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Service Conducted for Texas A&M Student
TURLOCK, CA (November, 1999) - A funeral service was conducted Tuesday, November 23, for 22-year-old Jeremy Richard Frampton, one of 12 Texas A&M University students who died following a tragic accident at the school in College Station, Texas. A Turlock native, Frampton was a psychology major in his senior year.
Dr. Bradley L. Boydston, pastor of Cornerstone Covenant Church where Frampton's parents attend, coordinated the service that involved a number of clergy. Some seven or eight television stations were expected to provide on-site news coverage.
The service was conducted in the Monte Vista Chapel in Turlock, the only local church of sufficient size to accommodate the hundreds of mourners, including alumni from various parts of California. Texas A&M chartered an aircraft to transport some 150 Texas A&M students to represent the university.
Not surprisingly, the tragedy has had a profound impact on the Turlock community. Boydston said the Modesto Bee newspaper uncharacteristically incorporated three-inch headlines in its original reporting of the accident involving collapse of a 40-foot-high stack of logs. The wood was being stacked for a bonfire as part of the traditional celebration prior to the football game against archrival University of Texas. A vigil was to be observed at the accident site on the day the bonfire was originally scheduled to be ignited.
Boydston said the tragedy also has had a significant impact on youth of the community, noting that Frampton was "a well-grounded kid spiritually." One of Frampton's former high school football coaches, quoted in the Dallas Morning News, described Frampton as a young man of great character. "He was very inspirational to other kids," the coach said, adding, "he was a great young man. It is a tragedy to lose him like this."
Boydston said that in the midst of such sorrow and pain, it has been encouraging to see the manner in which the church and community have come together in a common bond.
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