By Josh Siatkowski | Staff Writer
The Willett Family Reading Room had never been more full.
Hundreds of students from a range of communities filled the Alexander Hall study area Friday afternoon. With members of Baylor Wake, the Honors Residential College, the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core, St. Peter Catholic Church and more present, there was not a single empty seat. President Linda Livingstone was also in attendance.
All of this was to remember the life of a Baylor student who impacted the lives of each of those groups: Paul Yannarelli, a 20-year-old, Totowa, N.J., sophomore and health science studies major, who passed away Tuesday morning in his dorm.
Three days later, the Honors Residential College hosted a memorial service for Yannarelli, where the many groups he was part of congregated and shared memories.
Yannarelli’s girlfriend, San Antonio sophomore Kira Dietrich, said Paul was “one of those people who could enter a room, and everyone would know it was him in the best possible way.”
Hillsdale, Mich., sophomore Colm Rottinghaus, Yannarelli’s roommate and close friend, called him “the best thing that could have happened to me at Baylor” and said he brought the same energy and passion “to every endeavor and every community he was part of.”
Many more spoke to represent the numerous groups of which Yannarelli was part. Colorado Springs, Colo., sophomore Halie Mason spoke on behalf of Baylor Wake. Dr. Lynn Tatum, Yannarelli’s world cultures professor, spoke for the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core. Dr. Jason Whitt gave words on behalf of Yannarelli’s housing community, the Honors Residential College.
Speakers shared their favorite illustrations of Yannarelli’s energetic, fearless and lovable personality through stories of blasting music in the car, of Yannarelli’s passion for Baylor Wake and of his love of political debate. Yannarelli’s former roommate, Garrett Adams, gave remarks, which were shared by Chicago sophomore Paul Arquilla. As the memorial went on and more personalities took the podium, it became easier to tell what Dietrich meant when she said “Paul was scared of almost no social situations.”
“To bring everyone together like this, you know Paul did something great,” Rottinghaus said.
But even with such a large community, Dietrich said her boyfriend craved “genuine, real relationships,” and that she had never met someone with whom she was so comfortable. Rottinghaus echoed Dietrich, noting that Yannarelli never forgot to invite his roommate to anything. Arquilla, who spoke on behalf of Adams, said “Paul had a heart that never ran out of room.”
University Chaplain Burt Burleson gave other students in attendance the chance to reflect on the things that Yannarelli did.
“Find a moment of gratitude you had for Paul,” Burleson said. “It won’t be hard.”
And Burleson was right. After giving the audience a moment to think, the Willett Family Reading Room filled with laughter as students shared their favorite memories of Yannarelli with those around them.
But amid those moments of laughter and gratefulness for his life, it was hard for speakers to ignore the weight that Yannarelli — a friend, a boyfriend, a student, a classmate, a son and a brother — was gone.
“Perhaps for some, a numbness has set in, an incomprehensibility of all that has happened and a painful hole in life that Paul’s presence had occupied,” Whitt said.
Other students and speakers also struggled to grapple with Yannarelli’s passing, calling him “the missing piece,” “a light” and “an absolute legend.” But as the service went on, a common theme arose: Yannarelli can still live on through his memories.
“Let us keep telling Paul’s stories,” Arquilla said on behalf of Adams.
And with the amount of laughter that filled the room when sharing those memories on Friday, it won’t be too hard. Friends of Yannarelli can contribute to his memory book here.
Those struggling with Yannarelli’s passing, or in need of care for anything, are encouraged to contact the Counseling Center or Baylor Spiritual Life.
