The Passing of a Kiltie

[SunAndrea]

On behalf of the Sunrisers, I wish Joel's family and friends, and the Kiltie family our prayers and best wishes.

[Kay]

Please know, from the Hawthorne Caballeros, the Kilties, as well as Joel's family are in our prayers.

May he rest in peace and you take his memory with you onto the field with each show.......

God Bless

[Ray Priester]

On behalf of the entire Skyliner family, I would like to express our deepest condolences to Joel's family and the Kiltie family on the tragic loss of Lothar. The personal remembrances speak of a good man with a great sense of humor and a deep love of this activity and his Kiltie brothers and sisters.

Dr. Javier Morales, a cardiologist, of the Sky alumni corps worked on him for 10 full minutes before an ambulance even made the scene. He was quite upset when he came back into the stands because he couldn't revive him and he couldn't do any more. Javier's tears spoke for all of us. We all lost one of our own that night.

May Lothar rest in peace.

Ray Priester

[Smoothy]

I'm not sure that you all know, but we wore plaid armbands in finals in memory of Lothar and left them all on the field in finale as a tribute. It really put everything into perspective as far as how precious life and drum corps is.

[Leland]

We all lost one of our own that night.

May Lothar rest in peace.

[pitchic03]

I'm not sure that you all know, but we wore plaid armbands in finals in memory of Lothar and left them all on the field in finale as a tribute. It really put everything into perspective as far as how precious life and drum corps is.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That was very sweet of you. Thank you for keeping him in your memory.

Sincerely,

Lisa Barthelme

Kilties Front Ensemble 2002-present

Kilties Baritone 2004

[JimF-LowBari]

I'm not sure that you all know, but we wore plaid armbands in finals in memory of Lothar and left them all on the field in finale as a tribute. It really put everything into perspective as far as how precious life and drum corps is.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

We were at the Govie souvenier table when MBI people were handing them plaid ribbons. We were told that the Mid West support members (IOW - people not in uniform) were wearing them for Joel and the Kilties. Moving tribute from the people behind the scenes.

[Scerpella]

I'm not sure that you all know, but we wore plaid armbands in finals in memory of Lothar and left them all on the field in finale as a tribute. It really put everything into perspective as far as how precious life and drum corps is.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Jim,

your gesture as well as MBIs and Chops was felt deeply and gratefully by those of us in the Kilties. I cant say for sure but it seems a number of corps had some sort of remembrance on their uniforms for finals. The support and warm feelings that have poured in from the DCA world have been nothing short of amazing. I have never been more proud of my association with a corps and an activity as I am at this moment.

As we lay Lothar to rest this weekend we will shed more tears for this young man taken much too early and take comfort in the sincere warm wishes of our extended Drum Corps family.

Thank you.

Edited September 7, 2005 by dans24103

[ScribeToo]

Lothar,at times, was the kind of guy,who  could get you so frustrated,at him, that you wanted to spit.But as my brother Kiltie Guapo said,no matter what he set you off at, no matter how much you wanted to strangle him.you always ended up with a smile on your face.Many times after a conversation with him,I found myself walking away,shaking my head in disbelief as to what had just occured. But thinking back,I always had a smile on my face.

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Seymour, you're absolutely right. No matter how much he drove you crazy, you couldn't help but smile -- and I think that was always his intent.. to make people laugh, smile, feel good, enjoy themselves. It serves to reason that he carried that magnanimous spirit with him off the field as well.

Before I even joined the corps, I was sitting alone, under a tree in a folding chair one afternoon in a park in Racine watching you guys practice. At a water break, Lothar was the one guy who came over and introduced himself (as Joel, never Lothar) and shook my hand. All he knew was I was some girl sitting alone watching the corps. I always think of that as the moment I really thought, "hey.. maybe marching here wouldn't be so bad.. the people are pretty nice .. what have I got to lose?"

Having marched with him for the years I did (and none of them were the easiest years to be a Kiltie), I look back on a lot of the laughter that occurred on the practice field and realize much of it surrounded something Lothar said or did. And always shoeless and shirtless in those *!%$ black jeans! JC made mention of seeing Lothar running full speed in that very outfit across the field as being something you just can't ever forget.. it's true. That and his trademark Cheshire Cat grin.

I didn't always adore Lothar.. but at the core of things, he was a man with a big heart and always carried with him the sense of being a "true Kiltie."

It won't be the same without him.. but I know he went exactly as he wanted to: performing with the Kilts.

Godspeed, Lothar.

Stef