Remembering the Young Lives Lost, Family and Community Togetherness

GULF COAST -- Lucretia Nix and parents of those young people who died in the terrorists attacks in Paris are a world away from each other but they feel the same devastating pain this year: the passing of a children.  Tbey were among the many young people who died in 2015.

During November, Nix and those families lost their children within days of each other. On Nov. 6, MJ Joseph and his father, Marshean Sr, died in a vehicle wreck while on their way to watch a football game. On Nov. 13, Muslim terrorists killed more than 128 people in four separate attacks in Paris, France. At least 90 of the victims included young people attending a concert at the Bataclan nightclub.

Six-year-old and Father Die in Circus Tent During Storm

LANCASTER, N.H. -- Annabelle Young and her father, 41-year-old Robert Young, are the two people who died during a circus performance as a severe storm hit the Lancaster area on Monday. 

Annabelle, 6, and her father lived in Concord, Vt.  Police said the two died of blunt force trauma, according to New Hampshire State Fire Marshall Bill Degnan. 

Sixty-mile-per-hour winds and hail ripped the tent apart and the poles holding the canvas fell as the tent collapsed. Some 32 other people were in injured and the spectators who were estimated to number about 100 people, according to law enforcement officials. 

It was the second tent death this week. A man in Chicago was killed when a concert tent collasped, also during a storm. 

Information obtained from:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/winds-60-mph-deadly-hampshire-circus-accident/story?id=32871007

Family, Friends, Fans Mourn Death of Bobbi Kristina Brown

ATLANTA -- Funeral arrangements for Bobbi Kristina Brown are expected to include services in Georgia,

where the 22-year had lived until Jan 31 this year when she was found face down and unresponsive in her bathtub at home in Roswell, and in New Jersey where she was born and her mother's family lives.

Brown, only daughter of famed singer-actress Whitney Houston and R&B singer Bobby Brown, passed away July 26 at a hospice, some six months after she was found in an incident similar to the bathtub death of Houston during February 2012.

(Photos: Bobbi Kristina Brown and her mother Whitney Houston at a Central Park concert; Bobbi Kristina)

"She is finally at peace in the arms of God," the Houston family told USA TODAY in a statement. "We want to again thank everyone for their tremendous amount of love and support during these last few months."

Bobby Brown released a statement through is lawyer, saying his daughter had fought to get well during the last several months.

"Krissy was and is an angel. I am completely numb at this time. My family must find a wa y to live with her in spirit and honor her memory. Our loss in unimaginable."

According to Wikipedia, Bobbi Kristina "Krissy" Brown was born on March 4, 1993, in Livingston, New Jersey, to Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown.^[2] Brown's family includes maternal grandmother Cissy Houston of The Drinkard Singers. Her mother's cousins are Dee Dee Warwick; Dionne Warwick, mother of Damon Elliott; and Leontyne Price. Her uncle is Gary Garland, her mother's half-brother.^[3] Through her father, Brown had five half-siblings: Landon, La'Princia, Robert "Bobby" Jr., Cassius,^[5] and Bodhi.^[6] Her godmother is gospel singer CeCe Winans.

Funeral services for Brown have been set for Saturday, Aug. 1,  at 11 am at St. James United Methodist Church in Alpharetta, Ga. Burial will be in New Jersey on Monday. Both services will be private.


Information obtained from:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2015/07/26/reports-bobbi-kristina-brown-has-died/22720273/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobbi_Kristina_Brown

Quarrel Leads to Death of 21-year-old Cousin

BILOXI, Miss. -- One cousin is dead and another in jail for murder following an argument and shooting that caused the death of the 21-year-old man.

Mark Anthony Fairley, 21, died of a gunshot wound to the head July 15, reportedly killed by his cousin, 26-year-old Chris Andre Fairley of Gulfport, according to Biloxi police. Chris Fairley has been charged with first-degree murder.

Also a Gulfport resident, Mark Fairley, was shot once in the head while he and his cousin, Chris Fairley, were involved Thursday in what police said was an ongoing quarrel. The argument and shooting occurred in the parking lot of the Iron Works Gym on Eisenhower Drive.

Information obtained from sunherald.com and wlox.com

Remembering Ja'Naya

GULFPORT, Miss. -- Today marks a year that 5-year-old JaNaya Thompson went missing after stepping outside to play on her front doorstep.

An Amber Alert and police, family and community searches continued into the night until the pre-schooler was found the next day in a trailer home on Whitney Street. The trailer is due north of the girl's former home.

The little girl had been molested, and was found hanging from the empty trailer's bathroom window July 17, 2014.

Evidence linked Alberto Garcia to the crime scene in the once-abandoned trailer, which is now occupied by a family who said they know the circumstances of the case but needed a place to live that was affordable for them.

Neighbors last year had wanted the mobile house destroyed.

The tragic death of Ja'Naya Thompson both shocked and united the Gulfport community and its city leaders.

U.S., Ireland Mourning Death of Six College Students in Berkely

Eimear Walsh

Olivia Burke

Among the six  students killed when a fourth story balcony gave way at Library Gardens Apartments in Berkeley, Calif., or Tuesday, June 16, was Irish-American student Ashley Donohue of Rohnert Park, Calif. who held dual citizenship in the U.S. and Ireland. The other students, all 21 years old,  were from Ireland in the U.S. on short-term work visas. Donohue was 22.


                                                                                     
Eooghan Culligan


Ashley Donohue      



                                                                         


Locan Miller              

Niccolai Schuster







The students were attending a 21st birthday party. The parents of the Irish students are on their way to return home the remains of their loved ones. Seven other people also on the balcony were injured when the fall occurred.

20-year-old Naval Academy Student Among Amtrak Victims

PHILADELPHIA -- Justin Zemser, a 20-year-old midshipman at the U.S.

Naval Academy in Maryland, will be the first of victim of this week's Amtrak derailment to be buried when funeral services are held today at the Boulevard-Riverside-Hewlett Chapel on Long Island.

The sophomore student lives in New York City and was on his way home from Annapolis, Maryland,  when the train derailed Tuesday night. He wanted to be a Navy Seal, and was an only child, according to a report from CNN. 

Zemser was among eight people killed and more than 200 injured among the 243 people aboard train 188 in the Philadelphia, Penn., wreck.  

ABCNEWS reported profiles of Zemser and the other victims who include Laura Finamore, Derrick Griffith, Jim Gaines, Bob Gildersleeve, Abid Gilani, Rachel Jacobs, and Giuseppe Piras. 

PROFILE:
Photo from Google.com

Justin Zemser, a popular student leader and athlete, was on a break from the U.S. Naval Academy and heading home to Rockaway Beach, New York, where playing high school football helped him and his teammates through the devastation of Superstorm Sandy.

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus called Zemser a "crucial member" of the institution.

The 20-year-old's family released a statement mourning "a loving son, nephew and cousin who was very community-minded." They said the tragedy "has shocked us all in the worst way."

Zemser was in his second year. He served as vice president of the Jewish Midshipmen Club and played wide receiver on the academy's sprint football team. Friends at the Naval Academy remembered him for his endearing leadership qualities.

Midshipman James Lieto recalled how his sprint football teammate helped lead first-year students through the academy's Sea Trials hours before the crash. The trials, which began at 3 a.m. on Tuesday, encompass a rigorous 14-hour day of physical challenges.

Zemser, who was known as "Z," wore a floppy sun hat in the early morning darkness to lighten the mood.

"He was always there to pick other people up," Lieto said Thursday.

At Channel View School for Research in New York, Zemser was valedictorian, student government president and captain of the football team.

Outside of school, Zemser interned for New York City Councilman Eric Ulrich and former Councilman James Sanders. Ulrich called him "truly a bright, talented and patriotic young man."

Zemser also volunteered with a church program, a soup kitchen and a nursing home and mentored children with autism, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said. Schumer and U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks nominated Zemser to the Naval Academy, and Meeks was struck by his "high character, intellectual curiosity and maturity beyond his years."

.

D'Iberville Students, Community Remember Lives of Brother and Sister

                              D'Iberville students Amanda Ward, 16, and James Ward Jr., 14




D'IBERVILLE HIGH STUDENTS MOURN OVER LOSS OF SIBLINGS KILLED IN CAR CRASH
WLOX TV/March 16, 2015/video





Funeral services for Amanda and Jimmy Ward will be held Saturday, March 21, at Gulfport Baptist Church on Mississippi 605 in Woolmarket.


The D'Iberville High students were killed March 13 during a two-vehicle accident while on their way to school. The wreck occurred at the intersection of Big John Road and Mississippi 67.


VIGIL HONORS AMANDA AND JIMMY
Sun Herald/Friday, March 20, 2015




The funeral services follow a gathering for prayer and memories held Monday morning before classes to allow students a time for consolation over the death of Amanda, 16, and her 14-year-old brother James, known as Jimmy. She was a sophomore and honor student, and he was a freshman and athlete at the school.


As well, a candlelight vigil was held Friday at the school to support the Ward family.


SOUTH MISSISSIPPI UNITES TO EMBRACE FAMILY OF TEENS KILLED IN D'IBERVILLE CRASH/Sun Herald Friday, March 20, 2015




Amanda and Jimmy are the children of James Sr. and Amy Ward.







CRASH THAT KILLED TO STUDENTS UNDER INVESTIGATION
SUN HERALD/March 16, 2015

Amanda Nicole Ward Woolmarket, MS Amanda Nicole Ward, age 16, of Woolmarket, joined the Angels as they carried her to Heaven on March 13, 2015. Amanda was a beautiful, special, happy, loving and caring young girl with a smile that would light up the room. She had a joyful spirit that will live in our hearts forever and will be remembered for her indescribable special sweetness. Amanda was a sophomore at D'Iberville High School, was an honor student, loved sports, and was participating in softball and basketball. She had also previously participated in cheerleading, baton twirling and dance. She was preceded in death by her grandfathers, Frank Jenkins, Jr., and George W. Ward, Sr.; uncle, George W. Ward, Jr.; great-uncle, James H. Ward, Jr.; and cousin, Allen Keating. Amanda is survived by her loving parents, James E. Ward, Sr. and Amy Jenkins Ward; her brothers, Chad McDowall and Travis Ward; her special "big sister", Jessie Nellums; grandmothers, Marie Kopszywa Ward and Ruth Jenkins; her aunts, Angela Bosarge (Al), Donna Ward, Karen Korn (John); and uncle, Frank Richard "Ricky" Jenkins, III (Anna). She is also survived by her cousins, C.J Fayard, Georgia, Beau, Elizabeth & Tiffany Bosarge, Katie & Megan Ward, Jeremy & John Korn, Amber, Magan, Seth, Haley and Frankie Jenkins; and numerous great aunts, great uncles, cousins, relatives and friends. Visitation will be held on Saturday, March 21, 2015, at First Baptist Church-Gulfport, Highway 605, from 10am-1pm. Funeral services will be held in the church sanctuary at 1pm. Burial will follow at Coalville Cemetery. The family would like to extend their sincere appreciation to all of the teachers, students, teammates, fire departments, co-workers, friends, family, organizations and the entire community for their overwhelming love and support. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the D'Iberville High School Athletic Department, 15625 Lamey Bridge Road, Biloxi, 39532. RIEMANN FAMILY FUNERAL HOME, 11280 Three Rivers Road, Gulfport, is serving the family, and memories may be shared at www.riemannfamily.com - See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sunherald/obituary.aspx?pid=174421071#sthash.LEuwWQnk.dpuf

Read more here: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sunherald/obituary.aspx?pid=174421071#storylink=cpy