Funeral for Leslie Sherman

Media General News Service
Published: April 26, 2007

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - As a lover of American history, Leslie Sherman surely would have appreciated her funeral.
She was memorialized Wednesday in a colonial-era church where the bells tolled for George Washington after his death in 1799.

She was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, near JFK's eternal flame, and the graves of thousands of men and women who shaped America in war and in peace over the last century and a half.

Sherman, 20, was a sophomore history and international studies major at Virginia Tech when she was killed in the worst shooting rampage in American history.

"She was so young, so full of promise. But hers was not a life wasted," the Rev. Robert Laha Jr., said in the spartan Old Presbyterian Meeting House in Alexandria.

Friends remembered her as a compassionate, fun-loving young woman who lived to help others.

She donated her hair to cancer patients, rebuilt houses in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and was considering the Peace Corps after graduation.

"I expect most of us here today would make a big deal out of things like these, but not Leslie... Her interest was in helping others, not in promoting herself," Laha said.

About 400 family members and friends from Blacksburg and West Springfield High School - where she graduated in 2005 - packed the small church.

She became infatuated with the church after a high school history teacher told her of its ties to George Washington, Laha said.

Some young women have a special fondness for Justin Timberlake. She had a special fondness for George Washington, according to her family.

"She absolutely loved history," said high school friend Bryan Lees, who did an internship with her at Frying Pan Farm Park in western Fairfax County. The park recreates a working 1920s farm.

He loved her offbeat funny bone. One day, just because, they decided to name a cow at the farm after their history teacher.
"She had the best sense of humor. I'll miss her spirit," he said.
Sherman also loved to run. She finished the Marine Corps Marathon last fall in just over four hours.

On her high school cross-country team, no one cheered teammates on more loudly, said fellow runner Lauren Angwin.
"She was the glue of the team. She kept us together and kept us moving," she said. Sherman also loved to travel.

When she died, her family received sympathy calls from her friends in South America and China. She planned a trip to Russia this summer, a place Angwin said she talked about visiting in high school.

Instead, she was buried among the perfect rows of white gravestones at Arlington. Her parents were both in the military, making her eligible for the honor, cemetery officials said.
At the cemetery, Laha led a final prayer. A rifle salute from another nearby burial service echoed in the silence.

The crowd broke up. Slowly, her friends departed, then her family. Immediately behind her was the grave of a Marine private who was about her age when he died in World War II.
In death, Leslie Sherman was surrounded by history.

Sean Mussenden is a national correspondent in Media General News Service's Washington bureau. He can be reached at or 202-662-7668.