One thought comforts Kimberly and David Gregory and Manuel and Maria Vega about the Oakland warehouse fire that claimed the lives of their children: the image of the young couple, embracing each other in their final moments.
Michela Gregory and Alex Vega went to the Friday night event at the Ghost Ship to dance together. Authorities released Gregory’s name late Monday, and the Vegas got a visit they were dreading about their youngest son at 2:30 a.m. Tuesday from San Bruno police.
“There were some folks that were found hugging each other,’’ David Gregory said through tears Tuesday. “I believe my daughter and Alex were hugging each other. To the end, they were together, trying to help each other, I’m sure. I know it.’
Michela, 20, was identified by way of her driver’s license, Alex, 22, by fingerprints, the Alameda County Coroner’s office told the families.
Dan Vega, Alex Vega’s oldest brother has been shepherding his parents back and forth from their San Bruno home to the fire victim’s family crisis center in Oakland for days. He agrees with David Gregory: “At least we know they were together, and maybe they died together, protecting each other,’’ he said, choking back tears.
When San Bruno police arrived, officers gave the family the phone number to the Alameda County Coroner’s office.
“We knew it was going to be real after Monday night, when Mayor (Libby) Schaaf didn’t call it a rescue operation anymore,” Dan Vega said. “It was a recovery effort, and that’s when it hit me: that he was not going to be with us anymore.”
The memories of the two young adults in love and on the brink of a future together make the tragedy even harder for the families.
“She was a very caring person,” David Gregory said. “She wouldn’t hurt a fly. She became a vegetarian in high school, and then she became a vegan because she could not stand hurting animals. That is the kind of person she was — she was against cruelty toward anybody, against bullying anybody. She was the kind of person that we need in this world.’’
Michela Angelina Gregory, born in Redwood City and raised in San Bruno and South San Francisco, was always athletic — first in soccer, then in softball. She was good enough that she made the varsity team at South San Francisco High School.
She adored music, especially the electronic dance music that was being played at the warehouse Friday night. She also loved exploring her creative side, not only with stylish clothing, but versatile hairstyles and colorful, bold makeup, which she taught herself to apply. “She watched tutorials on YouTube,” said her mother, who has a tattoo of the faces of Michela and Michela’s older brother on her arm.
Michela, her parents said, worked hard for everything, from her schoolwork at San Francisco State, where she was a junior on the honor roll studying child development, to her part-time jobs over the years, where her bosses praised her disciplined, responsible nature.
“She was very ambitious,’’ said Brittany Lima, her former manager at Ulta, a beauty supply store in San Bruno.“She would always want to do more.’’
Most recently, she had been working at Urban Outfitters on Fillmore Street in San Francisco, and had just started a clerical job at Duggan’s Serra Mortuary in Daly City, where Alex Vega worked, too.
“So many people have messaged us to tell us she was an inspiration to them; she taught them so much and guided them in the right direction,’’ her father said.
Michela and Alex met through a mutual friend and had been dating for five years, the families said. The Gregorys saw how easily they clicked, how they shared the same interests, from music to fashion.
They saw that he, too, was always working hard, whether it was valet parking at UCSF Medical Center’s Mission Bay campus, or at the mortuary, where a supervisor said he worked assisting families.
Alexander Benjamin Vega was born in Antioch, and like Michela, raised in San Bruno.
The Capuchino High School graduate was tall, skinny and shy.
“He was an introvert,’’ Dan Vega said, but music and dance parties brought out Alex’s fun-loving side.
Despite a 14-year difference in age, he said, the two brothers were close. In recent years, he said, they bonded over the same interests: music and cars. Last year, Alex saved up to buy the car of his dreams: a 1999 silver Mazda Miata.
Alex also liked to “dabble’’ in art — he painted or drew figures on canvases that were up at his parent’s home. He liked to take photographs. When he wasn’t at work, he dressed in clothing with lots of zippers, mesh shirts, tinted colored sunglasses, and sneakers. But when he did dress up, he looked elegant.
He hadn’t yet decided on a career, said Dan Vega, but friends said it seemed like he “was always working.’’
His best friend Alex Vargas, 23, still remembers the first time he met his buddy — in fourth grade summer school when Alex Vega heard him talking about cars.
“We did everything together,’’ Vargas recalled. “I would eat dinner at his house, we’d go skateboarding, ride BMX bikes.’’
By seventh grade, they were listening to music. Over the years, punk and rap became their favorites.
He said Alex Vega in the last few years had been part of a small group that staged and booked underground rap music shows, often in Oakland, but also at established venues that Vargas and others said required permits and security.
Alex, who lived at home to save money, left with Michela on Friday night. The two took BART to Oakland.
“Honestly, I believe they were made for each other,’’ Vargas said. “Not just a boyfriend or girlfriend thing. They found each other. They were soulmates.’’
A memorial for Alex Vega and Michela Gregory will be held from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday at the Vega family home, 777 Easton Avenue, San Bruno.
Stories about other Ghost Ship live-work warehouse fire victims are here. For ongoing coverage of the tragedy go to this page, which has the latest stories followed by earlier coverage.
