Everyday is not always promised, and that fact has started to settle in for the students at Loy Norrix High School.
Around 7 p.m. on Friday, September 9th, Loy Norrix students, faculty, alumni and fellow community members came together to recognize a loss of two loved ones. Following the deaths of Daquarion (DQ) Hunter and Marsavious (Savie) Frazier on the night of September 5th, a moment of silence was necessary to honor the moments when these two young men touched the lives of the Kalamazoo community.
Before the national anthem was sung at the home football game against Kalamazoo Central on Friday, Andrew Laboe, the athletic director at Loy Norrix High School, gave Hunter’s mother his newly retired jersey, signed by Hunter’s teammates. DQ Hunter, a 2016 Loy Norrix graduate and four year football and basketball player, will be remembered for the numerous laughs and smiles he spread throughout Loy Norrix.
Hailey Timmerman, a Loy Norrix senior, enjoyed Hunter’s humor.
“What I remember most about him is that he was so funny. I remember when him, Nano [a friend] and I used to be in Mr. Greeley’s class cracking up everyday. If I needed a laugh, he’d be the guy,” said Timmerman.
Laboe recalled similar memories with Hunter.
“DQ was funny. He had random waves of humor that varied from silly to sarcastic to over the top but was always able to make me smile or laugh. If I wasn’t in my office when he came to see me alone, he would ask Miss G if he could leave me a note,” Laboe continued. “There would be notes all over my computer screen sometimes or a serious note under my mouse.”
Frazier, a Loy Norrix Knight for two years, would have been a graduate at Phoenix High School this spring. Frazier was a caring individual and valued the loved ones in his life.
“He always knew how to put a smile on my face, and if he didn’t know at the time, he’d find a way,” said junior Jasmine Huyck.
These two men were lost on Monday due to an accident where one of the boys accidentally shot the other then took his own life out of despair. According to the website “International Business Times” in the year 2015, 265 people under the age of 18 picked up a gun and accidentally shot someone in the United States.
The students of Loy Norrix wanted to come together on September 9th to honor and remember their lost friends. The student section at the Friday football game wore shirts with Frazier’s and Hunter’s names and pictures printed on them.
At Thursday’s home football game against Gull Lake on September 15th, the remembrance continued. The Gull Lake football program donated $200 to the family of Hunter for funeral expenses. Loy Norrix’s student section had a birthday party theme in honor of what would have been DQ Hunter’s 18th birthday the following day.
In moments of tragedy like these, it can be hard to find a positive light amongst it all, but Laboe tried to look for the good.
“[I hope] that community leaders can take hold of the pain of the deaths of the two young adults,” Laboe said, “and begin a real conversation about violence and guns in Kalamazoo.”
It is important to try and stop the misuse of guns in Kalamazoo.
