Jarrett Lee Lane

Age: 22

Class: Senior

Major: Civil Engineering

Hometown: Narrows, VA (born in Giles County, VA)

High School: Narrows (Narrows, VA) - Class of 2003

(also a graduate of the Southwest Virginia Governor’s School in Dublin, VA)

Died along with Prof. Loganathan and 8 other students in Advanced Hydrology class.

Photos

Audio/Video Remembrances

Personal Remembrances From Family/Friends/Colleagues

Jarrett Lee Lane, 22, was loved not just by his family, but by the whole town of Narrows, VA. Raised by his mom, Tracey Lane, his grandmother, Nancy Morgan, and two older sisters, Alicia and Fawntane, with the help of numerous other people in this small town.

Jarrett was a one-of-a-kind person. How anyone had the time to do all the things Jarrett did is unbelievable. During his time at Narrows High School Jarrett maintained a 4.0 GPA while excelling in football, basketball, tennis, and track. He received multiple academic and athletic honors throughout his high school career. In 2003, Jarrett was valedictorian of his class at NHS and also a graduate of Southwest Virginia Governor's School in Dublin, Va.

In Fall of 2003 Jarrett continued pursuing his dream of being an engineer at Virginia Tech. As a Hokie Jarrett took pleasure in cheering on his classmates at football and basketball games. As part of his active social life, Jarrett played intramural sports and was a member of Cru, a campus ministry. Jarrett also enjoyed his time as an intern for VT Site and Infrastructure Development and also working with parking services. But more than anything Jarrett enjoyed his engineering classes and was set to graduate May of 2007. Jarrett was accepted into the Coastal Engineering Graduate program of University of Florida, where he was offered an assistantship.

Even though Jarrett took great pride in being a Hokie and loved his years at Virginia Tech, he always made time for his friends and family in Narrows. Jarrett spent numerous weekends in his hometown visiting family, attending First Baptist Church where he was a member, and playing sports with high school friends. He had an amazing ability to not take himself too seriously, but always took life and friendships seriously. He always took the time to talk to people and care for them while sharing God's love.

Jarrett will be missed more than words can express. He is survived by his mother, Tracey Lane, maternal grandmother, Nancy Morgan, sisters Alicia Farrell and her husband Daniel, Fawntane Shepherd, her husband Roger and their children Landon, Kennedy, and Kaydance. He is also survived by maternal grandfather Robert Morgan of Comer, GA, uncle Lloyd Morgan of Savannah, GA, paternal grandmother, Shelby Lane of Princeton, WV, and numerous other uncles, aunts, and cousins. His friends and family cherish all of your thoughts and prayers as they try to re-adjust to life without his amazing presence.

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Newspaper Remembrance Stories

Uniquely Talented, and a Nice Person
(Roanoke Times Profile)

Jarrett Lane was valedictorian of his 2003 Narrows High School class, a high-sports standout and a church leader.

"He’s just one of those people, it’s very rare that you can be good at so many things and be such a nice person, too," said Narrows High School athletic director Don Lowe, who was Lane’s coach and friend.

Lane was raised by his mother and grandmother, according to Lowe.

At Virginia Tech, where he was a senior engineering major, he was already taking graduate-level courses — and was in professor G.V. Loganathan’s graduate hydrology class when he was killed.

Lane was recently accepted to graduate school at the University of Florida with a full ride and a graduate assistantship. Teachers and friends alike described him as mannerly — "the kind of person who’s not going to be ... loud or boisterous, but when work needs to be done, he’s going to do it," Lowe said.

An engineering intern for Virginia Tech’s Site & Infrastructure Development, he was trusted to do professional-level work.

"He was the kind of guy that once you met him he was like part of your family — the whole town knew him," said David Dent, his internship supervisor as well as a former church youth group leader of Lane’s and a family friend. "He was always the guy that the other ones looked up to."

Craig Moore, another Site & Infrastructure Development coworker, recalled Lane as a serious student who could also be an office jokester. "We were always kidding, picking on one another. If you left your desk with your e-mail up, you might later found out that he’d invited someone to a [fake] meeting using your e-mail," Moore said.

Lane played rec-club sports at Tech and attended First Baptist Church in Narrows.

In a Facebook posting, he described himself foremost as a Christian. "I get along with a lot of people, but I have only a few close friends," he wrote. "I’ll be graduating this semester and hopefully that will mean a change of scenery in the fall when I go to Graduate School. I’m definitely outgoing!"

His family declined to be interviewed but issued the following statement:

"All of us are still deeply stunned and in shock over the loss of our son, grandson, and brother, Jarrett Lee Lane. He was a fun-loving young man, full of spirit.

"He had a caring heart and was a friend to everybody he met, both at Virginia Tech and here in Narrows. We are leaning on God’s grace in these trying hours and appreciate all the prayers, expressions of sympathy, and thoughts."

— Beth Macy (Roanoke Times, 4/18/07)

Jarrett Lane, a civil engineering major from Narrows, Va., was in Dr. G.V. Loganathan's classroom in Norris Hall when he was shot and killed. A senior and recipient of a special scholarship for engineering students, he had just celebrated his 22nd birthday in March.

His former teachers at Narrows High School spoke of him today in glowing terms, remembering him as a talented student, four-sport athlete, and valedictorian.

"He was an exceptional young man," said the school principal, Robert Stump. "Very quiet and humble, and very popular."

Mr. Stump said the small school of 330 students and the close-knit community of Narrows, which is 25 miles west of Blacksburg, was in shock over Mr. Lane's death.

"He was always one of the hardest workers," Mr. Stump said. "One time, after he'd had a good basketball game, he went up to the coach, and said, 'Coach, what do I have to work on so that we can be better.'"

Jarrett Lee Lane, 22, was a senior civil engineering student who was valedictorian of his high school class in tiny Narrows, Va., just 30 miles from Virginia Tech.

His high school put up a memorial to Lane that included pictures, musical instruments and his athletic jerseys.

Lane played the trombone, ran track and played football and basketball at Narrows High School. "We're just kind of binding together as a family," Principal Robert Stump said.

Lane's brother-in-law Daniel Farrell called Lane fun-loving and "full of spirit."

"He had a caring heart and was a friend to everyone he met," Farrell said. "We are leaning on God's grace in these trying hours."

When Donald Lowe, the athletic director at Narrows High School, thinks of Jarrett Lee Lane, one thing comes to mind right off: "that smile."

Lowe coached Lane in football, one of the four sports that the high school valedictorian lettered in before making the short trip southeast to the college he always dreamed of attending, Virginia Tech.

"He had a great smile, a tall one," Lowe said.

With a population of 2,000, Narrows had few people who hadn't heard of Jarrett Lane. He had played football, basketball and tennis and had run track; the hurdles was his best event.

He was a senior majoring in civil engineering.

His family declined to comment yesterday on his death but issued a statement through a funeral home director in Narrows.

"All of us are deeply stunned and in shock over the loss of our son, grandson and brother, Jarrett Lee Lane," the statement read. "He was a fun-loving young man, full of spirit. He had a caring heart and was a friend to everybody he met, both at Virginia Tech and here in Narrows. We are leaning on God's grace in these trying hours and appreciate all the prayers, expressions of sympathy and thoughts."

Steve Brady, assistant principal at Narrows High, said Lane played in the band, too.

"He was doing exactly what he wanted to do," Brady said. "He wanted to go to Virginia Tech, and he wanted to make everyone proud of him and, I mean, he has."

"I tell you what, he was a quiet leader. You never heard him complain, never heard him say anything negative," Lowe said.

When the football team ran laps, it was Lane who was always leading the pack, his coach said. When it came time to run gut-busting wind sprints at the end of each practice, no player ran as hard from start to finish as Lane.

Lowe was emotional while talking about Lane, saying at one point he was afraid that he might say something that wouldn't live up to the life his former player lived.

He gathered himself for a moment and said: "He is the kind of son you would like to have, that you would be proud of. But words won't do his life justice. They just won't."

-- Timothy Dwyer, The Washington Post

In a small school in a small town, Jarrett L. Lane, 22, was a large source of pride.

“Anything he set his mind to — nothing was unobtainable to him,” says Robert Stump, principal at Narrows High School, in Narrows, Va. “You could not have asked for a better young man.”

Mr. Lane balanced a full schedule of varsity football, basketball, tennis, and track, as well as playing in the band and being active in clubs and community organizations. By the end of his senior year, he was the top player on the tennis team and had been earned all-district honors for his other three sports. He graduated in 2003 as valedictorian of his class.

“You picture it in your head, and you’re probably picturing this muscular guy, but that’s not the way Jarrett was,” says Brian Todd Lusk, his basketball coach and next-door neighbor. “Jarrett was just a skinny little kid. But he had the heart of a champion.”

Around Narrows, most of the 2,200 people know each other, and everyone seemed to know Mr. Lane. But friends and teachers say he shied away from the spotlight and was usually quiet with people he had just met. Mr. Lusk says that he watched Mr. Lane grow up and that he would often play basketball with the coach’s much younger son.

“Speaking as a father,” he says, “he was exactly what you hope your kids would grow up to be.”

Mr. Lane also excelled academically and always fixated on going to Virginia Tech. Gary W. Hinson was his high-school biology teacher and wrote a recommendation for Mr. Lane’s Virginia Tech application. Mr. Hinson was also one of the coaches of the school’s academic-competition team. He says the team is often a little short on players, though it usually manages to field four people in the English, math, and science competitions. But eight years ago, the social-studies competition had just one player.

“He was the whole team,” Mr. Hinson says, chuckling. “After the first round, then you can rotate in for the next round. A couple teams rotate, and Jarrett’s still sitting there by himself, you know? Just waiting for the next round.”

Mr. Hinson says that Mr. Lane “got hammered” by older students in that first year of competition, but that he just kept coming back for more. Mr. Lane was within a few months of graduating from Virginia Tech in civil engineering and had recently been accepted to the engineering master’s-degree program at the University of Florida. Teachers say he was planning to get a Ph.D. eventually.

Mr. Lane — one of his friends called him “Dubs,” for the double letters in “Jarrett” — was also a passionate member of his local church. In a Baptist church, a few people each week may walk up to the altar to reaffirm their commitment to God. A day before the shooting, Mr. Lusk says, Mr. Lane went to church and quietly walked to the front and prayed.

—Erik Vance

Former Narrows High School standout slain at Virginia Tech
Bluefield Daily Telegraph (West Virginia)

NARROWS, Va. — The town of Narrows united at a memorial service Tuesday evening to honor one of their young residents who died as a result of injuries sustained in the shooting massacre at Virginia Tech.

Jarrett Lee Lane, 22, of Narrows, was one of 32 individuals killed during a rampage on the Blacksburg, Va., campus Monday morning.

Residents of the small town of Narrows said the tight-knit community would band together during the crisis. “Folks around here really take care of each other,” said Dennis Martin, pastor of First Christian Church of Narrows.

In addition to the 7 p.m. memorial service at the First Baptist Church of Narrows, where Lane was a member, a prayer vigil was also held at the First Christian Church.

“We are lighting 32 candles for the victims plus their families and the Tech staff,” Martin said prior to the service. “Jarrett’s will be the first candle we light.”

Lane, a senior civil engineering student at Tech, was remembered by family and friends for his exuberant personality.

“All of us are still deeply stunned and in shock over the loss of our son, grandson, and brother, Jarrett Lee Lane,” Lane’s family announced in a prepared statement. “He was a fun-loving young man, full of spirit. He had a caring heart and was a friend to everybody he met, both at Virginia Tech and here in Narrows. We are leaning on God’s grace in these trying hours and appreciate all the prayers, expressions of sympathy, and thoughts.

“Our hearts go out to his classmates, friends, professors and everyone throughout the Virginia Tech community.”

Martin said Lane’s mother and grandmother live next door to the First Christian Church. Although the pastor said he did not personally know the young man, he noted, “I know he was a good friend to a lot of people in Narrows, including one our parishioners who also attended Virginia Tech.”

Lane was an “outstanding student and an outstanding athlete,” Robert Stump, principal of Narrows High School, said of his former student.

“I’ve been here for six years now so I was very fortunate to work with Jarrett,” Stump said. “He was a multiple sports letterman in athletics. He was a member of the band. He was in various clubs. He was a member of the MACC academic team, and was very active in clubs and organizations.”

A 2003 graduate of Narrows High School, Lane was valedictorian of his graduating class.

Stump said the school and community is mourning the tragic loss of Lane.

“Someone of his character — and he was a fine young man who was willing to give to everyone — it just proves when you are willing to give, you get a lot of positive things,” Stump said. “He was able to step into Virginia Tech and pursue his dream. If you wanted something, you go after it. That was his philosophy, and that made him a success.”

Stump said school officials feared the worst Monday when they didn’t hear from Lane.

“We had kind of tried to keep track of all of our students that were over there,” Stump said. “He was basically the only one we had not heard from or got any confirmation from. So we were very concerned from the beginning. Unfortunately, our concerns were validated. We go ahead and contact everyone in our faculty when we hear of something like this. We are a very tight-knit community. We want to make sure everyone has what they need to get through a situation like this.”

Stump said Lane was “very friendly, but very quiet.”

“He was not one that wanted to be in the spotlight,” Stump said. “He was one who would rather put the school in the spotlight.”

Stump said Lane was focused on his career while still at Narrows High School.

“He started out at Virginia Tech,” Stump said. “He was going to go to the University of Florida after he graduated. He was picking up the civil engineering at Tech, and then he was going to go the University of Florida for his graduate program.”

By Samantha Perry and Charles Owens
April 17, 2007

The Baptist Press

BLACKSBURG, Va. (BP)--Two more students who died at Virginia Tech April 16 were identified as active members of Southern Baptist churches. Jarrett Lane belonged to First Baptist Church in Narrows, Va., and Lauren McCain was part of Restoration Church Phoebus Baptist in Hampton.

"He was here every Sunday. This past Sunday he even took up the collection. He was one of the ushers," John Sheally, church secretary at First Baptist Narrows, told Baptist Press.

Also among the Virginia Tech students who were Southern Baptists were Rachael Hill, a member of Grove Avenue Baptist Church in Richmond, Brian Bluhm of Northstar Church in Blacksburg, and Nicole White of Nansemond Baptist Church in Suffolk.

LANE HAD 'CARING HEART'

Lane, Sheally said, grew up in the church, and other members of his family including his mother and grandmother were faithful members of the church too. He said the congregation averages 100 to 125 each Sunday, so it's a close-knit church.

"All of us are still deeply stunned and in shock over the loss of our son, grandson and brother, Jarrett Lee Lane," his family said in a statement. "He was a fun-loving young man, full of spirit. He had a caring heart and was a friend to everybody he met, both at Virginia Tech and here in Narrows. We are leaning on God's grace in these trying hours and appreciate all the prayers, expressions of sympathy, and thoughts."

Lane was a senior civil engineering major at Virginia Tech, and news reports indicate he had been accepted into a graduate program at the University of Florida, where he was granted a full ride and a graduate assistantship to study coastal engineering.

"Here I am, 42 years old, and I haven't accomplished near the things that he has in just 22 years of life," Robert Stump, principal of Narrows High School, told the Baltimore Sun.

The valedictorian of his high school class, Lane was a noted athlete and a friend to many, the Sun said. Stump, who had known Lane well, made a commemorative display in the high school lobby of sports jerseys, yearbooks and a trombone Lane had played in the band.

"To find a picture, he simply walked down the hall and removed the one that has hung in the school for four years, hailing Lane's achievements there," the Sun reported.

In the town of 2,000 people 30 miles west of Blacksburg, maroon and orange ribbons hung in Lane's honor after his death, and a bridge was draped with a sheet that said, "We miss U Jarrett," the Sun said.

Though one resident told the newspaper, "He was our star," Stump said Lane did not seek attention.

"He was not one that wanted to be in the spotlight. He was one who would rather put the school in the spotlight," the principal said.

Despite the accolades for his high school successes, Lane wrote on his Facebook.com page that he was foremost a Christian. Others agreed.

"What summed him up best to me was that he was a good Christian," Jenny Martin, a Narrows resident, told the Sun. "He wasn't afraid to declare his faith in front of his friends. Do you know how special it is to find a young person like that? Someone even the adults could learn from?"

Funeral arrangements for Lane were being handled by Riffe's Funeral Service in Narrows, which released a statement to the media.

"Even though Jarrett took great pride in being a Hokie and loved his years at Virginia Tech, he always made time for his friends and family in Narrows," the statement said, according to the Bluefield Daily Telegraph in West Virginia. "Jarrett spent numerous weekends in his hometown visiting family, attending First Baptist Church where he was a member, and playing sports with high school friends.

"He had an amazing ability not to take himself too seriously, but always took life and friendships seriously. He always took the time to talk to people and care for them while sharing God's love," the statement said.

by Erin Roach

April 20, 2007

Jarrett Lee Lane was a fun-loving man, full of spirit. He had a caring heart and was a friend to everyone he met, both in his hometown and at Virginia Tech, where he was a senior in civil engineering.

Jarrett was born in Giles County, Va., on March 28, 1985, and was raised in Narrows, Va., by his mother, Tracey Lane. Throughout his life, he excelled both in sports and academics. He attended Narrows High School and maintained a 4.0 grade point average while participating in varsity football, basketball, tennis, and track. He also played in the band and participated in clubs and community organizations. By the end of his senior year, he was the top player on the tennis team and had earned all-district honors in football, basketball, and track. In June 2003, Jarrett was valedictorian of his graduating class at Narrows High School and also a graduate of the Southwest Virginia Governor’s School in Dublin, Va.

Jarrett realized a long-time goal to become a Hokie in fall 2003. While at Virginia Tech, he played intramural sports and became a member of Campus Crusade for Christ. As a student, Jarrett interned for the Site and Infrastructure Development Department in Virginia Tech Facilities for nearly two years. As a senior, he was awarded The Stanley and Frances Cohen Scholarship, a civil engineering scholarship.

Jarrett would have graduated from Virginia Tech in May 2007. Post-graduation plans included pursuing a graduate degree from the University of Florida, where he had been accepted into the Coastal Engineering Graduate Program and granted an assistantship.

While Jarrett took great pride in being a Hokie and enjoyed his experiences at Virginia Tech, he always made time for his family and hometown friends. Many weekends throughout each semester were spent in Narrows, where he visited family, attended First Baptist Church, and played sports with friends.

Jarrett recognized the importance of being a serious student but even more so, the importance of living life to its fullest.

Memorial Scholarship

Through the Virginia Tech Foundation, the Jarrett Lee Lane Memorial Scholarship has been established at Virginia Tech in his memory. For more information and/or to donate to this memorial fund, see VT's Hokie Spirit Memorial Funds page.