Sgt. Jeffery Mersman’s widow, Lynn, drapes herself over the casket of her fallen husband as her son, David, covers his face in grief during Mersman’s funeral on Nov. 21. (Photo by Kristen Waggener / kwaggener@miconews.com)
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Through the Lens: A Year in Review
Mersman funeral
The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq became real for Linn County residents in 2007. One of their own, Sgt.
Jeffery Mersman, died in a roadside attack in Aramus, Afghanistan on Nov. 10.
News quickly spread to friends and family in Parker and La Cygne, where the memory of the 23-year-old Prairie View High School graduate still lived strong.
Crowds gathered at a candlelight vigil for Mersman and packed the high school’s auditorium for his funeral. The Kansas Patriot Guard led his body every step of the way, from when he landed in Kansas to his burial.
A funeral is a very private time for a grieving family. Not only were Mersman’s parents, wife and stepchildren trying to deal with the sudden death of their son, husband and father, but they were thrust into the public light by numerous TV crews, newspaper photographers and reporters trying to tell Mersman’s story.
Miami County Newspapers sent a reporter and a photographer to document Mersman’s body arriving at New Century Airport in Gardner and two reporters and two photographers to his funeral and burial. On the drive to the funeral, we discussed our approach to the situation.
We didn’t want to intrude on the family’s private moments, but we did want to document the days following Mersman’s return to Kansas and to show how this one soldier affected many people.
One of the more powerful images that came from the funeral was Mersman’s wife, Lynn, laying on his casket the half-hour before the funeral. Comforted by her son, David, Lynn lay there in agony over the loss of her husband. Though it brought back sadness for family and friends, that powerful image told the story of how much Mersman was loved. Throughout the funeral, Lynn clutched David by her side, just like the rest of the family held each other for comfort. Those, too, were private moments our photographers captured.
Mersman was buried at St. Boniface cemetery in Scipio on Nov. 22.
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Jeffery Mersman, died in a roadside attack in Aramus, Afghanistan on Nov. 10.
News quickly spread to friends and family in Parker and La Cygne, where the memory of the 23-year-old Prairie View High School graduate still lived strong.
Crowds gathered at a candlelight vigil for Mersman and packed the high school’s auditorium for his funeral. The Kansas Patriot Guard led his body every step of the way, from when he landed in Kansas to his burial.
A funeral is a very private time for a grieving family. Not only were Mersman’s parents, wife and stepchildren trying to deal with the sudden death of their son, husband and father, but they were thrust into the public light by numerous TV crews, newspaper photographers and reporters trying to tell Mersman’s story.
Miami County Newspapers sent a reporter and a photographer to document Mersman’s body arriving at New Century Airport in Gardner and two reporters and two photographers to his funeral and burial. On the drive to the funeral, we discussed our approach to the situation.
We didn’t want to intrude on the family’s private moments, but we did want to document the days following Mersman’s return to Kansas and to show how this one soldier affected many people.
One of the more powerful images that came from the funeral was Mersman’s wife, Lynn, laying on his casket the half-hour before the funeral. Comforted by her son, David, Lynn lay there in agony over the loss of her husband. Though it brought back sadness for family and friends, that powerful image told the story of how much Mersman was loved. Throughout the funeral, Lynn clutched David by her side, just like the rest of the family held each other for comfort. Those, too, were private moments our photographers captured.
Mersman was buried at St. Boniface cemetery in Scipio on Nov. 22.