Page 14-A
Thursday, April 15, 2010 • HERITAGE NEWSPAPERS/WESTERN REGION
Community remembers life cut short Residents deal with grief in loss of young man By Sean Dalton Heritage Newspapers
While authorities continue to investigate the string of fires in Ann Arbor that killed Dexter resident Renden Lemasters and injured two others April 3, the Lemasters family began the grieving process in earnest last week. Renden’s father, Robert Lemasters, planned a memorial service and funeral at St. Joseph’s Parish in Webster Township April 5, just days after what would have otherwise been a mundane game of golf with his son. “We were running out of time and I hit my ball into the woods (during a golf game on April 2) … we left the balls and said we’d finish the game Sunday,” Lemasters said. Two days later, he returned to the green alone, picked up his son’s ball and walked somberly away from the half-hole that Renden would never finish and Robert would never forget. He said he was grateful for a meaningful last evening with his son. “His brother and stepbrother were supposed to play, but they couldn’t make it, so it was just us,” he said. “Maybe it was meant to be that day.” Lemasters said when the fire broke out at a home on South State Street near the University of Michigan central campus in Ann Arbor, his son was asleep in a second-floor bedroom. “Someone woke up and went to get water when they were told there was a fire on the porch. But by the time he got back, the couch had caught fire and that’s what really started
(the blaze),” Lemasters said. When word spread about the fire, panic ensued and Renden ran out of the front door and into the fire’s epicenter. “The fire marshal ended up pulling up right as he was running out the door; they knocked him down with a fire blanket and put out the fire,” Lemasters said. “He said he was fine, but he didn’t realize how bad he was burned.” Lemasters isn’t sure if his son was the victim of a malicious prank or a horrible coincidence, but he wants his son’s story to “make a difference.” Renden’s mother Kimberly said she will miss her son. “He had the biggest heart there ever was,” she said. She said Renden was the quintessential big brother to his 15-year-old stepsister, Alex Semifero, his brother Ryan and stepbrother Jay. “He was his brother’s (Ryan) biggest fan,” Kimberly said. The large crowd that attended Renden’s memorial service April 8 was a testament to how many lives he touched. Josh Weaveman said he and Renden weren’t best friends, but he was “just happy to call him friend.” “It didn’t matter who you were, he would just talk to you and he would listen,” Weaveman said. The last time he had seen Renden was at a Christmas party last year. Nick Bensinger, another Dexter Community Schools student who was a classmate of Renden at Washtenaw Community College before transferring to Eastern Michigan University, spoke highly of his friend. “We never had any classes together, but we shared a lot of common interests,” Bensinger said. “I was into electronics and (Renden) would take any
“It didn’t matter who you were, he would just talk to you and he would listen.”
Mourners sign the guest book at Renden Lemasters’ funeral service. opportunity to talk about computers.” Bensinger said Renden was one of the most positive people he knew and his influence will be missed. Kimberly said her son was the kind of person who cared about others and liked to help. “I’m going to miss him every time I need his help with the phone, the computer or our entertainment center,” she said. “If I messed something up, he would get it back on track.” Renden was planning a career with the Thetford Corporation’s technical department, located on Jackson Road. He was a single semester away from graduating from EMU with a degree in computer logistics and warehouse distribution at the school’s Department of Science and
Technology. Those close to him said that the 2005 Dexter High School graduate never lost the energy he had as a member of the DHS varsity soccer team.
“He had just gone to a trade show a couple of weeks ago and he made a sale. He was really excited about that,” Lemasters said. “He said, ‘I got that salesmanship from you,
Dad.’ Of course, it made me smile.” Sean Dalton is a reporter with Heritage Newspapers. He can be reached at 429-7380 or sdalton@heritage.com.