Hundreds of friends and family gathered Wednesday evening at the Paint Branch Unitarian Church to celebrate the life of Bradford C. Bacon, a 41-year-old Brentwood man that died after being struck by a train a week ago.

The memorial was an four-hour open forum where people could take the microphone and express their love for Bacon through thoughts, songs and stories.

Photos of Bacon and his art were in the lobby of the church and guests could draw an image on a fabric to be sewn into a prayer flag for Bacon's parents to take home to Beverly, Mass.

Andrew Farrington, one of Bacon's friends, opened the ceremony with a story about B-Rad's adventurous side, when he found him standing 20 feet above the street on a power line, smoking a cigarette.

Bacon's mother, Anne, talked about his love of climbing and how it started at a young age. When he was two-and-a-half, she found that he had climbed up to the third-story balcony.

"He was probably the happiest person that we've ever known or loved," she said, "Brad's a part of the universe now and we should all celebrate his life."

Bill Thomas, the Boys Scouts Troop 224 leader, said that Brad often lead camping trips and would disappear for hours.

"Sometimes I didn't even know where he slept," Thomas said, noting he'd always come back. "I feel like he's just out in the woods somewhere."

Bacon's son, Emery, who's also is in the boys scouts, was greeted by the troop who showed up to honor Bacon's life.

Other friends told stories of road trips, sang and played some of his favorite songs and shared moments with the group, like Shauna, who said Bacon always hugged her a special way, when he'd run up behind her, grab her and spin her around in a circle.

"He was very kind and patient," Thomas said, "he had the most amazing ability to go away into the woods and show up when you least expected him to be there."