That was the plea from Ogden High School Assistant Principal Alma Palmer as he addressed a crowd gathered in the school’s courtyard Friday to honor a life lost too soon.

Students, faculty, friends and family came together for a candlelight vigil in memory of Gauge Alexander Giesen, who died on May 4 at Primary Children’s Hospital after being pulled from the Weber River. He was just 16 years old.

The ceremony featured heartfelt remembrances from multiple attendees, including messages for Giesen and his family written out on paper and also on the ground using chalk. Meanwhile, memorial displays were placed in the courtyard and in front of the school.

The vigil was followed by memorial services at Lindquist’s Ogden Mortuary.

Giesen had been playing airsoft with a group of friends when he and another boy entered the river. However, Giesen did not immediately resurface. He was later found and retrieved from the river after a roughly 90-minute search. Weber County Sheriff’s Office deputies were joined by Weber County Search and Rescue and Weber Fire District in responding to the 911 call.

For Palmer, who had taught Giesen at New Bridge Elementary School prior to becoming an administrator at Ogden High and reuniting with the boy, the loss was personal.

“He’s an amazing kid,” Palmer told the Standard-Examiner. “Mechanical-wise, he could build anything. When we used to do Project Lead The Way, we used simple machines to build compound machines and he was a pro. He’d always take the lead in his group. He got along with everybody; I don’t know if there was anyone he didn’t get along with.

“He was a special kid, and taken away too soon.”

Giesen was active as a private first class in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, or ROTC, according to his obituary, and was a noted tinkerer. During the vigil his father, Mark Giesen, and friends mused about his desire to rebuild his dad’s old dirt bike.

Palmer credited Ogden High students, including ROTC members, for rallying around Giesen’s family and taking the lead in organizing the vigil to honor their classmate.

“This is all student-sponsored,” Palmer said afterward. “All that’s out here, the students did. The school didn’t have anything to do with it except bringing out the speaker. … It has been either students getting it together or his family.”