WASHINGTON C.H. — The Washington Court House High School mourns the passing of a Blue Lion senior this week and will honor his memory with a candle light vigil next Saturday.
From his obituary, Gage Hunter Mallow, 18, of Washington Court House passed away on Monday at his home. He was born on April 20, 2000 in Fayette County to Jamie and Brande Mouser Mallow. He was a senior at Washington High School. Gage was currently employed part-time at Kroger and during the summer he worked at Sugar Creek Packing along with his Dad. He was very much an “old soul.” Gage was known for his quick wit, making people laugh, and his contagious smile. He enjoyed Chevrolet trucks, hunting, hiking, campfires, grilling hamburgers, and listening to old country western music.
According to high school principal Tracy Rose, the administration and staff have been hard at work this week dealing with the aftermath of the untimely death of one of their own. He said on Thursday they have been offering grief counseling to individuals and groups of students and have been talking with many teachers who knew Mallow the best. The death of a student is never an easy one, Rose said, but this may be his hardest week at the high school.
“As a building we immediately met with the staff and offered services to them and the students,” Rose said. “We have spent a lot of time with certain staff members who were closer and knew Gage. We have also been going into the classes Gage was in and checking on staff and students. The school has been talking with the family quite a bit to see what we can do as a school to support them and help them get through. It has really been a rough week, one of the roughest I can remember here at the high school. He was a caring, kind, respectful young man, hard working. He got along with everyone and tried to make everyone else feel good, and this was the sentiments from the students and staff as well as we have talked with them this week.”
Rose said on Thursday that the senior class reached out to the family to ask if they would mind if the students could hold a candle light vigil for Mallow. The family agreed and the senior class decided on Saturday, April 27 at 9 p.m. The vigil will be held at 3778 Old U.S. 35 near Washington Court House at the home of a family member of Mallow’s, according to Rose.
“I told every group that I talked to this week that Gage is and will always be a Blue Lion,” Rose said. “The impact he had on our school and can continue to have in the way we conduct ourselves is important. So what I ask of all the students when we have talked was if you knew Gage and you interacted with him at all — if you had that opportunity — you knew he always tried to take care of others and he was always respectful. If we can just do those little things around this building every single day, he lives on through us and our building is a much better place. Everyone I talked to I asked if you know Gage think about if we had those characteristics that he exhibited every day from everybody in the building, think about what kind of place this would be? And they all without hesitation said it would be awesome. I said, ‘Then let’s strive for that.’”
Reach Martin Graham at (740) 313-0351 or on Twitter @MartiTheNewsGuy.
