By Michelle Woo
On the day of her burial service, members of the Annandale High School band, the Marching Atoms, played a farewell song for their friend Mary Read.
She would have smiled.
Her life was one of 32 taken at Virginia Tech. She was 19 and a freshman.
While attending Annandale High in Virginia, Read played lacrosse and was a member of the band and color guard. Band director Jack Elgin described his former student as “compassionate, caring, warm, sensitive and full of life,” but said it was her smile that people will remember most.
“Mary’s personality showed through her smile,” Elgin said. “Many of my students said that she was the best friend that anyone could want or have.”
Read, whose mother is Korean, was born in South Korea and moved to Annandale when she was in seventh grade. Her goal was to teach science and math to young children.
At Virginia Tech, Read was part of Campus Crusade for Christ, a ministry organization. She wanted to be a Bible study leader.
Joshua Cho Miller, 17, of St. Louis, met Read several times at national church retreats. The day she died in her French class, Cho Miller received notice through a message on his Facebook page.
“I fell apart,” he said. “She was probably the nicest person anyone could ever meet.”
A week before the shootings, Cho Miller said he was chatting online with Read on Instant Messenger, catching up on how college life has been.
“I will never forget the last message she sent to me,” he said. “She said, ‘It better not be a long time before I talk to you again.’ I keep that with me as a learning experience. Don’t take life for granted, because life is so fragile.”
