Stephen Wust, 26: Eagle Scout with plans to become a nurse

By Rick Badie

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

In March, Stephen Wust decided to ditch his car for something less expensive to operate.

A motorcycle. He bought a Honda Shadow.

Mr. Wust rode the bike everywhere. To travel to the Newton campus of Georgia Perimeter College. To visit his parents, Carl and Sharon Wust of Conyers.

"Gas was going up," his mother said.  "So he decided to trade his car in."

Mr. Wust was careful on the highways. He looked out for other motorists. He knew that, generally, motorists don't see motorcycles.

"He was remarkably safe," his father said. "And he loved his bike."

On Tuesday, Mr. Wust was involved in a crash at Sigman Road and I-20 in Conyers.  A motorist was making a left-hand turn off Sigman Road and onto I-20.  She didn't see Mr. Wust.  He tried to lay the bike down. The car ran over him. He died at the scene.

The funeral for Stephen Andrew Wust, 26, of  Covington, will be held at 11 a.m. today at St. Pius X Catholic Church in Conyers.  Horis A. Ward Funeral Home, Rockdale chapel,  is in charge of arrangements.

Instead of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the emergency fund of Boy Scout Troop 410 at St. Pius, which Mr. Wust belonged to. He was an Eagle Scout.  His project:  to clear an overgrown patch in front of St. Pius, the family church.

"He took out all the poison ivy," his mother said.

Mr. Wust was born in Wilmington, Del. He was 3 when the family moved to metro Atlanta. His father, a research engineer, had transferred with a chemical company in Covington.

A love for soccer started at a young age. He played all positions, but excelled at forward. At Heritage High, he lettered in the sport. He played on a travel team for the Rockdale Youth Soccer Association.

Mr. Wust will be buried in a season he always enjoyed. When he was younger, he would attend Halloween parties or visit haunted houses with his girlfriend or friends. Or he'd just stay home and terrorize trick-or-treaters.

"He would dress up like a scarecrow and sit outside with a bowl of candy," said brother Rick Wust of Covington. "He'd sit real still, and if a kid tried to take more than one piece, he would scare the crap out of them. He was fun-loving."

He was a skilled pumpkin-carver, too. When his brother, Chris Wust of Athens got married last October, Mr. Wust carved a monogrammed tribute to the couple. He worked on it the night before the wedding.

"Our wedding photographer like it so much she put it in our wedding album,"  his brother said.

Mr. Wust was an outdoors man. He liked water sports, to backpack, fish and kayak.

In December, he was to have graduated with an associate's degree in business.  He'd talked about becoming a nurse.

"He was trying real hard," his mother said.