's Sarcoma, a rare bone cancer. Fans from both high school teams will wear specially designed black T-shirts to remember Burger. Nearly 9,000 people are expected to attend the game at Batavia High School, The Daily Herald reports.

Proceeds from T-shirt sales, a raffle, and donations will be given to Jay's Hope, an Advocate Charitable Foundation that raises money and grants for college students and recent graduates who are undergoing cancer treatment. Since Burger passed a few months ago, the foundation has already received more than $30,000 in donations, according to The Daily Herald.

"In his two-year battle, the entire community really rallied around him, specifically the Batavia High School football, basketball and baseball teams," Burger's mother, Kelly Jo Golson, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Advocate Health Care, told The Daily Herald. "I know that Jay would be very touched."

Burger was a well known Batavia fan who was an avid leader of the student fan group when he was in high school. Even after he graduated, Burger was usually front and center at the games to support his younger brother Luke, who's a senior defensive back for the Bulldogs.

"Every game I get pretty emotional just because of how much I enjoyed looking up and being able to see him in the stands," Burger's brother Luke, 17, said to The Daily Herald. "He was always there watching the team no matter what. He wasn't only a big brother figure to me, but to a lot of my friends. The emotions will definitely be there for everyone because it's a big night."

Burger was diagnosed with cancer just six weeks before he graduated from the University of Iowa with a marketing degree. He had started a marketing job for the Chicago Bulls, but had to stop working to undergo treatment.

"Despite undergoing grueling treatment, there were many times we would literally leave the hospital after chemo and he would go straight to the football stands just to support Luke," Golson said.

Dennis Piron, Batavia High School head football coach and math teacher, told The Daily Herald the goal is to sell 1,000 T-shirts and raise $5,000 at this Friday's game.

"I'm glad that the game that we play can serve something extremely important. Our kids are really honored to be part of it," Piron told The Daily Herald. "Jay touched the lives of so many people around him. No doubt, his strength will be felt in Bulldog Stadium on Friday night."

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