FRESNO, Calif. ( KSEE/KGPE ) – A senior at Edison High School in Fresno is building a Peace Garden on campus to commemorate the life of a former student and Caltrans engineer who passed away in tragic circumstances.
Matthew Pitcher, the Associated Student Body President at Edison High School, says that the idea to build the garden came as a passion project. Pitcher says he wanted to leave behind something evergreen for the school that nurtured him for four years – the school where Ali Shabazz also attended and left his own legacy.
Edison High School alumnus Ali Shabazz was an engineer with Caltrans who was killed in August 2022 in a two-vehicle crash in Mendota. At the time, Governor Gavin Newsom described Shabazz as “a dedicated Caltrans employee who served the people of California for more than 16 years.” Shabazz also served as the head of the Masjid Al-Aqaba Mosque.
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“Mr. Shabazz was a large part of the community, serving as the imam at the local mosque right up the street from Edison,” Associated Student Body President Matthew Pitcher said. “He and his wife actually met at Edison High School – and [ended up] having eight kids that attend Edison High School.”