By Brendan Loy
The university has released the name of the Notre Dame student who died in London over the weekend. As I feared, it was a law student: 2L Timothy Aher.
In addition to being a Domer, Tim was also a Nutmegger, a resident of Brookfield, Connecticut. He was 25. The university says he "died tragically and unexpectedly Sunday (Feb. 17) in Ilford, England, a suburb of London."
He's the second Notre Dame Law School student to die in just over 10 months. On April 7 of last year, 3L Ryan Rudd died of cancer, less than a month-and-a-half before he would have graduated. He was awarded his J.D. posthumously; his mother received it in a very emotional moment at commencement.
I imagine the Class of 2009 will be torn up about Tim's death in much the same way that ours was about Ryan's. What a tragedy.
Anyway, in the same press release, the university also released more details about the unrelated death of Notre Dame sophomore Connor McGrath, a 20-year-old who intended to major in business:
A resident of Siegfried Hall, he had spent the night in the room of a friend in Dillon Hall, where he previously had resided. His body was discovered by friends at approximately 1:40 p.m. ... Investigators from the unit and the county’s deputy coroner made a preliminary evaluation, pending an autopsy today, that the death appeared to be from natural causes, possibly related to McGrath’s history of diabetes.
A memorial Mass for both students will be held Tuesday at 10 p.m. at the Basilica.
May they both rest in peace. And I know we'll all be keeping their family and friends in our thoughts and prayers. I think particularly of the parents, as I sit here with Loyette sleeping peacefully in my lap; I can't imagine the wrenching pain of losing a child just as they're becoming an adult. May they find some source of comfort in the terribly sad days, indeed years, ahead.
UPDATE, 2/19: Here's a Tim Aher remembrance, with a photo, from blogger Mark Solotroff. Solotroff is in a band, and last November, he and his bandmates were hosted by Tim while in London on tour. A couple of earlier blog posts about their adventures can be found here and here.
Also, another blogger remembers Connor, with several photos. And a Facebook group has been created in his honor.
The Notre Dame Observer has separate articles today about Tim's death and about Connor's death. An excerpt from the article about Tim:
Aher, 25, was a music lover with eccentric interests and a warm personality, his friends said.
"He was a beautiful and rare and amazing person," [Adam] Zayed said.
A memorial Mass was celebrated Monday afternoon in the Alumni Hall chapel. Father John Coughlin, a law professor, presided. Approximately 100 people, mostly students and faculty from the Law School, attended the Mass.
"People from all walks and cliques in the Law School were there today," [Artie] Merschat said. "He brought the Law School together."
Read the whole thing, including an amusing anecdote about Tim's "hipster subjugation of death metal culture."
UPDATE, 2/20: Here's an article about Tim's death from the Danbury News-Times in Connecticut. It includes a photo, of which I've added a scaled-down version to the top of this post (along with a photo of Connor from his Facebook group).
UPDATE, 2/21: Here's Tim's obituary.
In addition, via Chicago radio station WHPK -- where I guess Tim used to work -- I learn that "friends from law school have started to compile a photo album to give to Tim's family." It has 45 photos and counting. And there's also a Tim Aher blog.
The memorial mass for Tim and Connor was held at the Basilica on Tuesday. Here's the Observer article about it, and here's a WNDU article, with video.
Also from the Observer: a letter to the editor praising the campus for coming together in unity at the memorial mass, and an op-ed by Father Lou DelFra titled, "Tragedy: a time of God's absence or presence?"
Funeral arrangements in Connecticut are as follows: "The family will receive friends at the Valley Presbyterian Church, 21
West Whisconier Rd., Brookfield, CT between the hours of 3:00pm and
5:30 p.m. on Saturday, February 23, 2008. A memorial service will be
held at the church at 5:30 p.m."
Also: "In lieu of flowers, the family asks
that contributions be made to Connecticut Legal Services, Inc., 62
Washington St., Middletown, CT 06457, in Tim's name."
P.S. Out of respect for the families, please let's not speculate on anything that hasn't been made public, and/or widely reported by a reputable source, with regard to the individual circumstances of either student's death. Thanks.
P.P.S. Also, please let's keep any arguments about side-issues from the previous post confined there, rather than allowing them to spill over to this thread, which should really be for memorialization and mourning.
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