• printer friendly
• mail this article
• iPod format
• digg

Friday, 5/30/97 Two students remembered at service MEMORIAL: UCLA wake mourns death of Pearce, Sanders

By Jennifer Mukai Daily Bruin Contributor A memorial service honoring UCLA students Brian Pearce and Brian Toshio Sanders was held Wednesday night in Kerckhoff Hall's newly christened Charles E. Young Grand Salon. About 135 people attended, many of whom could be seen discreetly wiping away tears during the service. Pearce and Sanders drowned May 17 at Lake Mead, Nev., while on a weekend trip with the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. Pearce, a fourth-year business economics student, attempted a backflip into the water but did not resurface, according to witnesses. Sanders, a second-year computer science engineering student, dived after him to rescue him and disappeared as well. Sanders' sister, Christine Sanders, and girlfriend, Christine Whittaker, both attended Wednesday night's memorial service. Both declined to comment. Pearce's girlfriend, fourth-year communications studies student Lia Ramsey, was unable to attend the memorial but did leave a brief speech to be read by one of Pearce's fraternity brothers. "Brian will be remembered by his happy smile and his enthusiasm for life," she said. "His strong spirit, however, will not need to be merely remembered, because I truly believe that it will live on." Ramsey's message went on to explain her absence from the memorial service. The Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority's senior celebration had been rescheduled from last week just for her, she said, and happened to be on the same night as the memorial. After much thought, she had concluded that Pearce would have encouraged her to celebrate her upcoming graduation with her friends. While it would be a struggle to overcome the loss of both Pearce and Sanders, Ramsey continued, "We can learn from these tragedies and grow from the impact Brian and Brian had on our life. We can learn to enjoy today and not obsess over tomorrow. We can learn to cherish our relationships with our loved ones, and we can learn greater strength to endure whatever life may have in store for us." Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity president Steve Lacrosse recalled Pearce as "always smiling." "He could always find something funny in every situation." Second-year political science and psychology student Jared Freilich, who had been Sanders's roommate for the past two years, also said a few words at the memorial. "This is the first loss - big loss - in my life," he said, addressing the crowd. Memories of Sanders sometimes bring smiles to his face, he continued, but others sadden him. "We had big plans, and now they seem stolen from me," Freilich said. Those plans included sharing an apartment next year with friends Tyler Young, a second-year economics student, and Zack Prager, a second-year cognitive science student. Young, a friend of Sanders since middle school, commented that he almost doesn't want to return to classes and "normal" life yet, for fear of really missing his friend. Last week, he explained, he was too busy helping with funeral arrangements to worry about himself. "Now," cut in Dykstra neighbor Sara Burt, "it's just lonely." Like Young, the second-year European studies student said she didn't want to return to any routine yet. "I almost feel like I'm forgetting about him (if I do)," Burt said. "I feel selfish, like I'm doing my own life, while Brian is not." Ironically, commented Freilich and Young, the weekend Sanders had gone to Lake Mead was the first in years that they had all been apart. First-year biology student Sandra Ar-bab said she found it difficult to see the four friends separated. "All four - that's how I met them, and that's how I always see them," she said. She went on to say that when she arrived at UCLA last fall from New York, she hadn't known anyone here. She looked to Sanders and his friends for friendship and advice. "In a way, they're like my family here," Ar-bab said. "Being on the floor, seeing them everyday, they've become integral to my life here." JUSTIN WARREN/Daily Bruin Christine Whittaker (right) mourns the deaths of Brian Sanders and Brian Pearce at a memorial service held Wednesday night at Kerckhoff Hall. Whittaker was Sanders' girlfriend. In the foreground (left), Brian Sanders' sister Christine Sanders grieves. Previous Daily Bruin Story: Two Lambda Chi Members DrownMay 20, 1997