Columbine Murder Victim David Sanders: Reputation and Legacy
It’s been a painful 25 years, the aftermath of Columbine High School shooting by two teens that killed 13 people, which was the most shocking, voluminous violence in a public education setting at the time.
The oldest person murdered was a teacher, Dave Sanders, 47, who reportedly, courageously led students out of the cafeteria and was shot as he showed them upstairs into classrooms for safety. Responsible and heroic. His daughter spoke about the value of her dad’s actions.
“The kids that he saved now have children and those children will have children,” says Coni Sanders. “So generations from now people will know they exist because of his bravery.”
Deep and impressive to think about, what Coni Sanders said, isn’t it?
Just as many lives and future generations were robbed by the villainous, irresponsible boys, Sanders is a reason for ensuring some people survived, lived and were able to create future lives in family trees.
“So generations from now people will know they exist because of his bravery,” as she explained.
Sanders didn’t want to lose his life and be separated in death from his family and they certainly didn’t want to not be able to enjoy him again. There was a high cost for his commitment to protecting mankind. He paid it from the balance of his respectable, honorable character.
In essence, he lived a “follow me, this is the way” leadership to serve and help others keep their lives. That’s a significant part of his legacy.
The others murdered should not be left unmentioned. They were important as people and equally or more importantly, beloved:
Cassie Bernall, Kelly Fleming, Matt Kechter, Daniel Mauser, Dan Rohrbaugh, Isaiah Shoels, John Tomlin and Lauren Townsend.
Michael Toebe is the founder and practicing specialist for consulting, advisory and communications at Reputation Intelligence — Reputation Quality. He serves individuals and organizations with further building — and ethically and responsibly protecting, restoring and reconstructing reputation trust. He is the writer and publisher of Reputation Intelligence here on Medium and the newsletter on Substack.