NEW CAFÉ HONORS ALUM
Aaron Hummel
Issue date: 1/31/08 Section: Features
"A.J. ran to the car to assist the woman inside," Stechschulte said in an e-mail to The Collegian. "When he attempted to open the car door, the entire door came off.
At the same moment, the ambulance arrived, and he said he was left standing there 'like a jerk,' holding the car door in his hands, while the basically unhurt woman was helped out of the car by paramedics.
"Immediately after A.J. told me the story of his attempted heroic feat, he leaned over the table to call to the barista, 'Kim, a white mocha, please.' We all enjoyed a laugh about the irony of his manly story and his much less manly-sounding drink."
In 2004 A.J. turned down the offer of an expensive watch from his father and elected instead to send the money to rebuild homes for impoverished Haitian families whose island was struck by hurricanes that year, his father said.
Just a few months later, A.J. decided to quit his job at Quicken Loans to serve in the military, Andrew Istvan said.
"He wanted to go into other countries and help people," he said. "He didn't have to have the glory."
"With what is going on in the world, I have felt like I am not doing my part as a young man to help make the world a safer and better place," A.J. wrote in a e-mail to Coppock in November 2004. "So I am putting together an application packet for Officer Candidate School with the U.S. Army."
A.J. was just weeks away from choosing whether to try out for Army or Air Force Special Forces units when he died, Andrew Istvan said.
A.J.'s most important characteristic was his deep faith, his parents said. A memorial plaque in A.J.'s Café explains that Romans 12:1-2, which urges people to be 'living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God,' were his favorite verses.
Just over a year before he died, A.J. wrote on a Bible study worksheet how he wanted to be remembered when he died: "I want to be remembered as someone who served others and met other people's needs (physical, emotional, spiritual) and considered their needs more important than my own. [I want people to remember] that I was strong, and stood up for my friends and family, and always protected them."
A.J.'s parents said they were astonished to find this worksheet just days after his funeral and glad to see his wish had come true: They knew people would remember A.J. as a man who protected his family and friends and put their needs above his own.
At the same moment, the ambulance arrived, and he said he was left standing there 'like a jerk,' holding the car door in his hands, while the basically unhurt woman was helped out of the car by paramedics.
"Immediately after A.J. told me the story of his attempted heroic feat, he leaned over the table to call to the barista, 'Kim, a white mocha, please.' We all enjoyed a laugh about the irony of his manly story and his much less manly-sounding drink."
In 2004 A.J. turned down the offer of an expensive watch from his father and elected instead to send the money to rebuild homes for impoverished Haitian families whose island was struck by hurricanes that year, his father said.
Just a few months later, A.J. decided to quit his job at Quicken Loans to serve in the military, Andrew Istvan said.
"He wanted to go into other countries and help people," he said. "He didn't have to have the glory."
"With what is going on in the world, I have felt like I am not doing my part as a young man to help make the world a safer and better place," A.J. wrote in a e-mail to Coppock in November 2004. "So I am putting together an application packet for Officer Candidate School with the U.S. Army."
A.J. was just weeks away from choosing whether to try out for Army or Air Force Special Forces units when he died, Andrew Istvan said.
A.J.'s most important characteristic was his deep faith, his parents said. A memorial plaque in A.J.'s Café explains that Romans 12:1-2, which urges people to be 'living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God,' were his favorite verses.
Just over a year before he died, A.J. wrote on a Bible study worksheet how he wanted to be remembered when he died: "I want to be remembered as someone who served others and met other people's needs (physical, emotional, spiritual) and considered their needs more important than my own. [I want people to remember] that I was strong, and stood up for my friends and family, and always protected them."
A.J.'s parents said they were astonished to find this worksheet just days after his funeral and glad to see his wish had come true: They knew people would remember A.J. as a man who protected his family and friends and put their needs above his own.
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