If Linda LeClair ever had to look for her son, Graeme, she knew to look for him in the trees.

Graeme Dobbeck loved to explore imagined worlds, whether it be while scrabbling up trees, playing video games, or burying his nose in fantasy and science fiction novels. He loved animals, was “smart as a whip” and enjoyed tinkering with computers and playing trumpet for his high school orchestra.

Those passions attracted teasing from some of Dobbeck’s peers in Carlton, Ore. But LeClair, 67, said her son never let his bullies define him, or take away his gentle nature. If anything, it made him more empathetic and kind, she said.

“Sometimes that can have the opposite effect,” LeClair said Friday by phone.…