Family expresses devastation at son's loss

The family of James F. Alenson broke their silence yesterday, expressing sorrow at the death of the 15-year-old, who was slain last Friday inside Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School.

"Our family is devastated by the loss of our son, James," said the statement issued on behalf of Alenson's parents, Jon and Carman; his siblings, Grace and Grant Alenson; and the rest of their extended family. "We will carry him in our hearts forever. . . . James adored the Patriots, comedy, and his family."

The family described him as "always the first to offer help, incapable of telling a lie."

"He was a genuinely good person in a world that underappreciates how much joy that brings to the people around them," they said.

Relatives said the freshman from Sudbury, who recently moved from Natick, was an "innocent" who enjoyed working part time at the Natick Community Organic Farm.

He also spent summers at Camp Mi-Te-Na, a YMCA camp in New Hampshire, where he had hoped to become a counselor in training this summer.

Alenson, who was tall and lanky with blue eyes and sandy blond hair, attended Lilja elementary and Wilson middle schools in Natick before the family moved to Sudbury last fall. Alenson, the family said, had a gentle spirit. "He was always embarrassed by the adjectives we had to use to describe him; sweet, funny, kind, considerate, gentle," the family said.

The family also asked for written recollections from anyone who knew him well or had met him even briefly to be mailed to Alenson's Sudbury home or to 365 Boston Post Road, Box 140, Sudbury MA 01776. Memorial services will be private.