The community aches for those who lost friends and colleagues in the Oct. 1, 2015, mass murder at Umpqua Community College, UCC President Rachel Pokrandt said Friday.
Pokrandt spoke at a remembrance ceremony attended by family members of the victims as well as first responders and other community members.
“Those who lost their lives, those who carry physical scars, and those who carry scars of the heart and mind, we are here with you,” Pokrandt said.
UCC Executive Assistant to the President and Board Robynne Wilgus described each of the nine victims who died — Lucero Alcaraz, Treven Anspach, Rebecka Carnes, Quinn Cooper, Kim Dietz, Lucas Eibel, Jason Johnson, Lawrence Levine and Sarena Moore.
Alcaraz was a bright young woman who hoped to become a pediatric nurse. She was considered the responsible one among six siblings.
“Her older sister remarked that she knew Lucero would have gone on to do great things,” Wilgus said.
Anspach was selfless and courageous, looked up to by others because he brought out the best in them. He hoped to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a firefighter.
“He is remembered as a friend to all he met,” she said.
Carnes loved softball, which she played all four years of high school. She hoped to become a dental assistant.
“With her genuine and easygoing sunny disposition, she would have excelled in her career,” she said.
Cooper enjoyed theater and martial arts and looked forward to pursuing a college education.
“His funny, smart and compassionate personality made him more than just a friend. He was more like a brother to those closest to him,” she said.
Dietz’s sense of adventure and spirit brought her to UCC, where she became a familiar face on campus and a member of student government.
“Her love of family was second to none, and she was quick to share that mothering gift with creatures large and small,” she said.
Eibel was a member of FFA who volunteered at Wildlife Safari and Saving Grace Pet Adoption Center.
“It was his love of science that brought him to UCC in pursuit of a career where he was eager to follow his dreams,” she said.
Johnson hoped to serve the community as an emergency medical technician, protecting the community’s most vulnerable members.
“His sense of humor and love of spending time with those closest to him made him the kind of man his friends could count on for support,” she said.
Moore spent much of her time caring for others from her church and had a passion for animals.
“Through her strength and determination, she planned to open a business bringing animals and disadvantaged people together,” she said.
Levine was a respected English professor at UCC who was passionate about writing. He spent his spare time writing novels and had an article published in Fly Fisherman magazine.
“The beauty of the North Umpqua was a favorite location, not only for fly fishing but also mushroom hunting, sharing his bounty with friends,” she said.
A bell was rung for each and a moment of silence held.
Professor John Blackwood spoke about community members who gathered at Stewart Park in Roseburg after the murders to comfort each other, the people who lit a candle and held it high.
“I will never forget the sight of all those candles and the power of the crowd that night,” he said.
Blackwood said he’s always humbled to learn about how others who have experienced similar atrocities work to cope and help others, citing the example of the Rebel Project, an organization started by survivors of the 1999 Columbine High School mass shooting. The group helps survivors connect with each other and with therapists who specialize in trauma. The strength, determination and compassion they display inspires him to do more to help others, he said.
After the mass shooting here, people from all over the world reached out to Blackwood, including survivors of other shootings.
Blackwood also cited the work of UCC Strong, and of his own former student Justin Troxel, who created metal signs in the shape of Oregon with cutout hearts where Roseburg would be, and donated the $140,000 he raised from their sale.
“My hope today is that these examples and the memory of our raised candles when we speak together may comfort all of us as we continue to carry on the best we can in honor of those we lost on Oct. 1, 2015,” he said.
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