Lauren E. Seitz Memorial Music Fund
Donation protected
My beautiful first born daughter, Lauren Elisabeth Seitz passed away on June 19th, 2016 due to Primary Amebic Meningoencephalitis, a rare and devastating infection of the brain that is almost always fatal.
Just two weeks earlier on Saturday June 4th, Lauren boarded a charter bus with other members of the youth choir for our church's annual “Youth in Mission” music tour. The choir sang and played handbells at churches and care centers in Ohio, West Virginia and North Carolina, and volunteered their time at Samaritan’s Feet: a non-profit that provides shoes for children around the world. She became infected with the parasite that killed her during a recreational day at the U.S. National Whitewater Center in Charlotte. On June 11th, she returned home from tour and the choir performed their homecoming concert. Lauren was so joyful and radiant. I had never heard her sing so beautifully.
The following Wednesday June 15th, Lauren and I were at Denison University's Freshman Orientation where she registered for Fall classes. She planned to Minor in Music and to study Environmental Science. She cared deeply about sustainable agriculture and providing people better access to healthy fresh food. When we returned home, she complained of a bad headache and slept through the afternoon. We saw her doctor on Thursday morning, but in spite of antibiotic treatment the pain continued to worsen throughout the day and into the night. Paramedics rushed her to the hospital around 3:00 Friday morning. Sunday morning, she was gone. The doctors and nurses who cared for her at Mount Carmel St. Ann's and Mount Carmel East Hospitals tried desperately to save her life, even enlisting the help of the Centers for Disease Control, but there was really no chance for a different outcome. Our family, church, and the whole community are stunned by this tragic and unacceptable loss.
Lauren had just graduated with honors three weeks before from Westerville South High School. She was academically gifted, but music was her first love. She studied piano from an early age and loved composing original music. She played flute and piccolo in the wind symphony, and tenor saxophone in the jazz band. She joined the marching band as an eighth grader, and was so proud when she became a drum major her Junior year. Her high school band director said that she epitomized the traits of a quiet leader, and she earned the respect and love of her peers though kindness and genuine caring. On Tuesday June 21st, those students, band parents, teachers and many other friends gathered at the school to share memories of Lauren and hold a candlelight vigil. It was an emotional and moving tribute to the far-reaching impact that one life can have on so many others.
Lauren dreamed of a healthier and more humane world; a world in which the arts would inspire us all to be kinder to each other and to be better stewards of the earth. As a lasting tribute to her memory, her love of music, and the self-confidence and maturity that she gained as a student leader in the band program at Westerville South, we have established The Lauren Elisabeth Seitz Memorial Music Fund. Donations will be used to create an endowment administered by the Columbus Foundation benefitting students in music programs in our community. Lauren’s memorial could help purchase new instruments, fund special programs and supplemental instruction, commission new compositions for ensembles to perform, support ensemble tours, and help keep participation fees affordable for all students.
Lauren’s mother, sister and I are so grateful for the support that our community has provided and continues to provide in our mutual grief. Please consider a small gift to help us create something beautiful, wholesome and enduring in her memory: something that will help our family, church, school, band and theatre, neighborhood, co-workers, and Lauren’s many friends to heal.
With deepest gratitude,
Jim Seitz
Lauren’s Dad
Just two weeks earlier on Saturday June 4th, Lauren boarded a charter bus with other members of the youth choir for our church's annual “Youth in Mission” music tour. The choir sang and played handbells at churches and care centers in Ohio, West Virginia and North Carolina, and volunteered their time at Samaritan’s Feet: a non-profit that provides shoes for children around the world. She became infected with the parasite that killed her during a recreational day at the U.S. National Whitewater Center in Charlotte. On June 11th, she returned home from tour and the choir performed their homecoming concert. Lauren was so joyful and radiant. I had never heard her sing so beautifully.
The following Wednesday June 15th, Lauren and I were at Denison University's Freshman Orientation where she registered for Fall classes. She planned to Minor in Music and to study Environmental Science. She cared deeply about sustainable agriculture and providing people better access to healthy fresh food. When we returned home, she complained of a bad headache and slept through the afternoon. We saw her doctor on Thursday morning, but in spite of antibiotic treatment the pain continued to worsen throughout the day and into the night. Paramedics rushed her to the hospital around 3:00 Friday morning. Sunday morning, she was gone. The doctors and nurses who cared for her at Mount Carmel St. Ann's and Mount Carmel East Hospitals tried desperately to save her life, even enlisting the help of the Centers for Disease Control, but there was really no chance for a different outcome. Our family, church, and the whole community are stunned by this tragic and unacceptable loss.
Lauren had just graduated with honors three weeks before from Westerville South High School. She was academically gifted, but music was her first love. She studied piano from an early age and loved composing original music. She played flute and piccolo in the wind symphony, and tenor saxophone in the jazz band. She joined the marching band as an eighth grader, and was so proud when she became a drum major her Junior year. Her high school band director said that she epitomized the traits of a quiet leader, and she earned the respect and love of her peers though kindness and genuine caring. On Tuesday June 21st, those students, band parents, teachers and many other friends gathered at the school to share memories of Lauren and hold a candlelight vigil. It was an emotional and moving tribute to the far-reaching impact that one life can have on so many others.
Lauren dreamed of a healthier and more humane world; a world in which the arts would inspire us all to be kinder to each other and to be better stewards of the earth. As a lasting tribute to her memory, her love of music, and the self-confidence and maturity that she gained as a student leader in the band program at Westerville South, we have established The Lauren Elisabeth Seitz Memorial Music Fund. Donations will be used to create an endowment administered by the Columbus Foundation benefitting students in music programs in our community. Lauren’s memorial could help purchase new instruments, fund special programs and supplemental instruction, commission new compositions for ensembles to perform, support ensemble tours, and help keep participation fees affordable for all students.
Lauren’s mother, sister and I are so grateful for the support that our community has provided and continues to provide in our mutual grief. Please consider a small gift to help us create something beautiful, wholesome and enduring in her memory: something that will help our family, church, school, band and theatre, neighborhood, co-workers, and Lauren’s many friends to heal.
With deepest gratitude,
Jim Seitz
Lauren’s Dad
Organizer
James Seitz
Organizer
Westerville, OH
