MACON, Ga. — The Macon community and a local burger joint remembered the life of one Central Georgia man on Saturday.
Ryan Cooper died in a motorcycle accident last weekend on his birthday. Bear Burgers' owner Jonathon Keene, who put the event together, remembers Cooper as a kind person, a family man and a burger lover.
“He was one of my friends for certain and one of our customers," Keene said. "He started coming to eat with us when we had our restaurant over at shell gas station on Thomaston and became a regular and a really good guy and good friend."
The restaurant sold the Cooper Burger in an effort to raise money for his family. While not Cooper's favorite burger, the Lord of the Rings burger — a large patty topped with onion rings — this one .
Bear Burgers plans to take all proceeds made from the Cooper Burger and give it to his family. They're donating 10% of today's sales.
Keene said that people who knew Cooper didn't think he had many friends or people looking out for him. However, he was thankful for everyone coming out and glad people showed up for him.
“I think the most important thing that we can probably take away from his passing is that if you care about somebody and you love somebody and you're friends with somebody, don't wait until they're gone to show it,” Keene said.