This is has been an unusual week for me in many ways but especially considering that two people whom I have met died. Clara Luper actually died the previous Wednesday evening - the day I returned from my vacation. She was 88 and I don't think I am stepping out on a limb to say that her passing wasn't unexpected. I can't speak for everyone but once a person reaches a certain point in their elderly age, I'm just never surprised when they finally take their final journey. That's not to say that I am not deeply saddened by the loss of that person, but it is just something that is unexpected.
However, for 24-year-old Langston University student Joshua Griffin, his death was completely unexpected and something that really overwhelmed a campus already mourning Mrs. Luper's death. Josh was someone I really only met in passing, someone I would exchange a "Hi, how are you?" and then move on. But for most on the campus, it was a tragic death for someone who always had a smile on his face and was typically upbeat and optimistic. Josh died doing what he loved but definitely not in a manner anyone would have ever predicted. He and a group of volunteers for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service were walking backwards with a net in two feet of water in an attempt to find Arkansas shiners. A sand bar covering a hole in the river bottom ground gave way and Josh began sliding into the river's strong current and much deeper waters. Attempts to reach out and pull Josh back to shore were unsuccessful and he was pulled under with the current. They discovered his body a few hours later down river.
A death of someone so young is always tragic, especially in the case of someone who had worked so hard to elevate his life. Josh was just four hours away from graduating and was working with the federal wildlife agency on a project that his school professors said was typical of the type of work he loved. He had apparently also applied to go to graduate school at OSU so he was anticipating big things from himself in the future. God be with you, Josh!
The day Josh's death occurred happened to be the same day our office announced that the next day would be a day of mourning for Clara Luper at the Langston University campus. A civil rights pioneer who engineered and participated in the nation's first-ever sit in at Katz Drug Store in Oklahoma City in 1958, Mrs. Luper was someone I had first met when covering a task force at the State Capitol several years ago. Unfortunately, the significance of whom I was meeting was lost on me at the time but I soon discovered that she was someone whose name could be mentioned in the same breath as Rosa Parks and that she had been a strong follower of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
I was able to attend the funeral services for Mrs. Luper on Friday (yesterday if you are reading this the date I posted it) and it was an amazing service. I arrived at 9:30, the choir began at 10, and the service itself finished up just short of 2:30. But some of the stories were fantastic and I believe I may have personally witnessed some of the best speakers of my time. The basic message though was the opposite of the old Roman quote regarding Caesar (and I am taking some liberties here): "I have come not to bury Clara Luper but to praise her." It was quite a service for a woman whose name should never be forgotten.
So, two people took that final journey - one who was considered one of the greatest civil rights icons of all time and the other a student who was too young to have reached the point where his achievements could be realized. In God's eyes, they are both great and they should both be remembered for having a significant impact on the lives of those around them. Rest in peace, Clara Luper and Joshua Griffin!
J.W.O.A.G.
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