Clovis tattoo shop raises money for Josh Cowdrey’s family

CLOVIS, Calif. ( KSEE/KGPE ) – Dozens gathered at High Sierra Tattoo Co. Saturday to honor the life of local tattoo artist Josh Cowdrey, who died in a motorcycle crash Wednesday.

Local tattoo artists donated their time and talents to raise money for Cowdrey’s family.

“I just want to wake up and it be a bad dream,” Cowdrey’s mom Karen Cowdrey said.

She says she is still in shock over her son’s tragic death.

“It’s just heart-wrenching knowing that someone made a bad choice and took our baby away,” Cowdrey said.

Cowdrey was killed by a suspected drunk driver on Barstow Avenue in Clovis.

“When is it going to stop? How many people have to die from people having bad choices,” Cowdrey said.

Clovis police have already arrested 191 people for drunk driving this year.

Cowdrey’s family is devastated by his death but encouraged by his life.

“He jumped in with two feet all the time, not thinking and just jumped into everything he did. So he lived a free life,” Cowdrey’s sister Megan Case said.

Cowdrey gave his friend Chase Sievers a knuckle tattoo a week before his death.

Sievers says he’s thankful for a permanent reminder of Cowdrey’s impact on his life.

“He was a good person and he had a good heart… and he was making jokes all the time and stuff, and that’s what I really liked about him,” Sievers said.

Dozens joined Sievers in permanently marking themselves with one of Cowdrey’s designs Saturday.

They say Cowdrey died doing what he loved, adventurous and free.

Cowdrey’s father, Scott Cowdrey, calls his son his warrior. He hopes when family and friends look at their tattoos, they think of him.

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