‘He had a big heart’: Avid biker known for giving back to community, killed in crash

YORK COUNTY, S.C. — Dawn West stood on Hall Spencer Road Monday, staring at a memorial to a man who was a friend to anyone who needed a friend.

“He was our friend. He was a brother, a daddy, a son,” West said.

Jamie Jolly, 37, was killed doing what he loved, riding his Harley-Davidson motorcycle. He was on Hall Spencer Road south of Rock Hill just after dark Sunday night when troopers said he lost control of his bike, veered off the left side of the road into several trees, and then a fence.

At the scene of the crash now stands a new memorial and “rest in peace” painted in the roadway.

Jolly’s friends can’t understand how the crash could have happened. They said Jolly had driven that stretch of road hundreds of times.

“He knew this road,” West told Channel 9. “Just can’t explain it. It was just his time.”

West had last seen Jolly only an hour before his death, at a bonfire at the biker club known as the Handle Bar on Highway 21 outside of Rock Hill.

“We got to give him a hug and tell him we love him,” said West. “Got to find comfort in that, I guess.”

Jolly was a regular at the Handle Bar, but he was more than that, according to the owner, Jeff Towery.

“We’re like a big family,” he said. “We’re a tight-knit group.”

A group that also got together to serve their community. Jolly was always involved in benefits, fund drives and toy drives during the holidays. One event took place just this past weekend to benefit a children’s home in Lancaster County.

Towery told Channel 9 that Jolly was always up for helping people.

“The boy just had a big heart. Always smiling,” Towery said.

Jolly leaves behind several young children -- and a community that will miss his devotion to others.

Some of his friends said that whenever he’d be about to go somewhere, Jolly uttered a special phrase -- one they all knew.

“He’d throw his arms out wide and say, ‘Hello World!’ That was Jamie,” Towery said.

South Carolina state troopers said on Monday that they are still investigating what led up to the accident. The wreck happened coming out of a curve onto a straightaway.

There is no indication that any other vehicles were involved.

Check back with wsoctv.com for updates.

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