Aurora – Del Bankett looked forward to the day he’d see his son Joshua Bankett-Land walk proudly to a podium and accept his diploma from Smoky Hill High School, his son’s green gown sparkling as it fluttered and his cap tilted sideways to look cool.
He never expected that, instead, he’d be burying Joshua today in that shiny cap and gown.
“You know Daddy loves you, Joshua – God, I should have gone first,” Del wailed at his son’s viewing Thursday as he reached into the casket and gripped the 17-year-old’s hand. “I don’t want to see my baby dead. He would have graduated, and I was so proud of him. This can’t be happening.”
Joshua was one of two teenagers killed in a three-vehicle crash Dec. 27 in Aurora that also claimed the life of one his closest friends, 17-year-old Ian Wallace. Joshua’s funeral service will be at 1 p.m. today at Eastern Hills Community Church in Aurora, 19697 E. Smoky Hill Road.
Still a few months away from graduation ceremonies, Smoky Hill High provided the cap and gown. Joshua’s parents were overcome with grief, other relatives nearly fainted and dozens of friends and former teachers wept as they walked past Joshua’s casket at Taylor Funeral and Cremation Services.
“Thank you, Father, for the boy he was, and thank you for the man he became,” Eastern Hills and Young Life Pastor Sean Matthews said in prayer with the family.
Some of Joshua’s most treasured possessions also were displayed, including his paintings of Malcolm X, a framed jersey of Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb, a big leprechaun hat, T-shirts adorned with pictures of Tupac Shakur and Al Pacino’s Scarface and a framed Mother’s Day poem.
“I can’t do this, I can’t do this,” Joshua’s mother, Velma Bankett, cried as she fell to her knees at the casket.
The last time the family had seen their boy – the oldest of seven siblings – he was in a hospital bed and his face had been badly mangled from the crash. The family’s only instruction at the viewing was to not touch his fragile, reconstructed face. So they grasped and tugged at his hands as they wept.
Jenny Lisson, a Smoky Hill teacher who had been close to Joshua the past four years, comforted the family and described the boy as outgoing, charming, sweet and a favorite student despite frequently coming to class late. Her fondest memory was of Joshua going out of his way to welcome a new student at school.
“He was the only one in a classroom of students to walk over and introduce himself and make the new kid feel welcomed,” Lisson said. “That’s just the way Joshua was.”
As Del bear-hugged his second-oldest son, Del Jr., and shook his head in disbelief, Pearl Halcomb, the boys’ grandmother, put her hand on his head and assured him that he helped raise a good boy.
“He did graduate, Del,” Halcomb said. “He graduated to a better place, and he’s in heaven right now waving that cap and gown.”
Staff writer Manny Gonzales can be reached at 303-820-1537 or mgonzales@denverpost.com.
