Published: April 17, 2007 09:37 pm      

Former Narrows High School standout slain at Virginia Tech

NARROWS, Va. — The town of Narrows united at a memorial service Tuesday evening to honor one of their young residents who died as a result of injuries sustained in the shooting massacre at Virginia Tech.

Jarrett Lee Lane, 22, of Narrows, was one of 32 individuals killed during a rampage on the Blacksburg, Va., campus Monday morning by Virginia Tech senior Cho Seung-Hui. After killing two individuals at a dormitory and 30 others in an academic building two hours later, Hui fatally shot himself.

Residents of the small town of Narrows said the tight-knit community would band together during the crisis. “Folks around here really take care of each other,” said Dennis Martin, pastor of First Christian Church of Narrows.

In addition to the 7 p.m. memorial service at the First Baptist Church of Narrows, where Lane was a member, a prayer vigil was also held at the First Christian Church.

“We are lighting 32 candles for the victims plus their families and the Tech staff,” Martin said prior to the service. “Jarrett’s will be the first candle we light.”

Lane, a senior civil engineering student at Tech, was remembered by family and friends for his exuberant personality.

“All of us are still deeply stunned and in shock over the loss of our son, grandson, and brother, Jarrett Lee Lane,” Lane’s family announced in a prepared statement. “He was a fun-loving young man, full of spirit. He had a caring heart and was a friend to everybody he met, both at Virginia Tech and here in Narrows. We are leaning on God’s grace in these trying hours and appreciate all the prayers, expressions of sympathy, and thoughts.

“Our hearts go out to his classmates, friends, professors and everyone throughout the Virginia Tech community.”

Martin said Lane’s mother and grandmother live next door to the First Christian Church. Although the pastor said he did not personally know the young man, he noted, “I know he was a good friend to a lot of people in Narrows, including one our parishioners who also attended Virginia Tech.”

Lane was an “outstanding student and an outstanding athlete,” Robert Stump, principal of Narrows High School, said of his former student.

“I’ve been here for six years now so I was very fortunate to work with Jarrett,” Stump said. “He was a multiple sports letterman in athletics. He was a member of the band. He was in various clubs. He was a member of the MACC academic team, and was very active in clubs and organizations.”

A 2003 graduate of Narrows High School, Lane was valedictorian of his graduating class.

Stump said the school and community is mourning the tragic loss of Lane.

“Someone of his character — and he was a fine young man who was willing to give to everyone — it just proves when you are willing to give, you get a lot of positive things,” Stump said. “He was able to step into Virginia Tech and pursue his dream. If you wanted something, you go after it. That was his philosophy, and that made him a success.”

Stump said school officials feared the worst Monday when they didn’t hear from Lane.

“We had kind of tried to keep track of all of our students that were over there,” Stump said. “He was basically the only one we had not heard from or got any confirmation from. So we were very concerned from the beginning. Unfortunately, our concerns were validated. We go ahead and contact everyone in our faculty when we hear of something like this. We are a very tight-knit community. We want to make sure everyone has what they need to get through a situation like this.”

Stump said Lane was “very friendly, but very quiet.”

“He was not one that wanted to be in the spotlight,” Stump said. “He was one who would rather put the school in the spotlight.”

Stump said Lane was focused on his career while still at Narrows High School.

“He started out at Virginia Tech,” Stump said. “He was going to go to the University of Florida after he graduated. He was picking up the civil engineering at Tech, and then he was going to go the University of Florida for his graduate program.”