Girls volleyball team captain loved animals, Shakespeare

By Bill Scanlon
Scripps Howard News Service

Lauren Townsend

She loved animals and volleyball and Shakespeare, and she had a good shot at being Columbine High School's valedictorian.

When Lauren Townsend died in Tuesday's massacre, the world lost a rare jewel, said friends and family.

"I'll remember her as a beautiful soul," said Catherine Beck, sister-in-law of Lauren's stepfather, Bruce Beck. "And her beautiful smile. Her intelligence."

Lauren, 18, was captain of the girl's volleyball team at Columbine, where her mother, Dawn Anna, was the coach.

Lauren, a senior, worked at an animal shelter and recently received President Clinton's Award for Education Excellence.

Three weeks ago, she and her advanced-placement English teacher Carol Samson and other students went to England.

"She bought a gift for her stepfather," Samson recalled. "She worried all trip because they put the wrong name on it. Finally, she got on a special train back to Windsor, just to exchange the piece of glass."

Samson has a mental picture of Lauren in her classroom, holding a chick, asking how she could get a copy of Othello. The chick was a biology project.

"Lauren and the chick, standing at the door, I'll never forget that," said Samson.

Wednesday night, Lauren's step-uncle, David Beck, thanked well-wishers from across the country and read a statement: "We continue to pray that the families of Lauren's classmates, teachers and the entire Columbine community may be comforted by God's eternal love."

Lauren's family has set up a wildlife and scholarship Fund in her memory:

The Lauren Townsend Memorial Fund
c/o EVEREN Securities, Inc.
165 So. Union Boulevard
Suite 900
Lakewood, CO 80228-2214.