‘He’ll be our number 8.’ Fort Worth high school mourns student, retires his soccer jersey
As the sun started setting Thursday evening, the crowd outside Diamond Hill-Jarvis High School grew. A grieving mother holding a blue stuffed toy close to her heart walked up the school’s steps with her family.
Anuar Rodriguez Gonzalez, 18, who recently graduated from the high school on Fort Worth’s northside, was killed when the vehicle he was in collided with a tree on Decatur Avenue, early on Nov. 17..
A candlelight vigil for the former student was held Thursday on the front steps of the school.
The light of the candles symbolizes hope, unity and remembrance, Principal Manuel De La Cruz said.
“Each flame represents a memory and a life that has touched our hearts and in this space that we have right now, in this moment, we find strength in our unity and our togetherness and solace in our memory and our remembrance,” he said.
De La Cruz said that soon after the news was out he knew students were going to be sad and devastated at the loss of a friend, especially someone that was as beloved as Rodriguez Gonzalez.
They wanted to do a candlelight vigil to allow students, families and teachers to come together and celebrate his life, and mourn the loss as a community, De La Cruz said.
Gonzalez was one of three students from Fort Worth ISD who have died in accidents in the past week.
The school immediately mobilized counselors to provide help for students and teachers who might need that extra support for grief, De La Cruz said.
De La Cruz is new to his role as a principal at the school and has been there for about 10 weeks.
“One of the very first memories I have of him was on my first week here. He came up and he introduced himself and welcomed me with open arms to Diamond Hill-Jarvis,” he said.
Rodriguez Gonzalez was a first-team, all-district soccer player for Diamond Hill-Jarvis. A tear rolled down the eyes of head coach Kyle Reopelle as he paused, then said the team is going to retire the number eight jersey to represent the hard work Rodriguez Gonzalez put into the team.
“He’ll be our number eight,” Reopelle said. “The number eight jersey is here because it’s not going to be worn again.”
Reopelle remembers Rodriguez Gonzalez as an extremely hard working player.
“The junior season was already over and we still had several months until senior year started. I would see him running laps around the school field, night after night after night to get ready for his senior year. And that paid off,” Reopelle said.
“I’m gonna miss his energy and miss his enthusiasm,” he said.
Friends and teammates thanked the community members for supporting them during the difficult time.
“I wanted to put this jersey back on because of the countless memories that we shared, the soccer team, all these names (signed on the jersey) on here, all these teammates, the big games, the bus rides, the meals after the games. There’s a bunch of beautiful memories here,” one of his teammates said.
Community members passed a flame to light each of their candles, one after the other. Then they bowed their heads in silence and paid their respects to Rodriguez Gonzalez.
This story was originally published November 21, 2024 at 10:12 PM.