63.0°,
Partly Cloudy University honors deceased Oceanside student at graduation
Debbie Pearsall, who died in Feb., earned her degree from Lehigh
Though it was a family member accepting the degree on her behalf, it was for Deborah Pearsall that the students, parents and faculty stood in a moment of silence and recognition.
Pearsall, a 21-year-old Oceanside resident, had just begun her final semester at Lehigh University when she died on Jan. 28 due to complications caused by a pulmonary embolism. School officials invited Pearsall’s family to the graduation on May 21 to accept her degree, which she completed during the Fall 2011 semester.
“It was very beautiful. The people at Lehigh have been extremely kind and supportive,” said Keith Pearsall, Debbie’s father. “She was mentioned in the invocation and also in the president of the university’s speech. They gave her a standing ovation.”
Pearsall’s older brother Chris, 24, accepted the degree on her behalf and was astonished at the response of those gathered.
“When it got time to do the whole diploma thing, it was a pretty emotional day. It was really nice, but really horrible at the same time,” Chris explained. “They made me go last for the arts and sciences so that they could do a moment of silence to recognize Debbie. I really wasn’t expecting everything that they did.”
The school also planted a memorial tree outside of the journalism department’s Coppee Hall in honor of Pearsall, who majored in journalism and minored in environmental science.
Pearsall was a very accomplished student for her age, Keith said, with honors as a Dow Jones Scholar and internships with Cablevision and Rodale Publishing, among others.
“[Wally] Trimble is the chair of the journalism department [at Lehigh] and he said he never knew of a student who had as much meaningful work in the field at age 21,” Keith said. “She was apparently a key person at Lehigh. It was described to me by people in the administration that there were two kinds of people at Lehigh: friends of Debbie’s and people who wanted to be.”
The family accepted the Bosey Reiter Leadership Cup on behalf of Debbie and was also able to give out the Deborah Pearsall Prize, which will be awarded annually to a female graduate who exemplifies the attributes Pearsall embodied throughout her life: optimism, honesty, enthusiasm and engaged leadership.
Keith expressed thanks to both the Lehigh and Oceanside community for the support the family has received since his daughter’s passing. A memorial tree was recently planted at Wright’s field in her honor.
“We owe the people of Oceanside a great deal of thanks,” Keith said. “She left an impact on a great many people at age 21.”
