thedrifter
05-21-07, 07:32 AM
FHN senior dies from car-crash injuries
Sunday, May 20, 2007
By Rick Wilson
The Grand Rapids Press
CASCADE TOWNSHIP -- When Scott Hall was 14, he wrote a school paper on how hard it was to have his three brothers, all Marines, serving in Iraq.
"To think after this I might not have a brother, that's pretty hard," Scott said then.
Now, his brothers, parents and a sister have to bear that pain.
Scott, 19, a Forest Hills Central High School senior, died Friday from injuries sustained in a May 10 car crash.
Scott's father has heard grieving friends mention the irony of his three eldest sons surviving a war zone while his youngest died in an accident less than a mile from home. But he doesn't want to dwell on that.
"People are going to say that, and it's telling and it's true. But right now we need time to celebrate Scott's life and his brothers and sister who love him," Fred Hall said Saturday.
Scott was injured after losing control of his car while rounding a curve on 28th Street near Buttrick Avenue SE, causing his Pontiac Grand Am to roll at least once before striking a wooded embankment. He spent his 19th birthday on Wednesday in a coma at Spectrum Health Butterworth.
His high school graduation is Wednesday, and grieving classmates have reached out to each other and the family.
Fred Hall said his son was part of a close family and served as a sort of "social director" to make sure everyone kept in touch. He said it was Scott's idea to be interviewed for a 2003 Press story about the fears he had for his three older brothers serving as Marines in Iraq. They all have completed their tours of duty.
"That story was all orchestrated by Scott," said Fred Hall. "He wrote an essay for a middle school project, and it kind of snowballed from there."
In that story, Scott revealed his e-mails to his brothers, saying they had nothing to prove to him. They already are heroes in his eyes, he said, and he implored them to stay safe.
Clark Udell, Forest Hills Central assistant principal and athletic director, said that story takes on new meaning.
"Scott comes from a family who's proud of their children and who are able to make a sacrifice to a cause greater than themselves." Udell said.
Just as telling, friends say, is the senior quote Scott had published in his high school yearbook. His parents hadn't seen it until Saturday.
"No need to cherish luxuries, 'cuz everything comes and goes," the quote reads. "Even the life that you have is borrowed, 'cuz you're not promised tomorrow."
"That's Scottie," his tearful mother, Sue, said
"That's a fitting quote for the way he seemed to approach his life, as a gift, as something not to be taken for granted," said Udell, who taught Hall physical education in elementary school.
"He came into the gym at Ada Elementary with a lot of passion, and it was the same way when he walked the halls of Central High," Udell said. "There was a lot of life there."
Hall planned to attend Michigan Technological University to study mechanical engineering this fall.
More than 150 people left condolences for the family on a hospital Web site, including Kim Pearson, whose two sons played hockey with Scott.
She recalled the young man's passion on the ice and how he made her boys laugh.
"We just loved watching that kid play. He wasn't a big kid, but he played like the biggest kid out there, and that's how he lived his life," Pearson said.
"When my kids showed me his yearbook quote, we were all just kind of stunned."
Visitation for Scott is 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday at O'Brien-Eggebeen-Gerst Chapel, 3980 Cascade Road SE. A private family funeral is scheduled for Friday.
Send e-mail to the author: localnews@grpress.com
Ellie
Sunday, May 20, 2007
By Rick Wilson
The Grand Rapids Press
CASCADE TOWNSHIP -- When Scott Hall was 14, he wrote a school paper on how hard it was to have his three brothers, all Marines, serving in Iraq.
"To think after this I might not have a brother, that's pretty hard," Scott said then.
Now, his brothers, parents and a sister have to bear that pain.
Scott, 19, a Forest Hills Central High School senior, died Friday from injuries sustained in a May 10 car crash.
Scott's father has heard grieving friends mention the irony of his three eldest sons surviving a war zone while his youngest died in an accident less than a mile from home. But he doesn't want to dwell on that.
"People are going to say that, and it's telling and it's true. But right now we need time to celebrate Scott's life and his brothers and sister who love him," Fred Hall said Saturday.
Scott was injured after losing control of his car while rounding a curve on 28th Street near Buttrick Avenue SE, causing his Pontiac Grand Am to roll at least once before striking a wooded embankment. He spent his 19th birthday on Wednesday in a coma at Spectrum Health Butterworth.
His high school graduation is Wednesday, and grieving classmates have reached out to each other and the family.
Fred Hall said his son was part of a close family and served as a sort of "social director" to make sure everyone kept in touch. He said it was Scott's idea to be interviewed for a 2003 Press story about the fears he had for his three older brothers serving as Marines in Iraq. They all have completed their tours of duty.
"That story was all orchestrated by Scott," said Fred Hall. "He wrote an essay for a middle school project, and it kind of snowballed from there."
In that story, Scott revealed his e-mails to his brothers, saying they had nothing to prove to him. They already are heroes in his eyes, he said, and he implored them to stay safe.
Clark Udell, Forest Hills Central assistant principal and athletic director, said that story takes on new meaning.
"Scott comes from a family who's proud of their children and who are able to make a sacrifice to a cause greater than themselves." Udell said.
Just as telling, friends say, is the senior quote Scott had published in his high school yearbook. His parents hadn't seen it until Saturday.
"No need to cherish luxuries, 'cuz everything comes and goes," the quote reads. "Even the life that you have is borrowed, 'cuz you're not promised tomorrow."
"That's Scottie," his tearful mother, Sue, said
"That's a fitting quote for the way he seemed to approach his life, as a gift, as something not to be taken for granted," said Udell, who taught Hall physical education in elementary school.
"He came into the gym at Ada Elementary with a lot of passion, and it was the same way when he walked the halls of Central High," Udell said. "There was a lot of life there."
Hall planned to attend Michigan Technological University to study mechanical engineering this fall.
More than 150 people left condolences for the family on a hospital Web site, including Kim Pearson, whose two sons played hockey with Scott.
She recalled the young man's passion on the ice and how he made her boys laugh.
"We just loved watching that kid play. He wasn't a big kid, but he played like the biggest kid out there, and that's how he lived his life," Pearson said.
"When my kids showed me his yearbook quote, we were all just kind of stunned."
Visitation for Scott is 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday at O'Brien-Eggebeen-Gerst Chapel, 3980 Cascade Road SE. A private family funeral is scheduled for Friday.
Send e-mail to the author: localnews@grpress.com
Ellie