Unexpected death of senior band captain devastates SC high school. ‘A loving child’
The death of a 17-year-old band captain has devastated her high school and community in South Carolina.
Delaine Ford was a senior at Colleton County High School in Walterboro before she died unexpectedly over the weekend, according to a Facebook statement from the Band of Blue.
“Delaine was so, so passionate,” Band Director William Finnigan wrote on Facebook on Oct. 30. “An exceptionally kind person, student, musician, and leader. She was the change she wanted to see to make lives around her better.”
Peers, teachers and family friends shared their condolences online. Emergency Response Service members who work with Ford’s mother spoke out too.
“Delaine never met a stranger. Delaine was like a daughter to many of us. She grew up in the EMS family for the past 16 years. She was a loving child,” EMS member Susanne Peeples wrote Facebook. “She loved all of us. She loved her family and especially her mom.”
Ford had played a solo in the Band of Blue competition days before her death even though she had been in a wheelchair with a knee injury, Peeples said on Facebook.
Colleton County School District is offering students and faculty grief support and counseling, according to the statement.
“We are deeply saddened by her death and send our condolences to her family and friends,” the school district said. “We ask that you keep the family, friends and faculty uplifted during this most difficult time.”
Walterboro is about 50 miles northwest of Charleston.
This story was originally published October 31, 2022 at 7:05 PM with the headline "Unexpected death of senior band captain devastates SC high school. ‘A loving child’."
