SACRAMENTO, Calif. – In front of the Wingert household in Sacramento Thursday morning was a scene straight out of Adam West’s “Batman.”
Parked out front was a 1966 Batmobile – Joshua Wingert loved Batman.
“He liked other guys but that was it, Batman was the man,” Joshua’s mother, Jessica, told KTXL.
“He liked the 60s, you know, the cheesy television show,” said his father, Jeff.
“In the hospice we went through the whole series,” said Jessica.
At 6-months-old Joshua was diagnosed with leukemia. At a year old he went through a bone marrow transplant.
Joshua continued to grow stronger, using the caped crusader as inspiration. But before his freshman year of high school, his family was given some life-altering news.
“On one particular MRI that they had done they found something and they said they found a tumor on his brain stem,” Jeff Wingert said.
In February, Joshua passed away.
Before he died, Joshua met Bob Goldsand, who just so happens to own one of only eight replica Batmobiles in the world. Goldsand took Joshua on a ride.
“Josh is a great kid. We went out for a 40-minute ride,” Goldsand said. “He was talking about his future and how he wanted to be famous. He ran over to his parents and said, ‘This is the best day of my life.'”
The 17-year-old had one last request — to ride again in the front seat of the Dark Knight’s car. So his parents and Goldsand made it come true.
His urn was seated in his younger brother Jacob’s lap. The Batmobile was escorted by Sacramento Police from the Wingerts’ home past David Lubin Elementary School. Students cheered and held signs of the Bat-Signal as the car passed by.
They drove in front of Kit Carson International Academy where Joshua went to high school before ending the procession at East Lawn Cemetery.
Joshua’s parents knew it was the perfect way to give their son his final ride.
“This is one of those things,” Jeff Wingert said. “I was asking Jess before we started, I said, ‘Do you think he would he have liked this today?’ And absolutely, absolutely.”