"We Still Remember"

Yesterday, Utah State University unveiled the Agricultural Memorial honoring the eight students and one instructor from the College of Agriculture who lost their lives in a tragic van accident in the fall of 2005. To learn more click here.

The memorial commemorates the lives of Steven D. Bair, 22, Moses Lake, Wash.; Dusty Dean Fuhriman, 22, Tremonton, Utah; Justin W. Gunnell, 24, Wellsville, Utah; Justin Huggins, 21, Bear River City, Utah; Jonathan Dennis Jorgensen, 22, Peoa, Utah; Curt A. Madsen, 23, Payson, Utah; Ryan Wayne McEntire, 22, West Point, Utah; Bradley G. Wilcox, 26, Salt Lake City, Utah; and instructor Evan Parel Parker, 45, Hooper, Utah.

The memorial project received financial support from alumni and friends, the Utah Farm Bureau, USU student government ;), USU Student Services, departments in the College of Agriculture, the Agriculture Experiment Station and others.

Logan Ipsen, the Agriculture Senator for ASUSU in 2006 was passionate about building this memorial and approached our council various times to financially support this endeavor. I had since forgotten about this memorial and am impressed with Dean Noelle Cockett and the many others who have been working on this project for years. Upon completion, this memorial will be a priceless asset to the new agricultural building.

Dusty Fuhriman, Justin Huggins, and Robert Petersen all attended Bear River High School with me. Miraculously, Robert survived the crash and is doing well. I was good friends with Justin and he had recently returned back from his mission in Florida when I ran into him at Wal-Mart. This was probably a week or so before the accident and I remember him being chipper as ever. He was waiting in line to buy a gallon of Neapolitan ice cream and I remember our conversation vividly: he told me about how he was going to find Sheldon a girlfriend and that he was playing baseball for USU. He even invited me to come to his next game (One fond memory I have from high school was sitting with Justin's mom, Annmarie, at the baseball field and watching my friends play ball), I sure miss that cool cat.

"This memorial stands to ensure that future generations will know the emotional significance of this event," said USU President Stan L. Albrecht, "that was a tragic day of the school's history. Time has passed, but we still remember,"