Fire victims memorialized with monument

Ocean Isle Beach | After the unveiling of a cross-shaped monument Friday afternoon in memory of the seven college students who died in an October house fire here, the mother of one victim was searching for someone.

Kaaren Mann, whose daughter Lauren Mahon died in the Oct. 28 fire, crossed the street to catch up with a man using a walking cane who had been standing at the back of the crowd of families and friends who traveled to Ocean Isle Beach for a memorial to their loved ones.

"Did you make that cross?" Mann asked Charlie Lea, the owner of local welding company Lea Steel.

Just days after the house at 1 Scotland Drive erupted in flames, claiming the lives of six students from the University of South Carolina one from Clemson University, Lea and his sons and colleagues created an aluminum cross more than 5 feet tall and placed it by the charred remains of the house.

That cross now stands at the base of the Odell Williamson Bridge, near the Ocean Isle Beach Fire Department, as a memorial to the fire victims.

The students' names are engraved in a stone below the cross. They are Justin Anderson, Travis Cale, Lauren Mahon, Cassidy Pendley, William Rhea, Allison Walden and Emily Yelton. Six students survived the fire.

"Friends together forever," is also written on the stone, which was made by a local woman, Delores White.

Mann expressed her appreciation to Lea.

"I love the idea of the cross made by Mr. Lea," she said.

Genie Lee, whose son William Rhea died in the fire while another son, Andrew Rhea, survived, said she thought the Ocean Isle Beach community was caring and supportive.

"It was difficult to come, but I'm very glad I did," she said. "I'm very appreciative to the people of Ocean Isle Beach. They've hurt, too."

Ocean Isle Beach Mayor Debbie Smith said the town wanted to show the victims' families and friends that they cared.

"This tragedy touched the lives of all the people in this community," she said after a private memorial ceremony.

Most of the families of the victims and the survivors of the fire attended the ceremony, which was held inside the fire department. Those in attendance, including town officials, then walked to the site of the cross monument.

Smith said she hoped people passing the monument will remember that "this is a special place to bond with your friends and to bond with your family."

Lea said he hoped his gesture was a way to bring people together.

"I wanted to show that the people of Brunswick County cared," he said.

Shannan Bowen: 755-6307

shannan.bowen@starnewsonline.com