This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Huffaker, Casey, Burtchfield, Classification: Obituary Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/JW.2ADE/8222 Message Board Post: Joseph Daniel Eisenzimmer Jan. 19, 1990 – May 27, 2005 A funeral service was held on Thursday, June 2, at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for Joseph Daniel Eisenzimmer, 15, who passed away on May 27 in Lake Isabella. Joseph was born on Jan. 19, 1990 in Upland to Gary and Eileen Eisenzimmer. He lived most of his life in Tehachapi, attending local schools. He was a freshman at Tehachapi High School at the time of his death. Joseph was an incredible young man with a flair for life and the capacity to love all the people around him. He was the president of his priesthood quorum at church was was working on becoming an Eagle Scout. His smile would brighten the darkest room. Joseph loved sports and spending time with his family and friends. He will be remembered and missed. Joseph is survived by his parents, Gary and Eileen Eisenzimmer; brothers Paul Edward Eisenzimmer and Matthew David Eisenzimmer, of Tehachapi; sister, Sarah Huffaker and her husband, Tony, of Bakersfield; grandparents, Margaret Eisenzimmer of Riverside, and Gary and Margarita Casey of Lake Isabella; uncle, David High Eisenzimmer of Morro Bay; aunts, Lois Karen Eisenzimmer of Riverside, Teresa Maria Burtchfield of Medford, Ore., Peggy Casey of Los Angeles and Cynthia Casey of Bodfish; and numerous cousins. Bishop R. Bryan Hoggan officiated at the service. Interment followed at Tehachapi Public Cemetery, Westside. Wood Family Funeral Service handled the arrangements. Volume 106 - No. 8 June 8-14, 2005 Tehachapi grieves the loss of teenager Hundreds attend funeral by Joy Gray Mazzola Tehachapi News Reporter As the funeral service for 15-year-old Joseph Daniel Eisenzimmer grew closer on the morning of June 2, cars lined both sides of the streets and filled the parking lot of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Students from Tehachapi High School, family and friends took the day to pay their respects and remember the young man who drowned in Lake Isabella on May 27. Letters of condolence poured into THS offices for the Eisenzimmer family during the week, some from students who’d never met him and others from teachers and dear friends. “I cannot begin to tell you how much Joseph has affected me in my life,” said Greg Bloom in a letter to the Eisenzimmer family. “I could always count on Joe.” He shared memories of their childhood together as far back as second grade and stories from the soccer field, where Joe excelled. The final line of the letter seemed an appropriate tribute to both the young man and his family. “Thank you for giving us Joe; the Joe that never could hate, never be angry; the Joe that I look up to. Thank you for giving everyone the gift of Joseph,” Bloom wrote. His friendly smile was also a theme throughout. “He had this smile that caught me and made me smile...I’ll miss that, but I’m gonna pass on that smile because he didn’t know it, but he taught me how to be just a little bit of a better person,” stated an unsigned message from another grieving student. Many notes referred to Joe’s soccer moves on the field and his helpful nature. “He was teaching me how to do the Rainbow Kick. It is so hard. ... I will get that move down and show him when I see him again,” said a note from Samantha Newcombe. Her last line cheered him on. “You rocked my soccer socks.” Chris Corey’s message was of the soccer field as well. “I remember playing soccer with him in P.E. once. Joe had the ball. There was no getting it from him,” the note stated. “I will miss Joe’s big smile.” THS Soccer Coach Roger Rijfkogel, who coached Joe on the junior varsity team and the Tehachapi Gryphons, said Joe was a good kid, honest, a hard worker and a good team player. “He would do anything for anyone,” Roger said. “He earned the respect of his team mates.” Joe also earned a letter in soccer and won a best defensive player award and player of the month. A diver on the THS swim team as well, Joe was coached by Herman Rijfkogel at THS (brother to Roger). Both men smiled when speaking of Joe. “He was quite a character,” Herman said. “I had never seen anyone get disqualified on a 50-freestyle other than Joe.” Herman laughed when he told of an incident during a 200 relay when Joe dove too deep then kicked off the bottom of the pool, propelling himself forward, grounds for disqualification. “But, he received a varsity letter and placed second in the Southern Sequoia League,” he said. Joe was one of only two divers on the team at THS. Steven Crujido was the other. Now, the lone diver, he expressed his loss in a letter to a friend he’d grown to depend on and respect. “I always believed that I should live as if I would die tomorrow but this has brought me to realize just how true that idea really is,” he wrote. THS student Megan Esten had never met Joe, but her thoughtful poem to his family touched on the senselessness and tragedy of losing someone so young. “We’re just kids, we just don’t realize how little time we had. We’re just kids, we shouldn’t die,” she wrote. “It’s a sad place to be, our school right now. So many are left wondering why, wondering how.” Another poet, fellow student and friend wrote her feelings. “It’s funny how one person’s death can change the lives of so many others,” said Genie Schaffer, then she continued. “Goodbye Joe. We will never forget what you have given us. We will remember you always.” Friend and student Jenny Woodard put it this way in her letter to his family, “Joe left us all with the greatest and most cherished memories and in these memories he will live on,” she said. “He will live on in our minds and most importantly, in our hearts. Joe will not be forgotten.” Joseph was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a member of the THS Diving Team, the THS Soccer Team, a faithful, unforgettable friend and a loved family member.