Photos: Balloon Release Honors CTC Academy Student's Sudden Death

Families gathered at the Hoover Elementary School Saturday morning in Bergenfield to honor a 9-year-old boy with special needs who died suddenly this week.

Jojo Birney of Bogota, 9.
Photo Credit: *Birney Family/Sugihono Budiman*

The Lou Harris Challenger team honored Jojo with a balloon release Saturday morning in Bergenfield.
Photo Credit: *Sugihono Budiman*

Families and friends shared memories of Jojo before setting the green and white balloons free.
Photo Credit: *Sugihono Budiman*

The group gathered during soccer practice to honor Jojo.
Photo Credit: *Sugihono Budiman*

Green balloons were for his Irish heritage and white because of his new angel wings.
Photo Credit: *Sugihono Budiman*

Irina Cytowicz Tesoriero, second from left, remembered Jojo as a "special little boy with an amazing spirit."
Photo Credit: *Sugihono Budiman*

Cecilia Levine

10/20/2018 2:15 p.m.

Joseph "Jojo" Birney -- who was a beloved member of the Bergenfield Lou Harris Challenger group -- passed away on Oct. 16.

He was an active participant with the Challenger program, an extracurricular program for youth with special needs. He was also a student at Oakland's CTC Academy.

Green and white balloons were released in his memory -- green for his Irish heritage and white because of his new angel wings.

"He was a special little boy with an amazing spirit that just melted your soul," co-director Irina Cytowicz Tesoriero. "I will forever miss him."

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