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| St. Ignace Senior Mitchell Snyder was a teammate of Gage Kreski, son of our NMU friends/teammates Paul Kreski & Deanna Sutton-Kreski. |
St. Ignace Holds Candlelight Vigil for Teen Killed In Car Crash
Posted: Oct 04, 2015 11:14 PM EDT Updated: Oct 05, 2015 6:21 AM EDTThe community gathered tonight to honor and remember a life cut short by a tragic car accident.McCann Football Field was filled as St. Ignace mourned the loss of Mitchell Snyder.
On his way back from his high school homecoming, Snyder was in a car accident early Saturday morning on Mackinac Trail one mile south of M-123.
Mackinac County Sheriff's deputies say the other driver may have been drunk.
9 & 10's Blayke Roznowski was at the field and heard from teachers and friends about this huge loss to the community.
"He was one of the most positive people ever," La Salle High School classmate Taylor St. Onge said. "You couldn't say a bad thing about him."
The community gathered tonight for a candlelight vigil for Mitchell Snyder, the La Salle High School senior who died in a car accident early Saturday morning.
Lauren Brown Morningstar remembers her cousin.
"Mitchell is, and I say is because we have to believe strongly that he is still with us, in whatever respect that the universe makes possible," cousin Lauren Brown Morningstar said.
His football teammates remember him as a great athlete.
"Me and Mitchell were linebackers together and he always would tell me when I was doing something wrong because he was so good," teammate Alex France said.
And as someone who touched the lives of everyone around him.
He was the love of my life and hes truly gone," girlfriend Jordan Belleville said.
Counseling services will be available at La Salle High School during this tragic time
Football star, 17, killed in crash with alleged drunken driver after homecoming dance
on October 05, 2015 at 11:55 AM
ST. IGNACE, MI – After he led an unbeaten LaSalle High School football team to its sixth straight win, Mitch Snyder and his girlfriend celebrated at Friday night's homecoming dance.
He took her home around 11:30 p.m.
She wouldn't see him again.
Fifteen minutes later, the popular three-sport standout was killed in a head-on crash on Mackinac Trail in St. Ignace Township.
The other driver, a 40-year-old St. Ignace man, was treated at Mackinac Straits hospital then jailed for drunken driving. His bond was set at $500,000.
His name has not been released, pending arraignment in Mackinac County District Court.
The loss of the 17-year-old Snyder is devastating for the family and many others.
"It's just a very sad day. Not just a day, it's a just a very sad time in St. Ignace," said Don Gustafson, superintendent of St. Ignace Area Schools, on Monday, Oct. 5.
"The whole community is grieving."
Students are coping as best they can. Friends and family gathered Sunday night for a candlelight vigil on the football field where Snyder starred.
Last year, he'd received a special mention on the Associated Press' Division 7-8 All-State Football Team.
In this small town just north of Michigan's iconic Mackinac Bridge, everyone knows Snyder or his family. His mother, Deb Brandstrom, is the girls' varsity volleyball coach. His brother, Tyler Snyder, graduated from LaSalle High. His sister, Brooke Brandstrom, is a middle-school student. He is also survived by his father, Brent Snyder.
Students are taking the loss hard, Gustafson said. The senior class had 58 students.
A lot of them want to know why. Gustafson said there are no easy answers. He asks the same question himself.
"We're a small community and their family has lived here for years," said Gustafson, a 1977 LaSalle High graduate, who returned to his southern Upper Peninsula hometown after college.
Sunday night's vigil was an important part of the grieving process, Gustafson said.
He thought it best to have school today. The schools cancelled volleyball matches, and postponed parent-teacher conferences this week, but he wanted students to be together, and take advantage of counselors if needed.
"We're working on getting through a very difficult situation," he said.
He said Snyder, who lettered in baseball, basketball and football, was not only a "real good athlete," but a good teen, too.
Parents can't help but think of their own kids, he said.
"It just shows you how things can happen so quickly and unexpectedly."
John Agar covers crime for MLive/Grand Rapids Press E-mail John Agar: jagar@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ReporterJAgar
He took her home around 11:30 p.m.
She wouldn't see him again.
Fifteen minutes later, the popular three-sport standout was killed in a head-on crash on Mackinac Trail in St. Ignace Township.
The other driver, a 40-year-old St. Ignace man, was treated at Mackinac Straits hospital then jailed for drunken driving. His bond was set at $500,000.
His name has not been released, pending arraignment in Mackinac County District Court.
The loss of the 17-year-old Snyder is devastating for the family and many others.
"It's just a very sad day. Not just a day, it's a just a very sad time in St. Ignace," said Don Gustafson, superintendent of St. Ignace Area Schools, on Monday, Oct. 5.
"The whole community is grieving."
Students are coping as best they can. Friends and family gathered Sunday night for a candlelight vigil on the football field where Snyder starred.
Last year, he'd received a special mention on the Associated Press' Division 7-8 All-State Football Team.
In this small town just north of Michigan's iconic Mackinac Bridge, everyone knows Snyder or his family. His mother, Deb Brandstrom, is the girls' varsity volleyball coach. His brother, Tyler Snyder, graduated from LaSalle High. His sister, Brooke Brandstrom, is a middle-school student. He is also survived by his father, Brent Snyder.
Students are taking the loss hard, Gustafson said. The senior class had 58 students.
A lot of them want to know why. Gustafson said there are no easy answers. He asks the same question himself.
"We're a small community and their family has lived here for years," said Gustafson, a 1977 LaSalle High graduate, who returned to his southern Upper Peninsula hometown after college.
Sunday night's vigil was an important part of the grieving process, Gustafson said.
He thought it best to have school today. The schools cancelled volleyball matches, and postponed parent-teacher conferences this week, but he wanted students to be together, and take advantage of counselors if needed.
"We're working on getting through a very difficult situation," he said.
He said Snyder, who lettered in baseball, basketball and football, was not only a "real good athlete," but a good teen, too.
Parents can't help but think of their own kids, he said.
"It just shows you how things can happen so quickly and unexpectedly."
John Agar covers crime for MLive/Grand Rapids Press E-mail John Agar: jagar@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ReporterJAgar
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