SHEPHERDSVILLE, Ky. — A day before laying his brother to rest, Dalton Peterson made a post on Facebook. He asked people with muscle cars or "anything that's loud" to ride by Hardy Cove Funeral Home on Sunday and rev their engines.
"He was really big into muscle cars," Peterson told WHAS11 News, describing Steven Sinclair. "Yeah, we all were growing up," his brother Daniel McCoy added. They described the sound of a car without a muffler as a wide-eyed wonder.
It's a sound they heard a lot Sunday. Dozens of cars rode through, putting a smile on the faces of Steven Junior.
The family said he follows in his father's footsteps.
Three-year-old Stella isn't far behind. She wore a red dress to her father's funeral; Steven's fiancé said she originally bought the dress for Stella to wear as a flower girl at their wedding on the 16th.
While there won't be a wedding, cars driving by helped Steven's family find some good in goodbye.
"There's still good people out there that try to help people whenever they can," Mark Boes said. He didn't know the family, just drove out his '41 Ford Coop to show support.
McCoy described seeing the cars, hearing their sound, "It felt like he was right there with us, watching. It felt like he was right beside us all."
He went on to say it made him feel hopeful in a hard time. "Shows you there are people out there that have heart and compassion and they feel what we're going through," McCoy said.
The number of people who have experienced the pain this family endured is growing.
According to Steven's family, he died of pneumonia after contracting COVID-19. So far this month, at least 283 people have died from the virus in Kentucky. In Indiana, at least 166 people have died this month from the virus.
► Contact reporter Tom Lally at TLally@whas11.com or on Facebook or Twitter.
►Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the WHAS11 News app now. For Apple or Android users.
Have a news tip? Email assign@whas11.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.
RELATED VIDEO