San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Santa Fe says goodbye to 3 more
Teens killed in school shooting are mourned
The grieving Santa Fe community gathered once again Saturday for another day of funerals to lay to rest three of their friends and family killed in a school shooting that has ripped through the heart of this small southeast Texas town.
Eight days after the massacre at Santa Fe High School, residents gathered at Abundant Life Christian Center in La Marque to grieve for 16-year-old Shana Fisher, at Dayspring Church in Santa Fe to bury 15-year-old Angelique Ramirez, at at Aldersgate United Methodist Church to bury 17-year-old Jared Black.
They remembered their friends’ warmth and enthusiasm for life, their love of family and the unfettered joy of youth.
The community gathered five times before Saturday to honor those lost, and will do so twice more this week to honor the 10 slain and 13 wounded on May 18, when a gunman walked into the school and began firing at students and teachers. A 17-year-old junior at the school is charged with capital murder.
Shana Fisher
Hundreds of friends and family members trickled into the large hall at Abundant Life Christian Center in La Marque on Saturday morning to mourn the loss and celebrate the life of 16-year-old Shana Lorraine Fisher, remembered for her love of drawing anime and playing with her pup, Callie.
Shana’s mother, Sadie, sat with Shana’s siblings, Shawn and Kaylenn, surrounded by aunts and cousins. Men and women alike came to meet them, offering hugs that lingered so long they began swaying in a slow, sad dance.
“Was Jesus telling the truth when he said that whoever believes in him shall never die?” Pastor Walter Hallam asked the congregation.
“Absolutely,” he said through a wobbly voice. “He meant what he said. You see, Shana’s body has died. We are aware of that. But Shana’s not a body. Shana’s a spirit. And Shana’s spirit is alive. And in fact she’s more alive today than she’s ever been before. And she will live in heaven forever.”
Angelique Ramirez
The night before they buried her, Angelique Nicole Ramirez’s friends focused on the light she brought to their life.
Ramirez and her family moved to Santa Fe in 2008 from Blackwell, Oklahoma. The 15-year-old was one of the youngest of the 10 people killed in the May 18 massacre.
She lived for art and music, anime and animals, friends said. And rain- bows. She loved rainbows.
The evening before her funeral, which was closed to media, friends sought solace in the bright, dramatic sunset, and two rainbows that appeared in the waning sky.
Ramirez would have loved it, said Lesley Tribble, a close family friend.
“It has us all in awe,” she said.
The next day, Tribble and hundreds of others gathered for a private service at Dayspring Church, where they celebrated Ramirez’s bright spirit.
“In her short time with us, Angelique proved to be a kind, compassionate and caring individual,” family friend Rebecca Ruiz wrote after the teen’s death.
Jared Black
Hundreds of people congregated in the hot and humid afternoon at Aldersgate United Methodist Church to mourn Jared Alan Lee Conard Black, a 17-year-old science fiction buff who liked video games, anime, wrestling and swimming with his young nephew.
Black’s funeral, like Ramirez’s, was closed to media.
The day after the shooting, Travis Stanich remembered his stepson as a kind, quiet teen.
“He loves people,” Stanich said about Black. “He’s very creative.”
Black’s family had moved to Santa Fe from Eugene, Oregon, when he was 4, said Anthony McLeod, his 21-year-old half brother.
Black liked to draw — frequently sending family members photos of his work — and play video games such as “Minecraft” or “Pokémon Go.”
McLeod, who lives in Odessa, said Black took a special interest in his 5-year-old son, and the two became nearly inseparable.
Elsewhere Saturday, a steady flow of mourners walked the line of 10 white wooden crosses memorializing the dead outside Santa Fe High School. Flowers were piled high at each one, including the cross that bears Jared Black’s name.
“You didn’t deserve this, sweet boy,” someone had written. “I love you.”