(U-WIRE) PEORIA, Ill. — If David Crady is worried about himself, he’s not letting it show.
A Bradley University soccer player and one of the four men being charged for the prank gone awry that killed sophomore Sheridan “Danny” Dahlquist, Crady, like others who knew Dahlquist, has nothing but positive words to share.
“I loved Danny like he was my own brother, and he will be missed by so many people,” Crady said. “Danny is a person that touched everyone he met in a positive way.”
Crady said he can’t express in words how much the support of the community and the Dahlquist family means to him.
“I have never met such a strong family,” he said. “They are absolutely amazing people, and I consider myself very blessed to have known Danny and the rest of his family … my heart and prayers will be with the Dahlquists always.”
Friends and classmates of Dahlquist who knew him from Bradley or Peoria Notre Dame High School, where he graduated in 2006, shared memories of him and paid their respects at various services including a vigil on Notre Dame’s soccer field and a visitation at St. Mark’s Church, the church Dahlquist grew up in.
Dahlquist’s funeral, also held at St. Mark’s Church, was standing room only. Bradley soccer players sat near the front with President Joanne Glasser, who flew to campus for the first time from Richmond, Ky., since being announced as Bradley’s tenth president just days before.
Now, as the Bradley and Peoria community reflect on the tragedy, Glasser is doing the same.
“It is a tragedy of great significance because it has affected so many lives and families,” she said. “It is a tragedy that has caused a lot of emotion, a lot grief and a lot of sadness.”
But Glasser said she, like Crady, is impressed with the outpouring of the support for everyone involved in the situation.
“It has reflected a great deal to me, as a new member of this community, of what Bradley and Peoria are all about,” she said.
Friends and teammates of Dahlquist shared memories of him and honored his life at the various services, but many have left messages for Dahlquist on his facebook wall, a fitting way to remember a college student.
Sophomore history major Sean Kelleher, Dahlquist’s freshman year roommate, wrote Dahlquist was “a great person that never said too much, but when he talked people would listen.”
Brian O’Malley, who played soccer with Danny when they were growing up, wrote to Dahlquist about how he made everything fun.
“Every time I step out onto a soccer field, I will be thinking of you and how much you loved the game,” he wrote. “You were truly a great person who always knew how to get us through the times during conditioning.”
Dahlquist included a quote by the band OAR on his Facebook profile that friends said he lived by: “It’s about friends, memories, family. We all go somewhere as years pass. Whether it is down the street or across the country. The key is to enjoying it all is remembering where you’ve been.”
Danny Dahlquist is the oldest of seven children of Bradley University Senior Associate Athletic Director for Compliance and Finance Craig Dahlquist and Tricia Dahlquist, a member of the English Department faculty.