Hundreds mourn 2 teens who died in Northern California waters. ‘More than just a brother love’
They wanted more: more time, more daredevil memories, more outdoor fun.
They said so with the sniffles that punctuated the air inside Yuba City’s Adventure Church on Saturday morning.
It was evident by the way hundreds of eyes intently watched as photo montages flickered across three giant screens above the sanctuary.
There they were, the young men they had all come to remember: brothers Andruw Bradley Cornett, 19, and Wesley Michael Cornett, 17.
The two died within minutes of each other last December in the Thermolito Afterbay just west of Oroville, with Andruw diving in to try and save his brother whose kayak had overturned as he paddled to get a duck they had brought down.
Avid outdoor enthusiasts, the Cornett brothers had spent much of their free time reveling in the open air, blue streams and wild spaces of Northern California.
Their family and friends celebrated their youthful exuberance but also grieved over two lives cut all too short. At Saturday’s funeral service, Wheatland resident James Patchett recalled that, before he actually met Andruw, he heard about how the teen’s older YZ250 Yamaha bike had blown a crank on the track in Marysville.
Later, Andruw arrived at the track “all smiles, ear to ear, happy as could be” with a brand new YZ250, and it was then that Patchett and his son Jarett got acquainted with Andruw and welcomed him to their group of enthusiasts.
“The new bike Andruw had would eventually need maintenance, and Andruw was the most regimented kid I knew with the dirt bike,” Patchett said. “His bike looked better than most new bikes and always had a fresh air filter and oil change before he rode it.”
Andruw had told him that the new bike was a gift from his grandparents, Patchett said, and later, after Patchett learned that Andruw’s father, Andrew L. Cornett, had died, he and his son made a point of welcoming Andruw into their group of dirt bikers.
If Andruw didn’t have time or money to do maintenance, Patchett said, he wouldn’t ride his bike until he did. And as his new bike aged, Patchett said, he and his son Jarett would often work with Andruw to tear it down and replace worn-out parts.
Andruw also was always willing to help out others with their bikes, Patchett said, and he often pushed his younger brother Wesley to stop playing video games and join him at the track.
Andruw “was seeing himself as a fatherly figure for Wesley and was watching out for his brother,” Patchett said. “He had Wesley under his wing. He had his sisters under his wing. Eventually, if we needed it, he would have taken us under his wings.”
On the screen behind Patchett was a photo of the two brothers in their fishing gear, with angel’s wings hovering behind them, halos over their heads and holding three huge fish.
The two boys’ mother, April Clark, recalled her sons as “daredevil toddlers” who grew to love the outdoors and riding their dirt bikes.” She said they began fishing and hunting at early ages, with Andruw earning his hunter safety card by age 8.
Clark, whose memories were shared by Adventure Church Pastor Greg Mansur, said her sons often rode around Olivehurst on their bicycles, which led Wesley to start racing bicycles. A straight-A student, she said, Wesley was expected to graduate early, this March.
“You can tell the bond they had with each other was more than just a brother love by Andruw sacrificing himself to try and save his little brother, as he would do for anyone,” Mansur read on behalf of the mother. “They may be gone from sight, but they will forever be with us all in our hearts and memories.”
She and her family thanked the diving teams who spent so much time searching to recover Wesley and Andruw, and they sent messages in song to the two young men they had lost.
One came from Cole Swindell’s “You Should Be Here”:
“It’s perfect outside, it’s like God let me dial up the weather
Got the whole crew here, I ain’t seen some of them in forever
It’s one of those never forget it, better stop and take it in kinda scenes
Everything’s just right, yeah, except for one thing
You should be here, standing with your arm around me here
Cutting up, cracking a cold beer
Saying cheers, hey y’all, it’s sure been a good year
It’s one of those moments, that’s got your name written all over it
And you know that if I had just one wish
It’d be that you didn’t have to miss this
You should be here.”
Inside Yuba City’s Adventure Church, personal stories, songs and photos gave mourners a little more of what they wanted. But outside, under the church portico, two long hearses — one black, one white — waited.
This story was originally published February 15, 2025 at 5:50 PM.
