» Shooting victims remembered for their dedication to kids,
Lois Oglesby and Thomas McNichols were remembered as protectors, dedicated to their families.
Services were held Monday for the two victims of the Oregon District shooting.
McNichols, known to family and friends as TeeJay, was in the Oregon District with a cousin when he died at 25 years old. That night he sat on the porch of the home where he lived with his aunt Donna Johnson, eating Twizzlers with her before heading out after a day of work at a Dayton factory.
“One thing about TeeJay, when he loved you, he loved you. If he cared about you, he showed you,” a friend said during the funeral service.
The Dunbar High School graduate had four children, two boys and two girls ranging in age from two to eight. He was also close with his nephews, Johnson said, taking them to super hero movies as a “big kid” himself.
“He had some charm, he was a protector, he was a leader,” a mourner said during Monday’s service at St. Luke Baptist Church on Gettysburg.
McNichols was buried at West Memory Gardens in Moraine.
“We’ve got spiritual warfare going on on this Earth right now. There’s a lot of evil; the devil’s doing his thing,” another mourner said. “God needs some soldiers right now. He needs them on earth, he needs them in heaven. TeeJay, we know He brought you home ... because He needed some soldiers. You’ve always been a prince among princes in our family, so now the prince is going to meet the king.”
Oglesby’s life was also celebrated Monday afternoon at the Philips Temple of Church on Shiloh Springs Road in Trotwood before she was buried at the Woodland Cemetery in Dayton.
The mother of two was born and raised in the area, graduating from Mound Street Academy in 2009. She loved traveling and spending time with her children, seven-year-old Hannah and newborn Reign, and she planned to become a pediatric nurse.
“She was a wonderful mother, a wonderful person,” said Derasha Merrett, a close friend.
Merrett said she was more than just a friend: They grew up cousins in the same church and on the same drill team. Oglesby also worked at the daycare where Merrett sent her kids.
“She had an infectious laugh and was so full of life that she would light up any room she entered. She was a loving and compassionate mother that always put her children first. Their happiness and well-being was her top priority,” the obituary said.
Oglesby was out with friends Aug. 3 in the Oregon District, her first outing since Reign was born.
Both Oglesby and McNichols were still in Dayton’s Oregon District in the early hours of Aug. 4, when Connor Betts, 24, of Bellbrook opened fire on busy Fifth Street. Oglesby suffered a gunshot wound to the head and McNichols died from multiple gunshot wounds.
Seven others were killed and 37 were wounded in the shooting.