Colorado Springs – A yearbook picture of a smiling Fermin Vialpando, 17, gazes out from a growing number of light-blue and white T-shirts and sweat shirts worn by students at Harrison High School.
In the six days since Vialpando died from a cardiac condition after collapsing on the football field, the Reverb shop at the Citadel Mall has sold more than 100 of the airbrushed shirts, and the orders continue to come in, said Donell Branch, who makes the custom designs.
Many of the estimated 1,000 people who attended Vialpando’s funeral Thursday at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church-Southgate wore the custom shirts or light-blue – Vialpando’s favorite color – T-shirts as a tribute. Others from Harrison and nearby high schools wore their letter jackets.
Vialpando’s father clutched a white No. 63 jersey during the funeral for the 6-foot, 1-inch, 210-pound boy known to church members as the “quiet giant.”
The media were asked not to take notes during the traditional Catholic Mass.
In the parking lot outside, “R.I.P., No. 63,” and “In loving memory, No. 63,” were painted on several cars.
Justin Frush, 17, who said he had played baseball with Vialpando since they were 7, expressed the confusion and pain that are shared by many.
“I’m devastated,” Frush said. “He’s been my best friend since second grade. That someone that healthy would die …”
Later, light-blue balloons were released into a gray, rainy sky to honor the youth who wanted to be a chef with his own restaurant.
“His dream was to be world- famous,” said his aunt, Angela Vialpando. “He always had a plan in action.”
Vialpando was planning to go to the school’s homecoming dance Saturday, said Brandon Eltagonde, 18.
Instead of holding the dance, hundreds of students gathered on the football field to remember their smiling classmate who, Eltagonde said, “got along with everybody.”
Friends and fellow football players will continue to honor Vialpando’s memory, school coaches said.
No. 63, Vialpando’s football jersey, will be immediately retired, said head football coach Shawn Mitchell.
Black football patches inscribed “in memory of No. 63” are being made for students to sew on their letter jackets, Frush said.
And administrators have plans to give his school locker to a sports team captain every year as an inspiration, said Anthony Bartkowski, a friend of the family.
“It will continue the legacy, so it’s not just four years, but part of Harrison for all time,” he said.
This week’s football game has been postponed from Friday to Saturday.
Players did not practice Thursday out of respect for the funeral services.
Players will sport decals on their helmets for the rest of the season. T-shirts with Vialpando’s name on them will be given to the football players so they “will have a part of Fermin with them,” said Matt Janes, a former coach at Harrison who now coaches at nearby Ellicott High School in Calhan.
“Players have been remarkably strong through this; there are a lot of steps we’ve gone through as a team,” Mitchell said.
“He was a hardworking player and a great young man,” said Dave Hogan, the school’s athletic director.
