A month ago, the Gibbons community faced the loss of freshman Jack O’Shea.

Loss is difficult to grapple with. Both those who knew Jack and those who never got the privilege to know him have had to deal with grief to a certain extent this past month. But through remembering him, through honoring him, and through mourning him as a community, all have been affected by his lasting influence upon us. Although his time with us was sadly short-lived, his influence upon the community will be eternal.

“He was a great kid, and he lived a great life,” said Emma Rizzo, a classmate and friend of Jack’s.

And it is due to the way Jack lived out his great life that he will be honored and remembered for a long time.

Who Was Jack O’Shea?

Jack Francis O’Shea was a freshman student and a member of both the freshmen men’s basketball team and the JV Gold baseball team. But Jack was so much more than that. He was a son. He was a brother. He was a student. He was a friend. And he was a follower of Christ.

“He definitely was on the quieter side, but he had a great personality and a deep loving care for all the people around him,” recalled Rizzo.

“I would describe him as a guy that’s larger than life,” said Sam Connolly, a friend of Jack’s.

In cards that his freshman peers wrote to the O’Shea family, Jack’s English and GFS teacher Lauren Owen, recalls two words being consistently written in description of Jack: kind and funny.

“What a beautiful way to be remembered,” Owen said, “Kind and funny.”

LLJ

Written on the taped wrists of the women’s soccer team, captioned on countless Gibbons sports Instagram posts and stories, the three letters LLJ shine. LLJ: Live Like Jack.

Jack O’Shea was a young man who embodied his faith and lived a life of kindness. 

“He was a great person and he just always led with love and care and he was deeply loved by all the people around him,” Rizzo said.

The letters LLJ are a reminder of the young man who voluntarily went to confession to start his day because of the devotion he had towards his faith. The letters remind us of someone who cared for everyone by being a good friend, teammate, and person.

Through the three letters, LLJ, we are all reminded to Live Like Jack.

Uniting As A Community

Throughout the school year, the events hosted by Spiritual Life are at times sparsely attended. However, at the praying of the Rosary before school the Monday after the accident and the optional mass after school that same day, hundreds of people gathered for Jack. 

“I’ve never seen the Church that packed,” student Alyssa Holloway said about Jack’s funeral, where family, friends, teachers, students, and strangers gathered together in remembrance. 

Together, the Gibbons community has supported one another through this grieving time. 

Jack O’Shea still aids us from afar by deepening our care for each other and helping to bring the entirety of Gibbons closer together.  

As a community, Jack has united us.

Memories of Jack O’Shea

“I remember my first thoughts about him,” Owen said. “First of all, I said to him, I love your name, Jack O’Shea. Just such a cool Irish name. And he looked so Irish.”

Since Owen had the privilege of teaching Jack in both GFS and English, she was able to get to know him twice as much as his other teachers this past school year. 

“He had blue eyes. I’m pretty sure they were blue. They twinkled, whatever they were.” Owens said. “He had a smile about him that was kind of, you know, a quiet smile, but he would grin.”

Owen remembers him for his unfailing kindness, his humor, and, overall, his pleasant nature that made him such a positive asset to any environment he was in. 

“Everybody was always glad to see when Jack would come in. He was late a lot, but when he would come in, everybody would be like, “Hey Jack! Hey Jack!” Owen said. “And I was always glad to see him,” she added with a smile.

It was after a particular day in Mrs. Pat Gallagher’s theology class during which Gallagher had taught about St. Francis that Rizzo recalls bonding with Jack over a shared middle name. 

“After class, I was like, ‘Oh yeah, my middle name is Francis after St. Francis.’ And he was like, ‘Oh my gosh! Me too!’ And then, from that moment on, we would start calling each other Francis in the hallway. We had a special nickname for each other,” Rizzo said. 

Connolly’s favorite memories of Jack date back to their shared time at Immaculata during which the two played together on the baseball team.

Connolly recalls many times the two shared laughs and smiles upon the Immaculata baseball field.

Jack had a positive impact on all he encountered. This fact was evident in the thoughtful cards for the O’Shea family collected by Owen from her students.

“Even if they didn’t know him super well, they had had some interactions with him and a number of the students noted times when he had helped them,” Owen said about her student’s notes. 

Owen recalled one student noting how even though he, the student, wasn’t good at basketball, Jack always offered to play with him. 

There are so many wonderful and joyful memories of Jack, and through them, he lives on.

“Classes are different, the empty chair will always be empty, but his spirit is definitely still here,” Rizzo said. “(It) still remains.”

“He will be missed. He’s already missed.”

“He will be missed. He’s already missed,” Owen said.

“I’ve missed hearing ‘Francis’ in the hallway,” Rizzo said. 

“There’s definitely an empty spot in the class, and an empty spot in our hearts,” Owen said.

There is a lot to be learned from Jack and his life. A lot to be learned about being a kind, funny, and faithful person. And because of the person he was, Jack O’Shea will forever be loved and never forgotten.