Clarke Co. GA - Obits from the Athens Daily News/Banner-Herald 30 Apr 2000
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OBITUARIES
Story last updated at 9:02 a.m. on Sunday, April 30, 2000
Robert Boyd
Mt. Airy
Robert ''Bob'' Boyd, 70, died Saturday, April 29, 2000.
A native of Memphis, Tenn., Mr. Boyd was a son of the late
Graham and Florence Frazer Boyd. He was a long-time resident of
Habersham County, worked for Hugh Rucker Realty and was a member of
VFW Post 7720. He was a Navy veteran and a member of Grace-Calvary
Episcopal Church.
Services will be at 2 p.m. Monday at Grace-Calvary Episcopal
Church, Cornelia, with the William Boyd and Father Daniel Brown
officiating. Burial will be in the Church of Holy Cross Cemetery,
Clarkesville.
Survivors include his wife, Jimmie Harris Boyd; two daughters,
Brenda Crunkleton, Thomson, and Lawana Pritchett, Baldwin; a son,
Harold Hogan, Acworth; a sister, Mary B. Moore, Clarkesville; a
brother, William Boyd, Washington; six grandchildren; and eight
great-grandchildren.
The family is at the residence and will receive friends from 7-9
p.m. today at McGahee-Griffin & Stewart Funeral Home, Cornelia.
Memorials may be made to the Grace-Calvary Episcopal Church,
P.O. Box 490, Clarkesville, GA 30523, or the American Cancer
Society, 4050 Highway 115 West, c/o Scarlett Whelchel, Demorest, GA
30535.
Athens Daily News/Banner Herald, Sunday, April 30, 2000
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OBITUARIES
Story last updated at 9:02 a.m. on Sunday, April 30, 2000
Tammy Ertzberger
Carnesville
Tammy Lea Bell Ertzberger, 39, of 13750 Georgia Highway 59, died
Saturday, April 29, 2000.
A native of Decatur, Mrs. Ertzberger was a daughter of Bonnie
Lea Jeffers Clayton, Carnesville, and the late James Cicero Bell.
She was a retired auto supply supervisor with the Gainesville
Maintenance Shop of the Department of Transportation and a first
responder with the Franklin County EMS. She was a member of the
Fairview Baptist Church.
Services will be at 2 p.m. Monday at Ginn Funeral Home with the
Revs. Steven Hamby and Darvin Slaton officiating. Burial will be in
the Franklin Memorial Gardens.
Survivors in addition to her mother include her husband, Daniel
Ertzberger; stepfather, James B. Clayton, Carnesville; two
brothers, Tim Bell, Tampa, Fla., and Allan Bell, Norcross; two
stepsons, Wade Ertzberger and Wayne Ertzberger, of Carnesville; and
a step-grandson.
The family is at the residence and will receive friends from 3-5
and 7-9 p.m. today at the funeral home.
Memorials may be made to the Franklin County EMS First
Responders.
Athens Daily News/Banner Herald, Sunday, April 30, 2000
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OBITUARIES
Story last updated at 9:02 a.m. on Sunday, April 30, 2000
Charles Cochran
Madison
Charles Jaboe Cochran, 88, of 1051 Brownwood Road, died Friday,
April 28, 2000.
A native of Morgan County, Mr. Cochran was a son of the late
George and Maude Hebbard Cochran, and was the widower of Ruth
Barker Cochran. He was a World War II Navy veteran and a dairy
farmer.
Services will be at 3 p.m. today at Madison City Cemetery with
the Rev. Bonnie Peters officiating.
Survivors include several nieces, nephews and cousins.
Simmons Funeral Home has charge of the arrangements.
Athens Daily News/Banner Herald, Sunday, April 30, 2000
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OBITUARIES
Story last updated at 9:02 a.m. on Sunday, April 30, 2000
James Christy
Macon
James Harold Christy, 65, died Friday, April 28, 2000.
A native of Lawrence County, Ala., Mr. Christy was a son of the
late Robert and Irene Wilson Christy. He was a security guard at
Reeves Construction, served in the Air Force, and a Sunday school
teacher at Immanuel Baptist Church.
Services will be at 11 a.m. at Immanuel Baptist Church. Burial
will be in Middle Georgia Memory Gardens.
Survivors include his wife, Laverne H. Christy; four sons, Scott
Christy and Eddie Christy, both of Moulton, Ala., Dean Gattie,
Jones County, and David Gattie, Watkinsville; a sister, Sandra
Christy, Moulton, Ala., two brothers, Don Christy and Wayne
Christy, both of Moulton, Ala.; 11 grandchildren; nieces and
nephews.
The family will receive friends from 6-8 p.m. today at Ingleside
Memorial Chapel. Memorials may be made to Immanuel Baptist Church
Building Fund, 129 Yukon Road, Macon, Ga. 31217.
Athens Daily News/Banner Herald, Sunday, April 30, 2000
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OBITUARIES
Story last updated at 9:02 a.m. on Sunday, April 30, 2000
Wilbur Ratterree
Athens
Wilbur B. Ratterree, 88, of 1410 Ivywood Drive, died Wednesday,
April 26, 2000.
A native of Fulton County, Mr. Ratterree was a son of the late
Urah and Florine Forrester Ratterree, and was preceded in death by
a son, Richard L. Ratterree. He was retired as professor emeritus
from the University of Georgia agricultural engineering department.
He received a bachelor's degree and master's degree in engineering
from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. from Iowa
State University. He was a member of the First Baptist Church of
Athens.
Services will be at 11 a.m. Monday at Bridges Funeral Home with
Dr. Jon Appleton officiating. Burial will be in Evergreen Memorial
Park.
Survivors include his wife, Dorothy Denny Ratterree; a daughter,
Susan Clum, Athens; a son, Barry Ratterree, Athens; a sister,
Juanita Wilkie, Palmetto; a brother, Charles L. Ratterree, College
Park; five grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; nieces and
nephews.
Pallbearers will be Bob Farrall, Upshaw Bently, Malcome Skinner,
Harry Haynsworth, Del Wade and Joel Giddens. Honorary pallbearers
will be the B & P Sunday school class of the First Baptist Church
of Athens.
Memorials may be made to the Agricultural Engineering
Scholarship at the University of Georgia, or to the First Baptist
Church of Athens.
Athens Daily News/Banner Herald, Sunday, April 30, 2000
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OBITUARIES
Story last updated at 7:57 a.m. on Sunday, April 30, 2000
Mrs. Marie Hornick McConnell
Martin
Mrs. Marie Hornick McConnell, 73, of Rt. 1 Box 104 Red Hollow
Road, Martin, Ga., died Friday, April 28, 2000, at her home.
Born July 9, 1926 in Oconee County, S.C., she was a daughter of
the late William P. and Mary Fousek Hornick, and had lived in
Fairplay, S.C. and Stephens County, Ga. most of her life.
Mrs. McConnell was a homemaker and a member of St. Mary's
Catholic Church and the Ladies Guild.
Survivors include her husband, W.A. McConnell; daughters, Judy
Hallford of Martin and Teresa Brock of Lawrenceville; brothers, Roy
Hornick, Johnny Hornick, both of Martin, and Howard Hornick of
Toccoa; grandchildren, Ryan Brock, Chad Brock, both of Oakwood,
Christopher Farmer of Flowery Branch, Kris and Erika Hallford of
Port Hueneme, Calif.; great-grandchildren, Ezra Hallford and
Larissa Hallford of Port Hueneme.
The funeral mass will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, May 1, 2000,
from St. Mary's Catholic Church by Father Richard Tibbetts. Burial
will follow at Martin Baptist Church Cemetery.
The body is at the mortuary where the family will receive
friends Sunday from 2-4 and 7-8:30 p.m. The Wake Service will be at
8:30 p.m.
The family will be at the home.
Whitlock Mortuary is in charge of the arrangements.
Athens Daily News/Banner Herald, Sunday, April 30, 2000
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OBITUARIES
Story last updated at 7:58 a.m. on Sunday, April 30, 2000
Dr. John Denman Morton
Fearrington Village, NC
Dr. John Denman Morton, 92, died Friday, April 28, 2000, at his
home in Fearrington Village, NC. Dr. Morton was professor and head
of medicine and surgery at the University of Georgia College of
Veterinary Medicine before his retirement as professor emeritus in
1974. Previously, he practiced veterinary medicine in Callendar,
IA, and Pine Bluff, AR. Dr. Morton was a native of Rockwell City,
IA, and a graduate of Iowa State University. He was a founding
member, president and elder of Trinity Lutheran Church in Athens,
GA; a member of the Board of Directors of the Florida-Georgia
District of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod; president of the
Georgia Veterinary Medical Association and the Southern Veterinary
Medical Association; charter member of the Athens-Area Kiwanis
Club; and member of the Advisory Board of Hope Haven School in
Athens, GA. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II,
retiring with the rank of Major.
Dr. Morton was named Veterinarian of the Year by the Georgia
Veterinary Medical Association in 1973; honored by the 1973 senior
class of the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine with the dedication
of the school's Veterinarius yearbook; and recognized annually by
the College with the presentation of the John Morton Humane Animal
Care Award to outstanding seniors in the Departments of Large and
Small Animal Medicine. He and his wife Alice were co-recipients of
the Inspiration Award from the Athens Community Council on Aging in
1988. Dr. Morton was selected for membership in several honor
societies, including Phi Kappa Phi, Aghon, Phi Zeta, Gamma Sigma
Delta and Alpha Zeta.
Dr. Morton was a son of Albert Edward and Winifred Denman
Morton. He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Alice Berg Morton;
daughters and sons-in-law John and Barbara Morton Swanson of
Greensboro, NC; Robert and Mary Morton Wallace of Albany, GA; Jean
Morton Elia and Carol Morton Wood, both of Fearrington Village, NC;
10 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren; sisters Jean Morton
Gannon and Mary Morton of Rockwell City, and Leone Morton Moore of
Rio Rancho, NM; and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in
death by a brother, Robert Morton.
Funeral services will be held Monday, May 1, at 2 p.m. at
Trinity Lutheran Church, Athens, GA, with interment at Evergreen
Memorial Cemetery. The family will receive friends on Sunday, April
30, 7:30-9 p.m. at Bridges Funeral Home, Athens.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Trinity Lutheran
Church Building Fund, 2535 Jefferson Road, Athens, GA 30607, or
Christ United Methodist Church (Habitat for Humanity Fund), 800
Market Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27541.
Athens Daily News/Banner Herald, Sunday, April 30, 2000
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LEADSTORIES
Story last updated at 9:42 a.m. on Sunday, April 30, 2000
This semester, UGA learns a lesson in loss
11 student deaths shake university community
By Joan Stroer
Staff Writer
Photo: studentlife
[INLINE] A flower lies on a podium during an April 6 memorial
service for Ben Grantham.
File [INLINE] University of Georgia senior Christi Fisher has
already attended one memorial service at UGA this semester, for
sophomore Ben Grantham, and she's planning to put aside
preparations for final exams to attend a second one on Monday.
As a member of a sorority, the Atlanta student was acquainted
with more than one of the 11 university students who died this
semester. She said the death toll has got her friends warning each
other about safety every time they leave their sorority house for a
long trip.
What has surprised people across the state is the regularity of
the deaths, with 10 of the students dying over the last eight
weeks, a pattern that Fisher said seemed more mechanical than
natural.
''It's strange how it's been happening,'' she said. ''It's been
hard for a lot of my friends. It's almost like people are getting
used to it. I don't know why it's been happening so much.''
The university will commemorate members who passed away in a
memorial service at the university's historic chapel on North
Campus Monday night at dusk. The names of 18 students, along with
those of 10 faculty and staff members who have died since last May
1, will be read as the chapel bell tolls.
Two students died as the service was being planned.
''It's very unusual to have this number in such a short time
period; it's made students stop and think,'' said Jim Gaudin, a
co-director of the UGA School of Social Work and a deacon at the
UGA Catholic Center.
Jeff Lakas Earlier this month, he found himself leading a
memorial service for one of his former students, Tisha Abolt, who
died in a car crash April 8 in Oconee County.
''We usually don't as a school do that sort of thing; it was
very difficult for the students,'' said Gaudin, adding that it was
a healing event for the students, Abolt's boyfriend and her family.
''You need this kind of ritual, this kind of mourning process,''
he said.
In other parts of campus, professors were setting up memorial
scholarships, consulting counselors on what to tell students and
canceling classes so they and their students could attend funerals.
Students from an entire floor of Creswell Hall attended Phil
Walsh's funeral after the freshman died at the scene of a multi-car
wreck in Gwinnett County on Good Friday.
Some fraternities hung black mourning cloth over their houses'
Greek symbols to mourn the death of Grantham in a March 30 auto
crash. And after their classmate, Chris Moseley, died in an auto
accident in March, students in Patty Hamilton's English class
collected $150 for Jesup golf scholarship once won by Moseley, a
Jesup native.
''Everyone has been incredibly thoughtful and kind and concerned
for each other,'' said Rick Rose, assistant to the UGA vice
president for student affairs. ''My sense is that it has made a lot
more people thoughtful about their lives, and about each other.''
UGA students haven't been the only university members to be
directly affected. Two faculty members in the school's botany
department pitched in to serve as department head this term as the
researchers coped with the death of their former department head,
Alan Jaworski, who died Jan. 16 of a heart attack.
The cooperation in botany, teachers say, was a tribute to their
colleague, to whom they dedicated a student research symposium held
earlier this month.
''Alan left a very happy department that he helped create,''
said Susan Wessler, a botany research professor who took over
Jaworski's introductory biology classes before his death.
Her students got lectures in more than biology this term.
''One thing I did was admonish them to wear their seat-belts,''
Wessler said.
A UGA student has died in a car wreck on four straight weekends.
The last highest student death toll in a recent UGA term was
eight in fall 1997, UGA officials say, although the campus has
undergone many seasons of grief in its 215-year history.
Forty-seven Georgia students died during World War I, 300 to 400
others were killed in World War II and the Civil War eliminated the
equivalent of the entire 100-member student body of 1861, said Nash
Boney, emeritus UGA history professor.
The number of students who died this school year is not
inordinately high, considering the Athens campus had 30,912
students this fall, Rose said. Still, the stretch of tragedy this
spring has administrators concerned, and looking for new ways to
heighten safety.
''I do want to look and see if there's a common thread that
we've been missing,'' UGA President Michael Adams said last week at
a cabinet meeting. ''Too many situations are related to either
automobiles or alcohol. I'm concerned about that.
''I've never seen anything like what we've had this spring in
terms of loss of life.''
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LEADSTORIES
Story last updated at 9:41 a.m. on Sunday, April 30, 2000
Ben Grantham
A proud Bulldog, fraternity brother always looked on the bright side
By Stephen Gurr
Staff Writer
Photo: studentlife
[INLINE] Age: 20
From: St. Simons Island
UGA affiliation: Sophomore majoring in business [INLINE] Ben
Grantham was, as much as anyone, proud to be a Georgia Bulldog.
Ben, a University of Georgia sophomore and member of the Alpha
Tau Omega fraternity, was deeply disappointed when he wasn't
initially accepted to UGA, said longtime friend Daniel Wells.
''In high school, he never even considered another place; this
is where he always wanted to go,'' Wells said.
Ben spent almost a year at Truett-McConnell College in
Watkinsville in order to qualify for the HOPE scholarship. He never
lost sight of his goal: to become a Bulldog.
''He was a hard-working kid,'' said Wells, who grew up with Ben
on St. Simons Island. ''He set goals, and he worked hard to reach
those goals.''
Ben, 20, died in an automobile accident March 30.
Jeff Lakas Wells and Ben worked together in summers past at
Mullet Bay, a St. Simons Island restaurant where the
vacation-season pace was often frenzied. Ben approached the job
with the same dogged work ethic he took with him to college, Wells
said.
''It was a crazy place, really wild in the summertime,'' Wells
said. ''He was a really hard worker, no matter what he was doing.''
Wells remembers Ben as a generous, devoted friend who enjoyed
throwing Frisbee, loved a wide range of music and liked to play
cards on Thursday nights. As Ben grew more involved in his
fraternity, Wells saw less of his old friend, but the two still
stayed in touch, getting together for a card game or a night out at
least once a month.
''He always had a grin on his face,'' Wells said. ''He was
always looking on the bright side. He was a giver. Anytime he could
do something for someone, he'd do it.''
Ben once took a fellow fraternity brother under his wing and let
him live in his apartment for an entire semester.
''If there was one thing Ben truly had, it was the love of his
friends,'' fellow ATO member Jimmy Taylor said in a letter read
during an April 6 memorial service.
''I know that I'm going to remember that he was just a happy
guy,'' Wells said. ''I'd like him to be remembered in a good light
-- not just another number in a tragic string.''
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LEADSTORIES
Story last updated at 9:41 a.m. on Sunday, April 30, 2000
Tisha Abolt
Social work student touched many lives
By Lee Shearer
Staff Writer
Photo: studentlife
[INLINE] Tisha Abolt, center, with friends Tara Guest, left, and
Ann Larie Valentine on Tybee Island last summer.
Special photo [INLINE] Tisha Abolt was a month away from
graduating with a master's of social work degree when she died in
an Oconee County automobile accident April 8.
An unusually bright student and a leader, the 24-year-old Tisha
was one of the school's best students, according to faculty and
administrators.
''It's tragic to lose any member of the community, but it's
particularly tragic when the student has such a bright future,''
said Bonnie Yegidis, dean of the University of Georgia School of
Social Work. Tisha will receive her degree posthumously in UGA
graduation exercises May 13.
Jeff Lakas ''I would characterize her as full of life, very
committed to helping,'' said social work professor Ed Risler, who
speculated that Tisha's desire to help guided her choice of social
work as a career.
Born in Oregon, she had lived since high school in Savannah,
where her father is county manager. She had three sisters, a dog
named Solomon, a turtle named Droopy and a cat named Savannah Jane.
Photo: studentlife
[INLINE] Age: 24
From: Savannah
UGA affiliation: Graduate student in School of Social Work
[INLINE] ''She loved animals. She was always asking people about
their animals,'' recalled Ann Larie Valentine, one of several of
Tisha's close friends at the School of Social Work.
Valentine was touched to see the large number of people who
attended a memorial service for Tisha at the Catholic Center at
UGA.
''For one person who lived in Athens such a short time, that was
a testament to how many lives she had touched,'' she said.
Tisha was many things, Valentine pointed out: an unusually
bright, deeply spiritual person as well as a talented artist who
liked to hike up mountains with a sketch pad to draw landscapes.
Tisha also was a ''real fun person, real bubbly,'' who equally
enjoyed going to Jittery Joe's for coffee at 2 a.m., Valentine
said.
But one of the things she remembers most about Tisha is her
thoughtfulness, even in small things.
''She would always unlock your car door -- guys or girls. If you
had a difficult week, she would send you a card or give you a
call,'' Valentine said.
In death, Tisha has brought her friends closer, according to
Valentine.
''It's really reminded us that we need to place friends above
work and school and careers and your busy schedule. You have to
make the time to do things like call and go out to lunch,''
Valentine said.
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LEADSTORIES
Story last updated at 9:39 a.m. on Sunday, April 30, 2000
Will Grist
Someone who defined friendship
By Lee Shearer
Staff Writer
Photo: studentlife
[INLINE] Age: 19
From: Travelers Rest, S.C.
UGA affiliation: Freshman majoring in business [INLINE] Will
Grist's best friend describes him like this:
''He was so incredibly nice, not like bouncy and glowing, but
one of those quality people who are always there for you,'' said
Kenneth Cosgrove.
Cosgrove and Will were best friends since first grade and
graduated together in 1999 from Christ Church Episcopal School in
Greenville, S.C., where Will ran on the cross-country team.
A year later, Cosgrove spoke at Will's April 1 funeral in
Greenville.
''I suppose everyone knows someone who defines friendship and
all the good qualities in life,'' Cosgrove said. ''Will was that
someone to me.''
He used a Bible verse, Galatians 5:22-23, to describe his
friend: ''The fruits of the spirit are love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control.''
Will's friends, teachers and family mention repeatedly some of
the same qualities.
Jeff Lakas ''When one thinks of Will, one thinks of a tall,
slender, smiling, hospitable and friendly young man,'' said Jackie
Suber, Will's college counselor.
Will graduated high school with a 4.0 grade point average, Suber
said.
The perfect GPA helped him achieve one of his childhood dreams:
becoming a student at the University of Georgia, where both of his
veterinarian parents attended.
Will, 19, died March 28 of complications from testicular cancer.
It's made cancer crusaders of his family -- especially of the
younger of his three sisters, according to mother Marilyn Grist.
''The denial and embarrassment surrounding the disease are
believed to contribute to making it one of the least-talked-about
cancers,'' wrote Will's younger sister, Charlotte, in an article
for the family's hometown newspaper. ''This closed attitude is very
unfortunate because when detected early, testicular cancer is
easily treated and curable.''
The loss has changed the lives of Will's friends forever.
''It's given all of our friends this feeling of loss of
innocence,'' Cosgrove said. ''I've gotten a lot more close with my
parents. It's just made me re-evaluate how I'm spending my time,
because I don't know when it's going to run out.''
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LEADSTORIES
Story last updated at 9:41 a.m. on Sunday, April 30, 2000
Sims Hibbert
Funny and thoughtful, he put his friends first
By Lee Shearer
Staff Writer
Photo: studentlife
[INLINE] Sims Hibbert had a knack for making people laugh.
Special photo [INLINE] Friends said they never met anyone like
Sims Hibbert -- tall, thin and attractive; a comedian with a
sarcastic edge; smart; a talented, inquisitive writer and an
unusually thoughtful friend.
''He was quirky; he just had different mannerisms. I don't know
how to describe it, really,'' said friend Skye Mitchell, a
University of Georgia junior from Savannah. ''He was a great
person. He always managed to make people laugh. He was very funny,
but it was a sarcastic sense of humor. Sims was well-liked, and a
lot of people in Athens knew him.''
Sims, who played soccer and ran track at Atlanta's Galloway High
School, went to Florida State University for two years before
transferring to UGA, and remained an avid Seminole fan. He was a
22-year-old UGA junior in environmental design when he took his own
life March 22.
Photo: studentlife
[INLINE] Age: 22
From: Atlanta
UGA affiliation: Junior majoring in environmental design
[INLINE] In high school, Sims was set on being a lawyer, but like
many college students, had a hard time settling on a college major,
said his mother, Ann Latimer of Atlanta. At Florida State, he
planned to study hotel management, later switching to political
science, history and English, she said.
Friends had no idea anything was troubling Sims.
''Sims was always the one who made us laugh. He always made you
feel better no matter what kind of mood you were in,'' said friend
Kami Shaw, also a UGA student. ''He was the one you wanted to hang
out with.''
Sims made his friends laugh, but there was something deeper than
that to the lanky young man, Shaw said.
Jeff Lakas ''He always listened to you. He would totally get into
what you were saying,'' she said.
Sims could also be unusually considerate, Shaw said. Last
summer, one of their group of friends had a summer job that didn't
allow him much of a lunch break, so every day, Sims took him lunch,
she said.
''I think he cared most about his friends,'' Latimer said. ''He
was extremely sensitive. If other people were hurting, he could
tell. He was just so loving. I was blessed to have a child like
him.
''He cared about us. He always wanted to make everyone else feel
better. I guess no one ever thought that he might need someone to
make him feel better, too.''
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LEADSTORIES
Story last updated at 9:42 a.m. on Sunday, April 30, 2000
Wes Howell
Always a source of strength
By Stephen Gurr
Staff Writer
Photo: studentlife
[INLINE] Age: 28
From: Powder Springs
UGA affiliation: Landscape architecture student [INLINE] In the
final weeks of his life, Wes Howell faced his own mortality with
unwavering courage and strength.
Wes, a 28-year-old landscape architecture student who died of
leukemia Feb. 2, was accustomed to enduring a lot, said his wife,
Leslie Howell.
Wes, of Powder Springs, had been diagnosed with Hodgkins disease
when he was 14.
''He went through a lot of treatments to get rid of that,'' she
said. ''It wasn't easy, because it was pretty advanced. He had to
have chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant. He had been the one
who was stared at -- the kid with cancer. I think it made him a
very strong person.''
During his adolescent years, Wes found escape from his illness
through fantasy role-playing games, and enjoyed painting
miniatures. He was a member of a Napoleonic re-enactment group.
''He had a great imagination,'' his wife said.
Wes earned a degree in animal science at the University of
Georgia, then decided to switch career paths and enrolled in the
College of Landscape Architecture, where he was scheduled to
graduate this spring. He will be awarded a posthumous degree, said
his adviser, Scott Weinberg. Weinberg described Wes as a dedicated,
goal-oriented student.
Jeff Lakas Weinberg remembered the January day Wes came to his
office after Christmas vacation. Wes needed only one more class to
graduate, but had been feeling ill and had seen a doctor over the
break.
''He told me he wasn't going to be able to attend this
semester,'' Weinberg said. Wes was reluctant to say why, but the
adviser pressed him on the subject.
''He looked at me straight in the eye, and said, 'The doctor
called me and told me I had three weeks to live.' It's a tough
thing to have a student tell you that,'' Weinberg said.
Doctors told Wes they could prolong his life through medication,
but the long-term prognosis wasn't good.
''He faced his death with amazing grace and peace,'' Leslie
Howell said.Wes tried to live his final weeks as normally as
possible. He went to dinner with friends, and visited his
professor, Weinberg. During their final visit, he gave the
professor drawings he had done as part of his studies.
Leslie Howell credits her husband's faith in God and strong
family ties as a source of strength in his last days.
''I think he will be remembered for his amazing, big heart, and
the ability he had to love people; the way he loved his family, and
the way he loved me,'' she said.
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Story last updated at 9:40 a.m. on Sunday, April 30, 2000
Katie Turner
Bright student had gift for working with kids
By Lee Shearer
Staff Writer
Photo: studentlife
[INLINE] Katie Turner looked forward to a career helping children
with hearing problems.
Special [INLINE] Faculty in the University of Georgia's
communication sciences and disorders program were glad to have
Katie Turner as a student.
''We thought she was going to have a great future in our
profession because she was so motivated and dedicated,'' said UGA
professor Bob Nozza, one of her teachers.
The youngest of three sisters in her Columbus family, Katie's
goal was to be a pediatric audiologist, working with infants and
young children to detect hearing impairments, figure out what was
causing them, then fit her clients with hearing aids or some other
appropriate remedy.
Katie, 23, died April 22 of lymphoma, just about a month after
she became ill.
Photo: studentlife
[INLINE] Age: 23
From: Columbus
UGA affiliation: Graduate student in communication sciences and
disorders [INLINE] To those who loved her, her death opened up a
rip in the fabric of life.
''She was the best girl I ever knew. I never met anyone like
her,'' said close friend Chad Fowler. ''She was a huge magnet for
people. She had more friends than anybody I've ever seen. She was
just funny as hell. She made you want to be around her all the
time.''
Katie was very athletic, he said. A jogger, she had played
soccer at Pacelli High School in Columbus and met Fowler one summer
several years ago when both were working as lifeguards at the
Thomas Lay Park swimming pool in Athens.
''She was just a bright and shining person,'' said Abby Turick,
a friend and fellow student in the small, 16-student audiology
program at UGA.
Jeff Lakas Katie had a special gift for working with children,
Turick said, recalling a recent day when two little girls showed up
at the UGA Speech and Hearing Clinic for their regular appointment
with Katie, who was working there as part of her graduate studies.
''They were so excited to be coming to see Katie. She truly made
a difference to the patients she worked with,'' Turick said.
Turick and Katie had been friends since they met four years ago,
when both were UGA sophomores.
She will never forget Katie, Turick said.
''She was the most genuine, truest friend that anyone could ever
have. Every part of my day is different now because she's not
there. I will carry her with me for the rest of my life.''
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Story last updated at 9:41 a.m. on Sunday, April 30, 2000
Chris Moseley
No place like home for outdoorsman
By Stephen Gurr
Staff Writer
Photo: studentlife
[INLINE] Chris Moseley enjoyed spending time on the Altamaha River
near his Jesup home. [INLINE] Chris Moseley loved his hometown
of Jesup.
The 19-year-old University of Georgia freshman loved to hunt
deer and turkey in the woods of Wayne County, and loved to ski and
boat in the Altamaha River. Even when he went off to college, his
heart wasn't far from home.
''Almost every weekend he would come down to Jesup,'' said his
mother, Selena Moseley. ''I thought he'd be the one who went to
college and never would come home. But both my boys are
homebodies.''
Jeff Lakas Chris died in the same South Georgia town where he was
born, in an auto accident March 11.
''His whole family's in Jesup, his friends are there,'' said
Chris' girlfriend of three years, Raegan Yeomans. ''I think he
would have moved back (after college).''
Photo: studentlife
[INLINE] Age: 19
From: Jesup
UGA affiliation: Freshman [INLINE] Chris came to Athens to
major in business. A graduate of Wayne County High School, he won
the O.A. Hunter Golf scholarship from the local men's golf
association for his high grades and contributions to the community.
He was a member of Students Against Drunk Driving and was a Georgia
Honors Society graduate.
''He had a big smile, a good personality,'' his mother said.
''He was very caring. He was a real family-oriented person.''
Chris called his 16-year-old sister back home, Katie, every day
from Athens. On weekends, he would wait for his brother, Brent, to
finish classes at Southern Polytechnic Institute in Atlanta before
the two rode down to Jesup together.
''He would do anything for anyone he cared about,'' Yeomans
said. ''I think everyone will miss seeing his smile.''
Yeomans said the tragedy has reunited a circle of friends from
Jesup who had drifted apart.
''All of us from Jesup have pretty much gotten closer,'' she
said. ''We had lost touch with a lot of our friends, and after
this, we all came together to help each other out.''
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Story last updated at 9:41 a.m. on Sunday, April 30, 2000
Jennifer Thompson
An 'ember that burned brighter'
By Lee Shearer
Staff Writer
Photo: studentlife
[INLINE] Age: 19
From: Cumming
UGA affiliation: Freshman majoring in business [INLINE]
Jennifer Thompson was one of those people who just seemed to
attract others, becoming the center of a whole network of friends.
Her bedroom in the basement of her parents' Forsyth County home
became the place where her friends gathered.
''She was kind of like the coordinator,'' said friend Kristen
Geisler. ''About eight or nine of us, mainly people we played
sports with, we always hung out and went to concerts and movies
together.''
They called themselves ''The Crew,'' and Jennifer sort of took
care of them, Geisler said.
''She was the funniest person you'd ever meet, always making
sure people are having a good time. I'll always remember her with a
smile on her face. She was always just laughing, or making other
people laugh, trying to make everybody happy.''
''She was just one of those fun people, one of those embers that
burned brighter than a lot,'' said UGA pharmacy student Stacy
Geisler, Kristen's older sister.
Jeff Lakas At 5-foot-10, Jennifer looked athletic, which was no
illusion. ''She was definitely a competitor,'' Stacy Geisler said.
Before heading off to the University of Georgia last fall,
Jennifer helped take her South Forsyth High School team to the
state basketball tournament's quarterfinals before losing in
overtime.
''She was a go-to girl,'' said Kristen Geisler, Jennifer's
basketball teammate and now a freshman at Georgia Tech.
Jennifer, a shooting guard, held the school record for
three-pointers -- six in one game -- and was No. 2 in both rebounds
and scoring in her senior year.
But her athletic skills went beyond basketball. An avid golfer,
she placed fifth in the state tournament her junior year, and also
lettered in tennis and softball.
Though Jennifer, 19, was a freshman business major at UGA,
Kristen Geisler would not have been surprised to see her become a
teacher.
''She wanted to work with kids. She loved kids. She talked about
being a teacher or a principal,'' Kristen Geisler said.
When Jennifer, an only child, died in an automobile accident
April 15, the world was forever altered for her friends and family.
''It puts a lot of things in a different perspective,'' said
Kristen Geisler. ''You think you have all this time, but you really
don't.''
It has motivated her to keep in closer touch with other friends
and her family, Geisler said.
''We've got to try really hard,'' she said.
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Story last updated at 9:39 a.m. on Sunday, April 30, 2000
Jake Bern
Searched for a deeper meaning
By Stephen Gurr
Staff Writer
Photo: studentlife
[INLINE] Age: 19
From: Dahlonega
UGA affiliation: Freshman [INLINE] Jake Bern was never
satisfied with the simple, pat answers.
Jake, 19, of Dahlonega was always looking for the deeper
meanings in life -- searching for the elusive beauty in truth.
''He was very smart, very intense,'' said Jason Hatch, a night
manager at The Grill who developed a bond with Jake. Jake worked at
the downtown Athens restaurant as a cook and attended classes at
the University of Georgia. ''Me and him, we seemed to have good
talks. I think I sort of took his mind off (the problems) he was
thinking about.''
Jake was known by his co-workers as a quiet, unassuming young
man who dressed in black and had an equally dark view of the world.
His endearing quirkiness and wry sense of humor will be missed,
they said.
Jeff Lakas ''Basically he was really quiet, but he always joined
in for the joke,'' said Kevin Shockley, another manager at The
Grill.
Jake ''had a dark demeanor, but I didn't really understand why
he was like that,'' Hatch said. ''It seemed that he was looking for
the beautiful things in life. He had this intuition about him, and
he saw through a lot of the facades. He knew all the things that
weren't true, he just didn't know what were true. He just couldn't
find the one thing to hold onto.''
Jake died March 23 from an apparent drug overdose.
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Story last updated at 9:40 a.m. on Sunday, April 30, 2000
Phil Walsh
A Christian with a passion for sports, he was devoted to his family
By Stephen Gurr
Staff Writer
Photo: studentlife
[INLINE] Age: 19
From: Atlanta
UGA affiliation: Freshman [INLINE] Phil Walsh, not born into
privilege or wealth, made personal sacrifices to attend the
University of Georgia.
Phil, 19, attended UGA on a HOPE scholarship. He paid for all
additional school and living expenses from money he saved by
working at a sporting goods store in suburban Atlanta.
Phil, the oldest of three siblings, was always the responsible
one, putting his studies and work first, said his mother, Ruth
Paschal-Walsh. A student in the Meadowcreek High School gifted
program, he shared a car with his mother during his senior year.
Phil, a freshman, died April 21 in a Gwinnett County car
accident. He didn't own a car, and his father, Barry Walsh, picked
him up at Creswell Hall to take him home for the Easter weekend.
They were involved in a multi-car wreck on I-85 that left the elder
Walsh seriously injured.
Phil was a quiet Christian with a passion for sports, especially
baseball. He played second base for his high school team, and was
commissioner of a fantasy baseball league.
''He loved sports of all kinds,'' his mother said. ''That was
the thing that was so great about him going to Georgia -- the
sports. He really loved that. He went to several away (football)
games.''
Jeff Lakas Phil was a mentor to his 14-year-old brother, Daniel,
and sister Laura, 16. His parents had gone through a divorce in
1998, and Phil served as an emotional rock for the family, his
mother said. Phil encouraged his little sister with her school
work, and Daniel with his baseball.
''He looked after them a lot,'' Paschal-Walsh said. ''Laura was
struggling a lot with her grades, and Daniel just looked up to him
totally. He wanted to be just like his big brother.''
Phil's Christian faith was a big part of his life, his mother
said. He was an active member of Skyland United Methodist Church's
youth fellowship, and attended the Methodist Camp Glisson in
Northeast Georgia for several summers.
At age 16, he got his first job at the Atlanta Bread Company.
''He was very good about doing things for me,'' his mother said.
''I could always count on him.''
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Story last updated at 9:38 a.m. on Sunday, April 30, 2000
Jeff Lakas
Skilled tennis player was devoted to fitness
By Stephen Gurr
Staff Writer
Photo: studentlife
[INLINE] Jeff Lakas, from left, with brother Scott and friend Matt
Hahn at an Atlanta music festival last year. [INLINE] Jeff
Lakas, an avid tennis player who worked out five times a week at
the Ramsey Student Center, was in peak physical shape when he
traveled to Fort Walton Beach, Fla., for spring break.
Jeff's penchant for physical fitness made his death from a heart
attack March 16 in Destin, Fla., that much more difficult to
understand.
''It was just his time -- the Lord took him home,'' said his
brother, Scott. ''It was a freak thing; there's no explanation.''
Jeff Lakas Jeff, 21, will be remembered as a smart, physically
active young man who made the grades but was always up for a good
time with friends. He was a junior majoring in management
information systems who had made the University of Georgia's dean's
list more than once, his brother said.
At Providence Christian Academy in Atlanta, Jeff played the No.
1 position on the school's tennis team. A tennis player since
middle school, he was a state-ranked junior player and was active
in various independent amateur leagues in the Atlanta area. He
graduated with honors from Providence Christian.
''He was a good kid,'' recalled his former tennis coach, Sean
Chapman. ''He worked hard for us at practice. He was the kind of
tennis player who was fun to watch. He knew how to play using his
brain.''
''He was bright, he knew right from wrong, and I think he had
some good morals,'' Chapman added. ''He was kind of a free spirit,
which is kind of fun.''
Age: 21
From: Lawrenceville
UGA affiliation: Junior majoring in management information
systems Scott Lakas said his brother's cheerful demeanor will be
missed by Jeff's wide circle of friends at the university. He had
been a member of Delta Chi fraternity but was inactive at the time
of his death.
''I'll miss seeing that big smile,'' Scott Lakas said. ''He
never thought bad of anybody, and that's a characteristic not many
people have.''
Jeff's devotion to fitness never waned.
''He lived right down the street, and always used to call me
every day to come work out with him,'' his brother said.
A weightlifter, Jeff was ''pretty ripped for his size,'' Scott
Lakas said. But tennis was his passion. ''He played all the time.''
Academics also seemed to come naturally for Jeff.
''He had this real high GPA and got really good grades, but he
never really cracked the books,'' Scott Lakas said with a laugh.
The suddenness of Jeff's death came as a shock to his former
coach:
''I want to make sure the kids that I coach now understand that
anything can happen at any moment; we're not guaranteed anything.
It was a big lesson to me,'' Chapman said.
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