Thursday marks the one year anniversary of when things changed for the family of Ridj Parantala.

“He was a goofy, outdoor loving kid,” shared his brother, Joby Parantala.

The 20-year-old Greenway grad had shown up for jury duty at the Itasca County Courthouse, when he had a seizure. That lead to cardiac arrest. Despite efforts to save him, he did not make it.

He’d been stationed in North Dakota as a wildland firefighter.

“We’re so proud he was able to do that for a year before he passed,” his sister Riley Reiser told us.

Parantala was an organ donor, and Donate Life helped coordinate the organ donation.

His family is heartbroken, and has mourned his loss greatly, but also decided to do something meaningful in his honor.

They are calling it the Call of the Wild fundraiser, and it’s coming up Saturday at the Lawrence Lake Liquor Store.

Money raised will be donated to the Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota, Donate Life America, and a new scholarship for graduates of Greenway who want to become wildland firefighters or similar careers. It is also called Call of the Wild Scholarship Fund.

There will be a food available from Chad’s Meat Wagon, who is donating a percentage of sales to the scholarship fund.

The close-knit family now follows a phrase, Live like Ridj, which means living as full of a life as possible.

His nephew, Briar Ridj, will not get to meet Ridj. But does bear his name.