By Gretchen Keiser, Staff Writer

ATLANTA--Members of the St. Pius X High School community circled in support early in January after freshman class member Kevin DuVall died in a rain-swollen North Carolina creek while on a Scout trip.

Friendly and outgoing, interested in music, Kevin had entered St. Pius after graduating from Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) elementary school, the latest in the family to enter the archdiocesan Catholic high school. His sister, Julie, is a junior and his mother and uncles graduated from St. Pius also.

Kevin and two other Scouts, members of Troop 67 which meets at Peachtree Christian Church, died while trying to cross a plank bridge over Wilson’s Creek near Lenoir, N.C. The bridge was caught by high, surging waters and pulled down.

A school parent prayer chain was activated early Jan. 15 even as the search continued for two of the boys, said Donald Sasso, principal of St. Pius High School. Then when Kevin’s death was confirmed attention turned to helping the DuVall family, and the students at the school who would return from the Martin Luther King holiday to the tragic news.

At the request of Kevin’s parents, Craig and Rebecca DuVall, St. Pius X High School musicians sang at the Mass of the Resurrection celebrated by IHM pastor Father Richard Kieran at the church on Jan. 19.

Playing drums, guitars, tambourines, and piano, among other instruments, the St. Pius X music ministry, which plays at school Masses, joined with the school chorus to help the gathering of family members, friends, Scouts and students, faculty and parents, focus upon the Christian belief in resurrection.

Junior Rebecca Jones, a violinist in the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra, played the Ave Maria. Paul Berrell, one of Kevin’s good friends, played a piano reflection during the Offertory of the Mass which he had composed himself. A rousing Gloria and a tender post-Communion song were chosen by the DuVall family as particularly meaningful to their son.

In his homily Father Kieran said, “Kevin is the Lord’s,” drawing from a Scripture that forms the basis of the school motto. Kevin was “a wholesome, good young person...a real child of God,” Father Keiran said. He received the sacrament of confirmation at IHM last April, the pastor said, and “God’s Spirit was poured out upon him that he would be strong for whatever came.”

“It is difficult for us. There is the pain and the grief,” he said to a church that held throngs of students among the mourners.

“Kevin is one of the saints in heaven. He is linked with us in that wonderful communion of saints.”

“You know how you turn to a friend maybe before an exam and say, ‘Pray for me,’” the pastor continued. “I hope you turn to Kevin and say, ‘Kevin, pray for me.’ Think of him in that communion of saints. I think if we do that, it is going to be easier in the days ahead, knowing he is with us to help us face the journey.”

Five priests including former IHM pastor Father Terry Kane and St. Pius X religion teacher Father Richard Lopez concelebrated the Mass.

Three friends of Kevin talked of their “buddy” whose fifteenth birthday was Jan. 18. Kevin “never had anything bad to say about anybody,” Paul Berrell said. “We had a lot of deep conversations, sometimes until six o’clock in the morning. He was the only person in the world I could talk to and he would understand. And now I can still talk to him. It’s kind of like I have an invisible buddy.”

Kevin was “a very good student” the high school principal said. He had played seventh and eighth grade football and had been in scouting for a number of years, working toward becoming an Eagle Scout.

The high school community will continue to provide support to students and especially the DuValls in the days ahead, Mr. Sasso said. A crisis intervention plan at the school was put into action Jan. 18 which included a gathering of the freshman class of 265 with the principal and a schoolwide opportunity for students to talk to counselors as needed. Faculty are also particularly available to talk in the days ahead, said the principal. Campus minister Dennis Ruggiero worked with Father Kieran and the DuValls to plan the Mass.

“The St. Pius community feels so very deeply for the DuVall family and for all the families and individuals who have been profoundly affected by this tragedy,” Mr. Sasso said. “We will continue to support the DuVall family and to make sure Kevin is remembered here. We know Julie will need our very special support and she will receive it.”

A memorial fund will be established. Contributions may be sent to the Kevin DuVall Memorial Fund, St. Pius X High School, 2674 Johnson Road, N.E., Atlanta, Georgia 30345.

In addition to his parents and his sister, Kevin is survived by his paternal grandparents, Carolyn and Thurman DuVall.