Minneapolis skateboarding community mourns one of their own who fell from Stone Arch Bridge

Friends and family remembered with fondness and sorrow a well-known figure among Minneapolis skateboarders whose body was recovered from the Mississippi River on Tuesday, more than three weeks after he fell into the water while trying to leave his "KGOD" moniker on the Stone Arch Bridge.

The Hennepin County Water Patrol launched near St. Anthony lock and dam and made the recovery, said the Sheriff's Office. The body was taken to the Medical Examiner's Office to confirm the identity and determine a cause of death.

Those closest to 27-year-old Kyle Alexander remembered him Thursday as a devoted South Sider who was a constant and smiling presence with a board at Elliot Park just south of the downtown core.

Alexander was with others on the Stone Arch Bridge on May 1 when "he climbed over the fence to go down to a different level" and fell in, said his mother, Mary Alexander.

Friend Chris Hamilton said, "Kyle died attempting to tag his legacy 'KGOD' on the Stone Arch Bridge [and] unfortunately he slipped and lost his life."

Kyle Alexander's identification with Elliot Park was so strong that an online petition with about 2,400 signatures and counting is urging city officials to rename the park in his honor.

"People knew, if you went to skate Elliot Park, you were gonna see Kyle," the petition read. "Changing the name from Elliot Park to Kyle Alexander Park would give his family and the whole Minneapolis skate community a sense of relief and happiness through these hard times."

Andrew Helminiak, who worked with Alexander at a downtown Minneapolis grocery store, said, "Everyone in the skateboard community is taking it really hard."

Helminiak said he and Alexander seemingly spent nearly every waking hour together, recalling, "As soon as we got off of work, we'd go home for an hour after that, change and go straight to Elliot Park."

Alexander was "super good on the skateboard, but he was the type of guy who was not cocky. He was just laid back, had fun and made sure everyone was having fun."

Minor Reese said he met Alexander at the park about six years ago, soon after moving from Texas.

"Everybody pretty much met him up at Elliot Park," Reese said. "It was just his presence and how he could hold a conversation; he could bring communities together. … He was always smiling. Whenever I was feeling really low in stages of my life, he always made it feel like life was going to be OK."

Amber Alexander said a gathering is scheduled for Saturday near E. 35th Street and S. Bloomington Avenue, where a mural will be painted to celebrate her brother's life.

When businesses tacked up bare plywood to protect their property during the Derek Chauvin trial this spring, Kyle Alexander's artistry was in demand, his mother said.

"He did some of the artwork on the plywood," she said. "He was employed by owners of some of the stores."

Whether it was skateboarding, creating art or making friends, Mary Alexander said, "He loved life, and life loved him back."

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482