Thursday, October 04, 2007
Lots of love for Lea
A Montgomery County high school was shaken by a junior's death.
Jared Soares | The Roanoke Times
Eastern Montgomery High School students mourn for LeAndra Milliner on Wednesday at Shawsville Congregational Holiness Church.
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SHAWSVILLE -- A handmade cross, a memorial wall and a special literary magazine are only a few of the ways LeAndra Marie Milliner is being remembered at Eastern Montgomery High School.
The 16-year-old, who friends said had a smile that somehow made them feel better about themselves, died Tuesday afternoon in a pickup truck crash on Willis Hollow Road, near her home.
According to the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, LeAndra was riding in a 1990 Toyota pickup truck when it crashed. Friends said the truck flipped and landed on the passenger side. LeAndra, who wasn't wearing a seat belt, was partially ejected.
The sheriff's office said it appeared that the 17-year-old driver, whose name hasn't been released but whom LeAndra's friends said was her boyfriend, lost control of the truck on the winding road.
Hundreds of people gathered under a starry sky Wednesday night on the lawn of the Shawsville Congregational Holiness Church for a candlelight memorial service.
Some said they thought nearly every Eastern Montgomery student was there.
"We're like one big family," freshman Denise Craighead said. "When something happens, everybody knows about it and everybody's there for each other."
Word spread quickly Tuesday night that LeAndra had been killed, her friends said. Although many students showed up for school Wednesday, most went home early and were there only to talk about LeAndra.
Counselors were on hand all day at the school and will be available as long as they're needed, Principal Nelson Simpkins said. Because LeAndra was a member of the school's junior class and her sister, Ashley Milliner, is a member of the senior class, the school gathered the two groups together to talk about what had happened or just be together.
Booster club members opened up the concession stand in the school's main hallway and provided students with drinks and snacks, Simpkins said.
And students immediately began thinking of ways to memorialize their friend.
Because LeAndra often wore ribbons in her hair, one student passed out ribbons decorated with hearts. A group worked to make pins that featured a photo of the smiling girl along with her nickname, "Lea," and the date she was killed. A building trades class made plans to construct a white cross to place at the site where LeAndra was killed. And some students talked about planting a tree in her memory, Simpkins said.
The school's homecoming football game is scheduled for Friday against Parry McCluer High School, with a dance to follow. The game will go on, but the homecoming festivities -- including Spirit Week activities that were planned for this week -- will be postponed, Simpkins said.
Volleyball and football games that were scheduled for tonight also have been postponed.
English teacher Pat Rose said some students went to her Wednesday with poems they had written about LeAndra.
The school's literary magazine, The Blank Page, is planning to publish what Rose called "a supplementary booklet in LeAndra's memory."
Rose, the school magazine's adviser, said students will have an opportunity to submit poems or other writings about LeAndra.
"Everybody in this school is affected by LeAndra's death," she said.
The magazine will publish later in the year after students have had a chance to reflect and put their thoughts in writing if they wish, she said.
Funeral arrangements have been set for LeAndra. Visitation is planned for 4 to 8 p.m. today at Horne Funeral Service in Christiansburg and a funeral is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Friday at the church.
Simpkins described LeAndra as an all-around good student. She excelled academically and belonged to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Spanish Club.
She played tennis, sang in the chorus and was a member of the hand bell choir. In the past she also cheered.
"Words can't describe her," said junior Erica Meacham, who said LeAndra became her first friend when she moved to Montgomery County from Salem a few months ago. "She had a laugh that was unreal."
At the church Wednesday night, students and parents alike held one another and wept. At one point a group of 10 teens stood in a circle with their arms around one another, all of them sobbing.
The church's pastor, the Rev. Wes Conner, told the somber crowd that LeAndra didn't die in vain.
"This tragedy didn't happen without there being a reward," he said, pointing out the large number of people who had come together.
He and LeAndra's uncle, the Rev. Douglas Milliner, addressed the young people in the crowd, telling them the choices they make in life affect not only them but those close to them.
"We have seen a number of young people get involved in accidents," Conner said. "One decision you make" -- getting in a car with someone who has been drinking alcohol or who doesn't have a driver's license, he said -- "may be your last decision."
"Young people," Douglas Milliner said, "please, please think before you do things."
He also asked the crowd to pray for LeAndra's boyfriend.
Toward the end of the service, those in attendance lit short white candles and held a moment of silence.
A woman sang "Amazing Grace" from the church's outdoor stage, which had been decorated with flowers, pictures of LeAndra, and a huge Care Bear -- something friends said LeAndra loved.
The woman began to sing the words "praise God," gasping for breath through her tears between words.
"We just all miss her very much," freshman Hannah Ramsey said. "Eastern Montgomery High School is going to have dark days for a very long time."
