A memorial service is scheduled Feb. 11 at Davidson College Presbyterian Church for Lee Sargent, a longtime Davidson College employee, athlete, and ex-POW in Vietnam. Mr. Sargent died Friday, Jan. 25, at his home in Cornelius. He was 70. Read his full obituary here.

Winton Ray Poole of Charlotte died Wednesday, Jan. 9, at the Harris Hospice Unit at Presbyterian Hospital after a brief illness. He was 85. Mr. Poole was a longtime banker with Bank of America and was active in Cornelius town government, where he served on the Town Board, including a term as mayor. He also was a member of the Davidson social and charitable group WIMPS, We’re Intent on Making Progress Slowly. See his full obituary here.

Friends and family crowded the sanctuary of Davidson United Methodist Church Wednesday afternoon at the funeral service for 16-year-old Hough High School student Maurice Van Hecke, who died Friday. At the conclusion of the ceremony mourners crowded into the courtyard and released orange balloons — his favorite color — in his memory.

- Bill Giduz

RELATED COVERAGE

Sept. 3, 2012, “Hough students pay tribute to a lost friend.”

Sept. 2, 2012, “Maurice Spenser Van Hecke, 16″

Weston Oliver “Skip” Sullivan Jr. of Davidson, passed away peacefully Aug. 1, 2012 at his home. A memorial service is planned Sunday. Read more on OBITUARIES»

Douglas Boone, a homebuilder and developer who helped bring a “New Urbanism” style of development to the Charlotte area, died Thursday, Aug. 2, 2012, at Lake Norman Regional Medical Center. He was 66. See his full obituary, CLICK HERE»

Jocelyn Albright Desmond left us a couple of weeks ago, and our community is still mourning along with her family over the loss of such a bright and engaged fellow citizen. We’re looking for meaning as we try to fathom the news that the W.A. Hough High School teen took her own life.  Many of us are hugging our own children a little closer and wondering how to talk to them about her death.

On Friday, Jocelyn’s family issued a message of thanks for the outpouring of support from friends, their church and their children’s schools. As they mourn, family members also say they are encouraged by signs that people here – especially other teens – are learning something from the tragedy. Read the full story

School Spirit Rocks bear different messages over the course of a school year. Sometimes, they wish happy birthdays, celebrate important sports wins, or announce school events. And sometimes, become memorials.

This week, as students at W.A. Hough High on Bailey Road in Cornelius try to make sense of a classmate’s death, the school’s spirit rock carries messages of love and remembrance of junior Jocelyn Albright Desmond, who died March 15.

In one message, a student also refers to other classmates who have died recently, saying, “God has some of his best angels up here now.”

Students’ messages on rock join many notes posted on the Web, including Facebook, remembering their 17-year-old classmate, who lived in Davidson.

Read below for info on how to submit your photo of the day. And see previous photos of the day, CLICK HERE Read the full story

Mark V. DeSarro, a Bailey Middle School teacher, coach, friend, father and grandfather, formerly of East Liverpool, Ohio, died suddenly Saturday, Feb. 25, 2012, at his home in Charlotte. He was 53. See more in OBITUARIES»