Union County school turns grief into action after 8-year-old boy’s death

UNION COUNTY, N.C. — Ethan Jones was known as a bright light by his family and friends at Fairview Elementary School.

A week ago, the 8-year-old boy had a medical issue and the school rushed to call 911, according to the Union County Sheriff’s Office, but he died at the hospital later.

Now, he’s being remembered by those who got to know him. The PTO at Fairview Elementary School painted the rock in front with a halo, a heart, and the initials EJ inside -- it’s just one of the many ways they’re making sure he won’t be forgotten.

“His parents shared with us that he was such a happy child,” said Samantha Hackney with the Fairview Elementary PTO. “[We] know other students who interacted with him said he was always happy.”

Hackney is a parent at Fairview and she says Ethan’s light continues to shine here, one week after he suddenly died from a medical issue.

“Our number one goal has been just to memorialize Ethan ... we want his family and the rest of the staff to know he might not be here, but he definitely won’t be forgotten,” Hackney told Channel 9′s Gina Esposito.

The school says they’ve been trying to support students and staff by bringing in therapy dogs. The school’s PTO president, Brandy Girourad, says they worked to find ways to honor Ethan, like painting windows with his initials and the words “shine on.”

“His parents had vocalized that they were excited for his memory to be memorialized at the school and to live on and for his light to shine on at Fairview. So that was probably one of the most meaningful things we wrote on the windows,” Girouard said.

Girouard said they’re hosting their PTO fundraiser Friday night and planning to use some of the money to build a memorial bench and plant trees at the school.

“[His] mom shared with us after the fact—you probably didn’t know this about Ethan—but he used to go out and talk to the trees. It kind of worked out perfectly that we had already looked into getting trees donated and planted and a bench,” Girouard said.

“Hopefully it just a nice reminder when they see the bench or they can sit up the tree that is planted one day they can take moment to think about Ethan ... we want his family to know we might not know them personally but we are here to support them and hopefully they feel that through some of these actions,” Hackney said.

The PTO says a local business has already offered to donate the trees in honor of Ethan.

Those interested in donating can do so on the PTO website.

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