Thursday, February 19, 2009 8:51 PM CST
Oakland residents mourn one of their own
By ROB STROUD, Staff Writer
rstroud@jg-tc.com
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OAKLAND — People who grow up in a small town like Oakland get to know just about everyone in the whole community.
This was evident as dozens of Oakland residents began gathering during a frigid Thursday morning on the town square. They caught up on the happenings in each other’s lives while huddled outdoors and were welcomed into the warm confines of Main Street businesses.
What brought these Oakland residents together was the death of one of their own, 1st Lt. Jared Southworth. They turned out to greet the procession that brought his body home and to show their support for his family.
“It’s just a really sad time. We are going to miss Jared a lot. It’s a big loss for our town,” said Dee Greathouse, who attends Oakland Christian Church, as does Southworth’s family.
Southworth and his wife, Chrissy, have four children. He is the son of Robert and Kimberly Southworth of Oakland.
Southworth, 26, and Staff Sgt. Jason Burkholder, 27, of Marshall were killed Feb. 8 by an improvised explosive device in Helmand, Afghanistan.
As the procession rolled into town, those gathered on the square held small American flags and formed a solid line nearly a block long. Others stood in front of businesses and homes up and down Main Street. Oakland students in grades six through 12 formed near the procession’s destination, Standard Funeral Home.
A solemn silence blanketed Main Street as the long line of police cars, fire trucks, ambulances, Patriot Guard Rider motorcycles, and the vehicles of Southworth’s loved ones filed through town.
“That is what this is all about — supporting his family. It lets them know his death was not in vain; people do care,” said Brad Pardi, an Oakland resident and an Army veteran of Iraq.
Pardi and his friend Jamey Mauzy, a Tuscola resident who returned to his hometown for the procession, helped form the line on the square.
Mauzy, 28, and Pardi, 30, were not in Southworth’s graduating class at Oakland, but they said getting to know him was easy in a high school that numbers less than 100 students. Mauzy recalled playing sports alongside Southworth from grade school through high school.
“Jared loved baseball. He played baseball from the time he was a kid. I don’t think he ever quit,” Mauzy said.
Southworth graduated from Lake Land College and Eastern Illinois University, where he was in the ROTC program. Southworth was serving with the HHC 2/130 Infantry Division of the Illinois National Guard in Afghanistan and was a U.S. Army Ranger.
Greathouse, who stood downtown with her friend Diana Zimmerman, said Southworth loved being a soldier. She said Southworth was well aware of the dangers he would face in Afghanistan but was excited about serving there.
“That was what he trained for and he wanted to be a part of it,” Greathouse said.
The supporters who gathered along Main Street included several loved one of Burkholder, who was buried Wednesday in his home state of Ohio.
Brother-in-law Andy Welborn of Marshall said the family was honored to see flag-holding supporters line the route of Burkholder’s procession on Sunday between Interstate 70 and the funeral home in Marshall. He said his family wanted to do the same for Southworth.
“We wanted to come show our support for the Southworth family. We want to pay our respects,” Welborn said.
Contact Rob Stroud at rstroud@jg-tc.com or 348-5734.
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