The Gift of Music: A Plainfield Teen’s Lasting Legacy

Even death couldn’t silence Tyler Montgomery.

More than a year after the Plainfield teen was killed in an accident, he’s bringing music to students at Guardian Angel Community Services’ Dillard Harris Educational Center in Joliet.

• VIDEO: Watch Tyler’s parents releasing butterflies and balloons in his memory
• Take a video tour of the music room on YouTube

"He was so passionate about music since he was little," cousin Candice Armour said. "He was so talented, and he wrote so many beautiful words."

On Tyler’s 21st birthday, the TwoCanSam Recording Studio — named for the moniker he took on as a member of local rap group Midwest Mathematics — officially opened.

Dillard Harris students in second through 12th grade will be able to use the studio as an outlet, working through their struggles by creating music, according to program director Laura Coan.

Kids will have to earn the right to use the studio, which was made possible through the work of Bright Horizons Foundation for Children.

Armour works for the organization, which creates “Bright Spaces,” designed to be warm, enriching places at shelters, hospitals and schools for children and families to decompress.

On his 21st birthday, “We get to give him one last gift,” Armour said, adding Tyler would be pleased with the studio built in his name.

“This is what Tyler would want, and he spent his life making people happy,” she said of the teen, known for his bright hair colors and his ability to make a friend of anyone he met.

“We’ll use it as an incentive program, but also in counseling,” Coan said. “Students will be able to go in and do music and work through their issues.” Kids will be able to record their own CDs, Coan said, and they’ll also be able to design their own album covers.

The recording studio is a one-of-kind addition to Dillard Harris, Coan said.

“You have no idea how many people Tyler is going to touch through this program,” she said. “No other special education school has anything like this.”

Montgomery was 19 — just more than a month shy of his 20th birthday — when he and the love of his life, 18-year-old Alexis Banuelos, died in a car accident on Route 126 near Schlapp Road in Oswego. Their friend, 19-year-old Brian Herrera of Plainfield, was also killed in the crash.

Read: ‘They Had a Beautiful Life:’ Vigil Held for Teens Killed in Crash

More than one of his relatives noted that it’s fitting that Tyler’s Bright Space is at Guardian Angel. “That’s what he is to us,” mom Lydia Montgomery said.

'Tyler, It's Your Gift to the World'

Dad Mike Montgomery recalled Tyler’s early love of music.

“When he was 3 or 4 years, we got him a Fisher Price keyboard,” Montgomery remembered. “He would figure out how to play music on it.”

That love continued as Tyler got older and started creating his own music — and grew into a well-liked teen known for his unusual hairstyles.

“He put glue in his hair, he put Jell-O in his hair,” Mike Montgomery said. “I don’t think he missed a color in his hair color choices … I think almost every single yearbook had a comment from his teacher saying, ‘Thanks for the colors.’”

But Tyler was known for his warm personality as much as for his vibrant hair.

“Tyler was friends with everyone,” Mike Montgomery said. “He never got angry. He told everyone he thought it was a waste of energy.”

Now, Tyler will live on forever thanks to music, his dad said.

“I’m so proud of my son,” he said.

Decked out with equipment courtesy of Guitar Center in Joliet and built with the help of the Naperville Home Depot Store, the TwoCanSam Recording Studio is painted in bright hues — much like the flashy colors Tyler used to dye his hair — and is equipped with everything students need to record a CD.

Asked what his son would think about the studio, Mike Montgomery summed it up in one word: “Awesome.”

Tyler’s passion for music made sense to Guardian Angel counselor Martin Urba.

“Music has been something magic in my life,” he said. “I can look back at any part of my life and I can tell you how music helped me. When you work in special education, you need all the help you can get — you need a little magic.”

Urba said the recording studio will help troubled students give voice to their feelings.

“Thank you, Tyler, for this gift of music,” Urba said. “This gift of healing.”

Reading from a letter she wrote to her brother, Tiffany Montgomery noted that it was a different kind of celebration than she had envisioned for Tyler’s 21st birthday.

“I always imagined your 21st birthday, but I never thought you wouldn’t be here for it,” she said. But thanks to the studio, Tiffany told her brother, “Your legacy will live on, just like you wanted … It is our final gift to you, Tyler, but it’s your gift to the world and it will never stop giving.”

VIDEO: Watch Tyler’s parents releasing butterflies and balloons in his memory