This past Wednesday, February Third, the Bedford Community participated in a candlelight vigil to memorialize Daniel Stauber, a student who passed away on that day last year. Information on the vigil was first introduced by Lisa Jaqcues, the dean of humanities at BHS, via a school-wide email on January 28th. An excerpt of the email reads:
“Daniel Stauber’s family is hoping the Bedford High School community will join them in remembering Dan, one year from his passing. Please light a candle for Dan between the hours of 6:19pm and 7:45pm on February 3rd and place it on your doorstep”
Dan’s brother, Fynn Stauber, later posted about the vigil on his Instagram, encouraging students to participate. That night, an outpouring of students showed their support, posting their candles on their own Instagram stories. Staff, students, and the entire Bedford community took the night to remember Dan, and how important he was to our lives.
Student Lily Huffman put out a candle for Dan’s vigil with her dog, Luna.
The BHS student community has rallied around Fynn Stauber and his family throughout the entire process of memorializing Dan. Earlier this year, Fynn and his family created an online petition order to advocate for memorializing Dan in the yearbook. As of February 7th, the petition has received over one thousand signatures. The comments are full of students celebrating Dan’s impact on the school community, and advocating for his memorialization in the 2020-2021 Yearbook.
“Dan was a dear friend of mine in years past. He was so happy and enthusiastic about what he did and was a big part of the community. His family so kind and caring and always putting smiles on others faces even if there day wasn’t so good.” -Ryan Ashburner
“Though I didn’t know Dan personally, his death was still very upsetting. At the bare minimum, he deserves to be remembered. Remembrance isn’t a favor, it’s human decency. Dan has the right to receive some sort of acknowledgement from his school district, and to refuse to give it is to demonstrate carelessness and insensitivity. Bedford needs to be there for its students. If the administration can’t even bring itself to honor one of their own, then it has failed every single one of us.” -Danny Cronin
“Dan was one of the longest and closest friends I had at Bedford. I’ll remember him always and I hope this school comes to realize how important even a bare minimum of a page in a yearbook is. Memorials for lost loved ones is a part of healing and growing with the loss and Dan was so involved with the community there should have never even had to be a second thought about it.” – Casey Krebs
Comments can be read in full at the petition site itself.
Dan was a friend. He was a student. He was a brother. He touched so many people’s lives. His legacy inspired students to work together to stand up for a cause they believed in, and continues to move the student body to support each other. Fynn Stauber’s online advocacy for his brother’s memory has allowed the student body at large to mourn together.
On February 3rd, 2020, the day of Dan’s passing, Fynn posted this image of his brother with the caption:
“All you were was happy. We love you so much. I’m so sorry. You’re in the stars now.”
A year from that day, the Bedford High School community looked up at those very stars, and remembered Daniel Stauber and how he changed all of our lives.
