Lots of bright colors will be at Santiono Watkins’ funeral.

The 18-year-old, who was killed in a car accident Sunday, loved bright colors, especially green. He always wore bright shirts and colorful sneakers.

“He was one of a kind, for sure,” said his sister, Londyn Wright, 24.

Her favorite memory of her brother is the first time he held his niece, Wright’s 4-year-old daughter, Talayah, who called Watkins “Uncle Boy.”

Watkins visited the two in the hospital, and held his niece before she was a day old, Wright said.

She said the two loved to spend time together, and she would walk “in on them sleeping on the couch together,” just as she and her brother did as children.

Watkins, known as “T-Lo” to his friends, loved music. He was a member of three choirs at Smith-Cotton High School, where he graduated in 2008.

Some of his favorite artists were Avril Lavigne, Linkin Park, and Lil Wayne, his sister said. Avril Lavigne was his favorite, and he had pictures of the artist on his wall, she said.

Watkins also loved to dance, hang out with his friends, watch movies, and play on his computer, she said. He wanted to attend State Fair Community College starting in the spring.

Watkins was born Sept. 25, 1989, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and moved to Sedalia in the early 1990s.

His friends and peers had much to say about Watkins.

“T-Lo was one of the hardest workers at this school,” said junior Anthony Kresse, 16. He worked at McDonald’s on West Broadway Boulevard, worked hard in school, and in music and stage crew.

He liked to have fun, but also buckled down to get work done, said senior Art Hartt, 17.

“He was probably one of the most respectful and hardworking people I’ve ever met,” he said.

He also made time for friends, and always tried to cheer people up. Senior Joleen Guerrini said whatever problem she had, Watkins would help out.

“T-Lo’s the one guy that if you needed anything, he’d be there,” she said. “He would drop everything for you.”

Watkins always noticed when others needed help. Senior Quincey Cunningham, 18, said she met Watkins on stage crew, when she struggled to hold some risers together while the show choir performed. She said he crawled over, in the dark, to help her hold on.

Junior Marsha Bottcher, 16, went to the prom with Watkins last year.

“There was not one second that I wasn’t having a good time,” she said, and he kept a smile on her face all night with his “crazy dancing.”

Current and former members of the vocal music program will sing two songs at Watkins’ funeral. The group will also raise money to help with funeral expenses, with a collection called “Tokens for T-Lo” now and a benefit concert next month.

Watkins was also known for his personal style. Friends talked about his participation in the annual fashion show, and Assistant Principal Todd Fraley recalled how committed he was to his look.

“I remember him as being quite stylish ... one of the more well color-coordinated young men to run down these halls,” he said.

Fraley said he once saw Watkins leaving the building on a rainy day with plastic garbage bags wrapped around his feet, and asked him why.

“He said, ‘Mr. Fraley, I can’t get these new shoes wet on the way home,’ ” Fraley said.

Students struggled with news of the accident, which also injured Carl A. Hartley, 19, Joshua Shutte, 20, and Smith-Cotton senior Brennon Kelly, 17.

Sandra Parkhurst, a guidance counselor at the school, said a number of students had visited the hospital, and many are expected to leave school for the funeral tomorrow.

“For many students, the reason it will have such strong impact is that it’s the first time they’ve lost someone they care about,” she said.

Said his sister: “He always had a bright smile.”

Services and burial:

Funeral services will be in at Wards Memorial Baptist Church, 412 N. Osage Ave., at 2 p.m. Thursday. A memorial bonfire will be at 27545 Highway M at 8 p.m. Thursday.

Watkins will be buried in Cedar Rapids.