St. Cloud Mayor Dedicates Memorial Bench For Alexander Voigt [VIDEO]

ST. CLOUD -- He was a young man who touched a lot of lives.Those were the words used to describe Alexander Voigt.

Nearly one year ago a tragic plane crash in Sauk Rapids took the life of 16-year-old foreign-exchange student Alexander Voigt.

Today (Wednesday) St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis dedicated a special memorial park bench along the Beaver Island Trail to honor Voigt.

"We wanted a place that people could come, sit and think about the time that Alex was here," says Kleis.

Last Summer, Voigt was taking aerial pictures of the St. Cloud area with pilot Scott A. Olson, a week before he was scheduled to return to Germany, when the plane went down.

Kleis and his family hosted Vogit for his 10-month stay in the United States while he attended St. Cloud Technical High School.

"His life made us all feel very happy and special, his death made us feel very sad, painful and his memories connect us all and bring us together," says Kleis.

Alex's family were present during the dedication. His mother, Yutta Voigt, read a letter Alex wrote them a few weeks before he died.

"I am looking forward to seeing you personally, have a fun time in France, see you very soon, I love you very much," says Voigt.

Voigt says she doesn't know if she will ever get over the loss of her son, but thanks everyone who was kind to him and loved him during his time in St. Cloud.

The memorial bench was made possible thanks to proceeds from a fundraiser back in February.

Federal investigators still don't know what caused the plane to crash.