WVU Community Care remembers students that have passed away this year
Sep. 30—MORGANTOWN — West Virginia University's community came program together on the steps of Oglebay Plaza Friday to remember three of their own who died earlier this year.
The bell obtained from USS West Virginia rang clearly through the heart of campus for Freshman Elizabeth O'Leary, Junior Patrick Van Kirk and Senior Brady Zelmore.
O'Leary died on April 16, Van Kirk on March 11 and Zelmore on Aug. 18.
"We have a bell-ringing, honorary ceremony each semester to provide a place for family, friends and the university community to come together and honor students that we have lost throughout the past semester," Carrie Showalter, assistant dean and executive director of Campus and Community Life, said. "A lot of times, when students pass away, there's events off campus and there's not really a place to gather. This allows the families to come to campus and meet their friends, their faculty and get a sense of their life on campus and provide a space to honor their memories."
Family members and friends spoke on behalf of the students who died.
For sophomore Evangelina Joy Velker, 20, it was a chance to make up for an opportunity Velker lost to speak at O'Leary's funeral. Velker was a roommate with the engineering major. She struggled writing the speech she eventually gave at the ceremony, rewriting it several times. Yet it was important to her, for it would be her way of memorializing her roommate.
"You can't really put into words how something can affect you," Velker said. "I guess that's why people become poets. But it's something I can't even fully describe. But, I feel like speaking was able to let me show how much I truly did care about her. To let people know how much I cared about her in this selfish way, but also I want people to see her light and how her light has given me light."
Speaking provided an avenue for Velker to process her emotions.
Jonathan Raines was also there for O'Leary, who said her loss was devastating. His interaction with her during his graduation party stuck out in his mind.
"She came to my grad party and after I graduated and wrote me a card," he said. "I was just thankful for a card, but she drew a little sunflower on it. It was the nicest message you ever saw. It was like a light in the darkness. She wrote, p.s. sorry about the flower. I was just happy she got me a card honestly, but she was just so worried about the flower."
He reassured her there was no need to apologize. And now he's honored to have known her.
Van Kirk, an environmental, soil and water sciences major from Rockville, Maryland, was honored by members of his fraternity, Gamma. Showalter said during her comments to the gathering that Van Kirk was an affectionate person who never knew a stranger.
"It was clear he was a natural leader who brought people together," she said. "Many people shared stories of his love for life and ability to find fun in anything. It was also clear that he enjoyed running his landscape business, including roping his friends into helping, all seemingly doing so happily."
Through tears, Zelmore's mother, Tammy Semoni-Zelmore, spoke at the podium about her son. Zelmore was a political science major.
"We were his family but Morgantown was his home," she said. "I didn't know that my son was in Mr. Morgantown. He made friends with everybody from the hot dog man to the shuttle bus drivers to the cafeteria workers. So many people have shared such amazing stories. He knew how to do one thing and that was love big. He didn't care where you came from or what your background was. He'd never want anyone to be alone."
Reach Esteban at efernandez@timeswv.com
