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Many who mourn Ryan Rendleman say they think of him as a teacher.
But Saturday, he will be remembered as a student.
Rendleman, a 22-year-old Daily Egyptian photojournalist from Batavia, died from injuries sustained in a car accident April 29. He was days away from graduating with a bachelor's degree in photojournalism.
Nick Rendleman plans to accept the diploma in his younger brother's place.
"Ryan - he's not going to receive, in person, that diploma. Certainly he's worthy of that certificate. He worked very hard," Nick Rendleman said. "But I just keep thinking, he's walking across the stage of Heaven and he's receiving the crown of life, you know?"
Gary Kolb, interim dean of the College of Mass Communication and Media Arts, said he wrote a letter asking for the posthumous degree Wednesday morning. University officials were extremely cooperative throughout the process, he said.
Kolb said he did not know Ryan Rendleman personally, but was deeply saddened by his death.
"It's particularly tragic to see somebody who is very young die … and somebody who is utterly blameless," Kolb said. "It always tugs at you. It's something you don't forget."
Daily Egyptian Faculty Managing Editor Eric Fidler is scheduled to present the diploma. Fidler said he felt honored and would struggle to find the words to describe a young man he liked "very, very much."
Nick Rendleman said a group of friends and family members plans to travel down for the ceremony. While the family is in Carbondale, he said, they would honor Ryan Rendleman's last request.
Hours before he died, Ryan Rendleman called his grandparents to say hello and chat, Nick Rendleman said. During their conversation, Ryan Rendleman asked if they would attend services at the Vine Community Church with him the morning after his graduation.
Nick Rendleman said although Ryan Rendleman lived for a short time, the impact of his life and death would continue to influence those who knew him.
He said he spent the past few days trying get closure by contacting the people with whom Ryan shared his last cell phone conversations.
But more than this, Nick Rendleman said he receives comfort from Ryan Rendleman's journal entries, which detail his dedicated Christian faith.
"It's just so striking to me that really what he wanted more than anything else is to know God," Nick Rendleman said. "Now he's with God. He'll see him face-to-face. He's not going to struggle anymore."
Allison Petty can be reached at
536-3311 ext. 259 or
allison.petty@siude.com.
