More than a dozen family members and friends held candles and balloons during an intimate ceremony at Lakewood Park Amphitheater.
Bronson, a Statesville native, was killed on Dec. 1. His body was found in a car on Stallings Lane, on U.S. Highway 21/NC 115, between Troutman and Mooresville, according to published reports.
He was shot twice, once in the arm and once in the chest, according to his sister, Angela Rankin.
He is survived by eight children; his parents, Gloria and Oscar Foote; his sister, Angela Rankin; and a host of other family members.
Gloria Foote said her son always loved and cared for his children.
The past couple of weeks have been difficult to handle, adding that dealing with her son's death has been the "hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life."
"It was not an easy task to put my son in the grave," she said. "I'm not supposed to outlive my son."
The candlelight vigil was held not only to celebrate Bronson's life, but also his birthday. He would have been 38 on Sunday.
Rankin said she found out about her brother's death in a phone call from her nephew.
"He was always happy and always smiling," she said. "There was never a time he didn't have that Kool-Aid smile."
She said she was proud that friends thought to hold a vigil honoring her brother because it "shows how everybody loved my brother and how he was a good person."
During the vigil, friend Anthony Wilkes shared with everyone the last conversation he had with Bronson.
He said Bronson was ready to turn his life around.
"He wanted to better himself and do better for people," he said. "We always think we have tomorrow to do better, but tomorrow may never come."
"The time for change is now," he added.
Anthony's brother and Bronson's friend, Victor Wilkes, said Bronson treated everyone with respect.
Bronson's passing was not indicative of the way he lived his life, they said.
"For him to die the way he did didn't fit the way he lived," Wilkes said.
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