Alana Dawn Nowlin was remembered as a kind and thoughtful child who enjoyed the outdoors and loved playing football on the elementary team.
Her teammates sat together during the memorial wearing team jerseys and comforting one another. Coach James Biard remembered her toughness and enthusiasm.
“Once I put her in as defensive end to tackle the guy with the ball,” he said. “She did the spin move we practiced, and ran smack into a huge fullback, jumped up and said it ‘didn’t hurt that bad.’”
St. Barnabas Episcopal priest Leigh Waggoner led the crowd in prayers and encouraging words, inspired by Alana’s life.
“Compassion and kindness come from kind hearts, a healing bond that makes a difference when someone is hurting,” Waggoner said. “It is up to each of us to nurture hearts like this, the way Alana did.”
A poem by Jacklyn Green was read, a performer sang Sara McLachlan’s “Arms of the Angel,” and a video tribute of Alana’s life was shown.
In a world where people suffer from “emotional wounds, relationship wounds, psychological wounds” it is up to everyone to reach out and support those in need, Waggoner said at the service.
“Each of us can honor her life by being kind as she was, by not looking past those who are hurting or marginalized, or picked on, by being the bright light Alana was in this world. May she rest in peace and rise in glory.”
A couple of juvenile suicides have rocked the Cortez area, including Alana's. A 14-year-old girl from Cortez died on Oct. 20. She was memorialized in a private service.
At the Dolores School Board meeting Thursday, school administration, counselors, teachers, and parents redoubled efforts to focus on mental health.
Superintendent Scott Cooper flooded the school with 12 counselors in the last week to assist teachers and students.
Nearly the entire sixth-grade class has visited with counselors, said elementary principal Gary Livick, and at-risk students are being counseled.
“We need more accessible mental health care in Dolores,” said principal Jen Hufman. “Families in crisis need a place they can walk to for help.”
She added that students need to understand the importance of letting staff know when they feel someone is in trouble.
“If they tell us of a problem, we can take action,” she said.
Investigation continuesThe two juvenile deaths in Montezuma County on Oct. 20 and Nov. 4 are still under investigation, said Sheriff’s Lt. Vernon Knuckles, but have been ruled as suicides.
Knuckles refused to release information on the incidents until the reports are complete. The sheriff’s office reported that firearms were not involved, and the deaths occurred off campus, one in the Cortez area and the other in Dolores.
“The cases are still pending and investigators continue with interviews,” Knuckles said. “We need closure on these cases. ”
Alana Dawn Nowlin is the granddaughter of Montezuma County Sheriff Steven Nowlin and the daughter of Heather Nowlin, of Dolores, and Dustin Grider, of Grand Junction.
She died at Children’s Hospital in Denver, with the sheriff at her side, according to an obituary from the Nowlin family.