Memorial ride held for motorcyclist killed in Cape Coral crash

Family, friends, and community members celebrated the life of Blaine “Gator” Elmer this weekend.

Elmer died last week in a crash. He was described as a friend, a patriot, a brother, and always in service to others. That’s how friends say they’ll remember him.

Elmer was a part of Punishers LEMC Bad Company, a motorcycle club, and Saturday’s ride from The Ranch in Fort Myers to the scene of his crash in Cape Coral was all about celebrating him and the way he lived his life.

Joan Colosimo helped organize the ride. “He was phenomenal, he was a pillar of the community. He gave so much. There was not a person that he met that didn’t become a close friend. He was just an awesome person. He really was a great man.”

A life everyone agrees was taken much too soon.

“We miss you, brother. It’s been a hard time for all of us,” said friend Bill Moon.

The hundreds of people who showed up from all parts of Southwest Florida are just a testament to his character.

“It’s a statement to who he was and who he always will be. Just to see the amount the people, not even just Punishers, but the community coming together, veteran community, local community, just a statement of who he always will be,” said a friend named Whiskey.

Those who loved him most say they’ll do their best to honor him.

“He never hesitated, and he was always in service to others, and he lived his life by that and we hope to honor that and do the same,” Whiskey said.

“He is looking down and he is seeing all this and he is very happy to see what is happening here,” said Carol Jensen, Elmer’s fiancée.

The Punishers say they’ll continue to host fundraisers to support Elmer’s daughter-in-law and granddaughter. Sea Craft Waterfront Tiki, the North Fort Myers restaurant he co-owned with his son, who died of a heart attack the same morning, is closed until further notice.