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AZ Delt died in chicago porch collapse
(A prev. thread mentioned a Duke KKG also died in the accident)
Frat brother mourns UA student
Lifeguard killed in Chicago porch collapse was 'everyone's friend'
LARRY COPENHAVER
Tucson Citizen
July 1, 2003
Chicago probes apparent lack of OK on porch
The death of a friend and fraternity brother "is surreal, just unbelievable" for a University of Arizona student.
The news that Samuel E. Farmer, 21, died early Sunday when a third-floor porch loaded with partygoers in Chicago collapsed onto a lower porch, also crowded with revelers, was very hard to take, said Jamie Mac George, 22.
"It's such a shock. You just don't think this could happen to one of your friends," said Mac George, a member of University of Arizona chapter of Delta Tau Delta Fraternity, of which Farmer also was a member.
"The guys around here are just trying to take care of each other now," he said, adding that most of the small group living during the summer at the fraternity house on the corner of East Speedway Boulevard and North Cherry Avenue have left for the funeral.
The collapse of the porch came around 12:30 a.m. Sunday, said Cat Langel, a spokeswoman for Chicago's Office of Emergency Management. The rear porches were on a building on the city's North Side.
Langel said the third-floor porch dropped onto a second-floor porch. Both of those structures crashed onto the first-floor porch. Thirteen people were killed, mostly those on the second floor.
"He was the kind of guy who, when he came into the room, he lit up the entire room. He had a good sense of humor, and he was really fun to do things with," Mac George said. "Did you ever know someone who just added enjoyment to something you're enjoying? Someone who you wanted to be there when you were having fun?"
That's the kind of person Sam Farmer was, Mac George said. It was just a little more than a month ago that Farmer left UA for Chicago, where he was going to work for the summer as a lifeguard.
"He was such a warm and friendly person. He was everyone's friend," said Jeremy Farmer, Sam's father, in Winnetka. "He just turned 21. He was just a great kid, very, very popular."
Services for Farmer are scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday at Christ Church on the Hill, 784 Sheridan Road, Winnetka, Ill. Remembrances for Farmer may be sent to the Infant Specialty Care Hospital, 2450 Ridge Ave., Evanston, Ill. 60201.
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