Corey’s Cruise holds Corey Comperatore at its center
When Helen Comperatore and her board were planning this year’s Corey’s Cruise, they had one question in mind: “what would Corey do?”
Every detail, down to the choice of music, honored Helen’s late husband, Corey Comperatore, who died two years ago during the failed assassination attempt on then-presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Corey, a Buffalo Township volunteer firefighter, was having the best day of his life at the July 13 rally before he heard the gunshots ring out and died protecting his wife and daughters from the bullets, Helen said.
His final moments mimicked a personal history of service.
“His life was all about saving people,” Helen said. “His last act was that.”
More than two years later, she and Corey Cruise’s board of directors plan 50 weeks ahead of time to bring a day of somber festivities to Western Pennsylvania, analyzing how they can grow and improve the memorial event moving forward.
While planning, Helen keeps a picture of Corey with his statue in view, encouraging those planning his memorial to keep Corey at the center of the work that they do.
“He’s the single thing we do here. Everything. It’s all about him,” Helen said.
For his wife, Corey’s Cruise is what keeps Corey alive, Helen said.
A dedication to keeping that mission, remembering Corey, is a non-negotiable when choosing Corey’s Cruise’s board of directors, she said.
Corey’s Cruise fundraises for first-responders, firefighters, animals rescuers and other organizations that align deeply with the person who Corey was.
This fundraiser is what Corey would have wanted, Corey’s Cruise president Kip Johnson said.
Johnson had known Corey since he was 13 years old.
Peggy Braden, of Cabot, who was also a neighbor of the Comperatore family said Helen and her team succeeded. From the motorcycle parade to the donations to first responders to the doberman rescue, “it’s a full representation of him,” she said. Helen “did good.”
Braden said that Corey was very involved with his neighbors before his death.
“Whether there’s something going on,” she said, “he was there, so everybody knew him.”
With the lives he touched while he was alive, she said she be surprised if the community didn’t show up for Corey and the Comperatore family at the second annual Corey’s Cruise.
It’s in the quiet moments where Helen allows herself to grieve and heal. She finds solace in the still and peace of the sunsets and in the moon. She has begun to find her faith again, a central part of both her and Corey’s lives.
“I’ve seen God show me beautiful things,” she said. “God gave me a beautiful grandson, and he’s the love of my life.”
