Posts shared among friends
By DARCIE HOENIG
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WEST BURLINGTON — Classmates of Ross Taylor and Kara Patejak didn’t have the chance to say good-bye. The two West Burlington High School students died in a one-vehicle accident Saturday.
Now, thanks to technology, students have created an online memorial for their friends where memories, farewells and snapshots of the teens can be shared.
“Friends are actually writing letters to Kara and Ross,” said Nicole Babcock, a junior at WBHS. “They’re sharing stories and memories with friends.”
The memorial was created on facebook.com, a Web site that describes itself as a “social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them.”
To get to the memorial, one must first become a Facebook member by providing an e-mail address and completing a registration form.
Each member then creates a profile to share pictures, blogs and tidbits of personal information. An additional feature allows users to create groups that members can join to show support for all sorts of things — from personal and political interest groups to fan clubs for sports teams and television programs.
In this case, the description says it’s a group created for “everyone that misses Kara and Ross.”
While three different groups actually have been created in their remembrance, the group called Kara Patejak and Ross Taylor R.I.P. has gathered the largest number of mourners.
By Wednesday afternoon, the group had 513 members and 300 photos posted.
“I posted pictures from when we went bowling on Monday — it was the last time I saw her,” said Lindsey Gulick, a student at Southeastern Community College and friend of Patejak.
Others have posted stories recalling memories from Girl Scouts, chemistry class and a childhood trip to Disney on Ice. There is poetry and even a video of Vince Gill singing “Go Rest High on that Mountain.”
“I told (Kara) that we are all going to miss her, and it’s going to be hard living without her,” Gulick said.
Courtney Dochterman, a senior at WBHS, along with Babcock, posted a discussion on Facebook to advertise T-shirts they designed as a fundraiser for the families of Taylor and Patejak to help pay for funeral expenses.
“We’re going to split the proceeds in half and give half to each family,” Dochterman said.
The front of the shirts features a cross with Taylor and Patejak’s names flanking it on either side, and the date of the accident, March 1, 2008, is scrolled beneath.
On the back, the shirt features a quote the girls found on a stepping stone in the floral section at Hy-Vee: “Two golden hearts stop beating, four shining eyes at rest, God broke our hearts to prove he only takes the best.”
The stone has since been purchased and now sits at the scene of the accident at a roadside memorial on West Burlington Avenue.
The shirts cost $10, and a signup sheet is located in the office at the high school. All shirt orders must be received by 3 p.m. Friday.
The memorial Mass for Ross Taylor was Wednesday at SS. Mary and Patrick Catholic Church in West Burlington. The funeral for Kara Patejak is at 6 p.m. today in the gymnasium at West Burlington High School.
Tags: cate, classmate, ups