SHERYL KORNMAN and RYN GARGULINSKI
Tucson Citizen
“He was my child. He was my son,” said a husky-voiced David Stivers, the former band director at Desert View High School.
Stivers, who was Johnny Smith’s teacher for four years, choked back tears as he remembered the 18-year-old, who graduated from the high school in May.
Smith was found dead Sunday morning in his Delta Tau Delta fraternity house at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Ind., apparently after a night of drinking. The cause of death is unknown, according to college officials.
About 150 students, teachers, administrators and Smith’s parents attended an outdoor memorial service for Smith on Tuesday night at Desert View, 4101 E. Valencia Road.
Smith had won a scholarship to the liberal arts men’s college, which has 900 students.
Seven weeks into the school year, he was found facedown in a pool of vomit, his mother, Stacy Smith, said. He was pronounced dead at the scene. She said he wanted to be a nuclear scientist.
Stivers said Smith was a band member at Desert View for four years and a member of the jazz band for two. He also played football and was on the club lacrosse team.
“He was one of the best students we had in the band,” Stivers said. “He knew his music better and before anyone else. That is who he was.”
Again, Stivers expressed his deep feelings for his student: “He was my child,” and he paused to compose himself.
“He had to be the best, better, quicker than anyone else. He was,” Stivers said. “The circumstances around what’s going on are horrible. I don’t know how to tell you how to deal with it. I don’t know how.”
Raul Hodgers, Desert View’s assistant principal for athletics, said he will talk to students about the loss of Smith, who played varsity football, before Friday night’s football game.
Smith’s parents, Stacy and Robert Smith, stood grimly near a floral arrangement in the center of the group that gathered to mourn their son Tuesday night.
Some students held each other and wept.
Investigations by the Crawfordsville Police Department, the Wabash Dean of Students Office, and Delta Tau Delta International are ongoing.
A memorial service is set for Thursday at Wabash College.
“Johnny was a tremendous young man,” said Wabash President Patrick E. White, in a statement posted on the college’s Web site. “He was part of a brotherhood of Wabash men, and we grieve for him, his family, and his brothers at this difficult time. Our deepest condolences go out to his family and his friends.”
Smith’s friends and family said he rarely drank. His close cousin Eddie Brown, 19, said that peer pressure may have contributed to Smith’s death.
Funeral arrangements are pending. Wabash has been providing counseling to members of Smith’s fraternity.
