Hundreds of students gathered Monday in T.H. Harris Auditorium to pay their last respects to two fallen Gramblinites, Marcus Watson and Marquist McCray.
Family members of the two students traveled from near and far to not only pay their respects, but to also thank the Grambling State family for their support during the time of bereavement.
Watson and McCray were passengers in a one-car accident two weeks ago after leaving a Monroe nightclub. They were pronounced dead at the scene.
Rev. Consuella Breaux, Campus Ministry minister and director of the memorial service, felt the memorial was a “healing process” for the students and community.
Students wore memorial T-shirts as a way of remembering the two 20-year-olds.
Jamar Lewis, who was the injured driver from the accident, sat next to his mother and basketball players at the service. He was recently released from the Louisiana State University Burn Center in Shreveport.
“This will be a scar for Lewis that will never go away,” said the Rev. Breaux. “But hopefully this accident will be a way for him to help others to not take life for granted.”
Members of the band and basketball team, as well as friends of the victims, read poems and scriptures. Faculty members revealed their memories of Watson and McCray, including their performance in class.
“We all lost a friend,” said Jarvis Watson, Marcus’ older brother. “A lot of people knew Marcus as a great athlete, but that was secondary to the type of person he was to those who knew him.”
McCray’s uncle, the Rev. Timothy Hunter Sr., acknowledged the band who did a special performance at McCray’s funeral.
“The band made us feel very royal,” he said. Hunter reminded students that there is a lesson for people to learn when making life-threatening decisions.
“We may be born, but we will die. ‘How’ you die is another thought.”