People ‘genuinely drawn’ to Bend man killed in crash

(Update: Correcting hometown; comments from Bend High coach, co-worker)

Adding comments from Friends and family are mourning the loss of Bend resident Greg Vibbert, who died in a motorcycle crash Wednesday in Wheeler County.

Vibbert, 26, worked on-call at J Bar J Youth Services in Bend.

He graduated from Bend Senior High, where he played football, and he remained heavily involved with the team, according to Coach Matt Craven.

“When someone met Greg, they knew exactly what they were getting,” Craven said Thursday. “There were no pretenses around him. There was no hiding who he was. He was never going to give you a false character. He was going to stand up he was going to tell you exactly who he was.”

“He was going to treat you with respect,” Craven added. “Because of that, people were genuinely drawn to him and they sincerely enjoyed being around him.”

OSP troopers and emergency personnel responded around 12:40 p.m. Wednesday to the reported crash at milepost 27.5, OSP Captain Timothy Fox said.

A preliminary investigation found that Vibbert was riding a 1987 Harley-Davidson Heritage motorcycle heading south, while a 2001 Peterbilt truck driven by a 63-year-old Hermiston man was heading north, Fox said.

Fox said Vibbert lost control of the motorcycle and laid it on its side before the two vehicles collided near the center line on a curve.

At the time of the crash, Vibbert was riding with his dad, Terry Vibbert, who owns Jersey Boys Pizzeria in Redmond.

Family friend Tina Redd said Greg Vibbert will be missed immensely.

“All of Terry’s sons have worked here at the pizzeria, so it’s a family business, family-run. So we all met Greg while he was working here,” Redd said.

“What a kid. He’s going to be missed,” she added. “Really going to miss him. Always smiling. Always trying to take his talents and do something good with them.”

Craven said Greg Vibbert knew exactly how to lighten the mood during a big game.

“When the chips were down, might call time-out, head out and you’ve got 11 guys looking at you like, ‘This means the world. What are we going to do?” Craven said.

“And that was the perfect time for Vibbert to jump in and say, ‘Hey coach!’ Crack a joke in the middle of the Mountain View game. And because of that, I think it made everyone around play better, because no moment was ever too big for Greg, and it made people want to be around him,” Craven said.