HC memorializes Tanner Duke

Over the course of the last three weeks, friends, family, and teammates of Tanner Duke show that they still remember the HCHS former student. With the addition of a new tree in Duke’s memory, bracelets and t-shirts that read “Go the Extra Mile for Tanner,” and the HC Cross Country Invitational now renamed to the Tanner Duke Invitational, HC has shown that they do not easily forget those that they have lost.

While his passing was in January of 2014, Duke has not been forgotten by the Cross Country team, of which he was a member. The leaders of the team have gone to great extents to remember their teammate and friend.

“One of the things that we as a school have really done to remember Tanner was to really listen to what the students wanted to do,” Steven Riley, Head Coach of the HC Cross Country team said. “We renamed our meet in his honor, and we also planted a tree near where we practice to help memorialize him.”

Currently, the senior class is the grade from which Duke would have graduated. Several students still have strong connections to his memory and take the largest steps in remembering him.

Hanna Bullock, a good friend to Duke and a facilitator to the efforts of memorializing Duke, recalls when she read a poem the day the tree was dedicated to him.

“It was a poem to symbolize memories,” Bullock said. “Even with the friendships lost, they all have roots and stems back to the tree where it all began.”

Since Duke’s most recent birthday was before the HC Invitational, many of the CC students on including Bullock, wore the bracelets that were given to them by Millie Duke, Duke’s mother. Reading, “Go the Mile for Tanner”, many dear friends of Duke can be seen wearing the blue bands.

The tree that near the entrance to the student parking lot with a picture of Duke. The memorial also stands near the Cross Country team, and with his memory is now shared throughout the school due to the wristbands and t-shirts with his name attached.

“Though most of the honoring of his memory has gone through the cross country program, his impact is still there and people still remember him well,” recalls teacher Jason Behler.

Behler remembers Duke as an extremely bright and intelligent student who always had a smile on his face, but recognizes that tragedies such as these happen.

“With time gone by, remembering Tanner is more of a celebration than mourning.” Behler said.