Issue date: 9/2/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Battalion Admin Mary Elizabeth Farmer [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Battalion Admin Kyle Ross Rosebrock [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Battalion Admin Spencer Bonham Knecht [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Battalion Admin Whitley DeKoch Lowry [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Battalion Admin Cassandra Jeannine Scott [Click to enlarge]

Mary Elizabeth Farmer had just graduated with a bachelor's degree in music a few days before her death on May 15 and was entering a doctorate program in psychology at Texas A&M.

Dr. Beth Farmer, Class of 1978, said her daughter was passionate and involved.

Mary Beth was involved in Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society, St. Mary's Church Choir, Kappa Theta Beta sorority, the Pro-Life Committee, Aggies Serving Another Person (ASAP), Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, Coalition for Life and Forty Days for Life.

Farmer said Mary Beth had to find a notebook calendar large enough to hold the schedule all of her activities "She was always busy," Farmer said. "She was very active and full of life."

Her passions were music, service and her church, to which she devoted a great deal of her time.

Mary Beth wanted to use her psychology doctorate to work with autistic children and children with chronic illnesses.

While she was in high school, Farmer said, she led a Bible study for mentally retarded children.

Mary Beth always put others before her self, said her boyfriend, Craig Birkenfeld.

Kyle Ross Rosebrock, a senior computer science major, was passionate about computers, math, music, truth and just being an Aggie, said his mother Linda Rosebrock, Class of 1977.

Kyle died April 12. He was named after Edwin Jackson Kyle, the namesake of Kyle Field, and Lawrence Sullivan Ross, the former A&M president and governor of Texas.

And he followed in his family's Aggie tradition: his father, Dr. Robert Rosebrock was Class of 1976; his brother, Dr. Rick Rosebrock and sister-in-law, Dr. Melanie Rosebrock were Class of 2001. "He loved being an Aggie," Linda said. Kyle's family and friends remember him as quiet and philosophical.

Linda said her son was interested in world religions and philosophy, and he played the guitar and the saxophone.

"He was very kind and thoughtful, but in a quiet way," Linda said. "He would do things for people and they would never know he was the one who had done it."

Linda said Kyle had met a girl at a party who was sick with the flu, and she had mentioned needing to purchase Gatorade. When the girl woke up the next morning, two-dozen Gatorade bottles were sitting on her front porch.

"That's just the kind of thing he did for other people," Linda said.

Kyle was born in Austin, but raised in Buda, Texas. He enjoyed the Austin music scene and frequently attended the South by Southwest festival.

Melvin Dubois, Kyle's roommate, said Kyle loved having a good time, and had an affinity for sweets.

"He would always have a pack of sweet tarts in his pocket," Dubois said.

He said Kyle would bake pies for the neighbors whenever they moved in.

Dubois said Kyle liked to go fast - whether it was snowboarding or in a car - and was a country boy through and through.

But most importantly, Dubois said Kyle was a best friend.

Kyle was passionate about Moses Hall. Linda said he was very involved in Moses in his earlier years at A&M, but even after moving off campus, Kyle stayed in touch.

"A lot of those Moses guys never leave," Linda said with a laugh.

"I can't stress enough how much he loved Moses Hall," Dubois said. "He was a Moses RAB."

Spencer Knecht was an inspiration and a fighter, his friends and family say.

He died June 18 from metastasized Sarcoma cancer. He was buried wearing an Aggie T-shirt and Texas A&M College of Geosciences cap. He was one of the first to be buried in the Aggie Field of Honor Cemetery.

His father, Stephen Knect, graduated with a degree in geology from A&M in 1974.

"He always wanted to attend A&M, following the footsteps of me," his father said. "He loved being at A&M, he loved his friends and enjoyed all the traditions of A&M."

Spencer, who was a senior geology major, was a wonderful Aggie, said his mother Sandy Knect. He was always looking out for the feelings of others.

He wanted to make everyone around him comfortable, she said. It meant a lot to him when his church family came to see him. A&M was incredible for him and he wanted to come back as soon as he could.

His girlfriend, Anna Yang, who is an A&M medical student, said, "He was the most amazing person. He was polite, kind and optimistic. He lived his life the way he wanted to even though it was cut short. He said to me on his hospital bed that he was one of the luckiest people alive because he had experienced love."

Spencer was part of Anna's inspiration to become a doctor.

"He wanted to live and he fought cancer as much as he could. That is why I want to become a doctor, to help people like him to survive," Anna said.

Spencer, a native of Spring, Texas, was born March 4, 1986, and is survived by his father, mother, sister and brothers.

Spencer played guitar and was a songwriter. He liked horror movies and was big fan of Stephen King. He was a member of the Louetta Road Baptist Church in Spring.

Whitley Lowry's mother says she was an outgoing woman with a big heart.

"She was a very outgoing person," her mother said. "As a kid, she was a ball of fire."

When she was a senior in high school, Whitley's mother said that she made Texas A&M her first and only choice of colleges - she applied nowhere else.

"The first day that you could start applying, Whitley woke up really early that morning to start working on her application," Lowry said.

Her mother said that as a child Whitley always followed in her brother's footsteps. "A&M was her comfort zone and she was happy there," Lowry said. "Her brother went there. so she followed."

Her brother, Wade, said that even though they shared many common interests, it was Whitley who had leadership skills.

"She loved being involved with A&M and she was a very giving person," Wade said of his sister, who he described as a small person with a big heart.

Whitley became involved at A&M by joining Zeta Tau Alpha Sorority. She was a member of the 2006 pledge class, and community service chairwoman for two years.

Megan Frankson, a senior marketing major, was Lowry's big sister in Zeta and said she was one of the most caring people she has known.

"Whitley always wore a smile on her face and was always eager to help out," Frankson said. "She loved everyone in Zeta and was just a really positive person."

Frankson said that even though she has never missed a Silver Taps ceremony, this particular one will mean more to her.

"Being an Aggie, it's a wonderful tradition," Frankson said. "I'm hoping for a huge turnout."

Whitley, a native of Kingsville, Texas and a sophomore agricultural leadership and development major, is survived by her father Willis "Bill", her mother Juli, and brother Wade, Class of 2005. Lowry died of an aneurism April 4 in Houston.

Her brother said that he never missed Silver Taps during his time as a student.

"The support means a lot to the families and for every Aggie, it's a great honor."

Her mother said that the support she has received from the University has been overwhelming.

"I've learned that even though A&M is a big school, you are not just a number," her mother said. She said that professors, administrators and students alike have expressed their sympathy to the family.

"A&M was the place she loved the most," her mother said. "And she left doing what she loved."

A dedicated Aggie fan since she was just 2 years old, Cassandra Scott was living her dream as a proud member of the Fightin' Texas Aggies class of 2005.

A fourth-year veterinary medical student, Scott would have graduated with her doctorate in veterinary medicine, in May 2009.

She shared a tremendous passion for her family and friends, and illustrated a huge passion for the love and care of animals. Ever since her junior year in high school Cassandra wanted to become a veteranarian, striving hard to pursue her goal by keeping up her grades and working as a veteranarian's assistant in her hometown, Sherman.

"Cassandra was very serious about her education," said her father, George. "In anything she did, she was going to give it her all."

Even with the stress of Veterinary school in mind, Cassandra was actively involved in school, working as an editor of the yearbook staff, was senior captain of the school swim team and counted photography as a hobby. There is no doubt as to why Texas A&M accepted her, because she showed a compassion that cultivated in the eyes of her peers, her family says.

"She always thought the world came to an end when she got a B," her brother Chris said.

Cassandra and Chris shared a really close bond, and although Chris was older than she was, they graduated on the same day at the same ceremony.

"I know I was her older brother and I was supposed to be the role model," Chris said. "But honestly I felt more inspired by her than she was by me."

Cassandra portrayed a sensational amount of pride in her family, and as that love grew so did her love for animals. Cassandra loved her work so much that she would voluntarily check her friend's pets outside of work.

"One time she was over at a friend's house petting her Siberian Husky, and she stopped for a second and said 'I think he may have a fatty tumor, you should go check it out.' And when she checked him out, that's exactly what he had!" Chris said.

Cassandra also rescued two kittens, Gatsby and Tux, who she later adopted. Both cats were with her during the day of the car accident on July 27, and although Gatsby did not survive, Scott's family took in Tux to take care of him. Though Veterinary school was a major passion in her life, Cassandra shared her heart with her long-term boyfriend Daniel Crow.

Together since high school, Daniel proposed to Cassandra the night before her death. Daniel graduated from Texas A&M in 2007, and at her eulogy he said "Without Cassandra in my life, I never would have been able to graduate here at Texas A&M. She was a major part of my life and I will love her forever."

Not only was her compassion so compelling to her peers, but the associate dean for professional programs, Kenita S. Rogers noticed her hard work as well.

"Veterinary medicine is a very caring profession, both for people and for animals," Rogers said, "and she exemplified this trait very naturally, making her loss to the profession especially great."

Olanrewaju (Lanre) Olusola SanuThe senior chemical engineering major from Houston died on Aug. 2. The Battalion was unable to reach his family for information to compile a story.

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