When Joshua Wilterdink and his family moved to Andover two years ago, his top priority was persuading his parents to get a pair of piglets.

The Merrimack Valley High School student raised the swine "from farmyard to freezer" on his own as part of a senior project, his mother, Robin, said yesterday. He liked it so much that this year he persuaded the family to invest in chickens.

"He always wanted animals. It didn't matter what it was," she said. "When we moved up here, it was perfect for him."

Wilterdink, 18, was killed Friday night after his car veered off the road and struck a tree in Wilmot. He is survived by his father, Robert; mother; sister, Becky; and grandmother, Millicent. At the time of the crash, his mother said he was driving home from a shift at the Country Club of New Hampshire in Sutton, where he worked as a dishwasher.

Trading suburban life in Connecticut for a more rural one was a welcome change for Josh, even in the midst of high school, Robin Wilterdink said. The family had purchased the riverfront property in Andover three years before moving, and they frequently visited and camped out there.

"He used to beg us to move up ahead of time," she said. "He just loved being in nature. We'd camp and cook out, play in the woods. That was him, 100 percent."

While Josh had trouble in school in Connecticut and never truly "felt comfortable in that environment," he excelled in New Hampshire, his mother said. His grades increased and he made a lot of friends. In short, she said, he was happy.

Merrimack Valley High School Principal Michael Jette said he remembers Wilterdink for his sense of humor. He was "a good, honest kid" who "always had a smile on his face," Jette said. "He came and went, did his studies and was a pleasant kid to work with."

Jette remembered that Wilterdink frequently wore a sweatshirt with an NHTI logo. He would've begun his freshman year there this fall.

"It was neat that he had that direction, that he knew what he wanted to do," Jette said. "It really is a tragedy."

Robin Wilterdink said her son dreamed of opening a small bar and grill - a venture she thought was inspired by his work at the country club, where he worked for two years.

"He liked the environment there," she said. "He couldn't wait to get to work; he was always getting there early. He liked being around the people there, and he made a lot of friends."

Josh "did well with older people" because of his wry, "very English" wit, Robin said. "He would make a joke and not smile; not everyone got his sense of humor."

She said the family is grateful for peers who have called and stopped over to tell the family what Josh meant to them.

"We know it's not always easy for teenage boys to express themselves," she said. "I didn't realize how much he meant to people his own age."

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