In Memoriam: Pitt loses two during summer

Jared Beiswenger

Throughout his life, Jared Beiswenger loved to play and watch sports of… Jared Beiswenger

Throughout his life, Jared Beiswenger loved to play and watch sports of every kind. At Great Valley High School in Malvern, Pa., he ran track and field.

When he arrived at the University of Pittsburgh, he played intramural basketball and football.

Jared was a devoted Eagles, Phillies and Pitt sports fan — even during the teams’ tottering years — and he attended countless Pitt basketball and football games with his friends.

He was a natural athlete and a guy whom everyone wanted on his team, said fraternity brother Greg Placone.

Beiswenger, 23, died suddenly on May 18, 2008. He left behind his parents, Robert and Janet, and sisters, Rachel and Roxanne.

A Pitt graduate in April 2006, Jared’s love for sports was apparent to everyone who knew him.

‘He was a die-hard Philly fan,’ said Placone. ‘He went to probably more than 20 Phillies games this season alone, and he wouldn’t miss the Eagles on Sunday for anything.’

Placone also remembered how hard Jared took each loss that his favorite teams faced.

‘It was impossible to even talk to him after a game was over,’ he said. ‘He’d be too angry to even acknowledge your question.’

Luke Fidler, another one of Jared’s fraternity brothers, remembered Jared’s competitive spirit and hatred for losing.

‘I’ll always remember going to Pitt basketball games with him,’ said Fidler.

‘He was the craziest fan I’ve ever been with at a game, and the Zoo definitely lost one of its biggest fans,’ he said.

Jared always got his choice of seats at Pitt basketball games by arriving at the gate several hours before tipoff, Placone added.

‘He liked to wear an Adidas headband, harking back to the Julius Page days,’ he said.

‘He read the PittBlather.com daily, and we’d always chat about the latest Pitt news posted on there.’

Besides sports, Jared was a member of Delta Phi fraternity and served as the fraternity’s vice president and pledge master throughout his college years.

While fulfilling these leadership positions, Placone recalled how Jared bettered and challenged others and led with an unwavering example.

‘He had the unique ability to give insightful advice, and he was particularly adept at giving advice without you realizing he was doing so,’ Placone said.

‘His character was defined by strength, loyalty and passion for life, and I can say without hesitation that he epitomized the very notion of brotherhood.’

Additionally, Placone said Jared helped him to understand when to take things seriously and when not to worry about the details.

‘Through his example, I learned to keep going and never give in simply due to adverse circumstances,’ he said.

‘He did not want to waste time making the same mistakes, and his life was very much defined by maximizing every moment to make the best out of daunting challenges.’

In addition to sports and his fraternity, another one of Jared’s interests included watching the television show ‘Lost,’ said Placone. Jared discussed the show’s complex mythology with Placone through back and forth e-mails during their free time at work.

‘He loved to rehash theories about the show and its direction with any other ‘Lost’ fanatic,’ he said.

Placone said that Jared, who majored in communication and Spanish, planned to teach English in Peru through the TEFL program starting in January 2009.

He already started the process with the certification program and spent lots of time researching where he wanted to teach in Latin America and what program would be best to do so.

He also recently applied for his passport and was slated to leave for Peru in August.

Although he never obtained the opportunity to teach in Latin America, Jared’s friends will always remember the determination and drive that led him in that direction.

‘As far as his strengths go, he never gave up on anything,’ said Fidler. ‘He was one of the most determined people I’ve ever known. He had an awesome sense of humor and could make almost anyone laugh.’

Steve Grisanti, one of Jared’s fraternity brothers who was in the same pledge class as him, said that Jared was one of his only friends that he could fully trust.

‘He never wanted anything in return,’ he said. ‘He was always willing to sacrifice himself for the betterment of his friends. I think of him as one of my best friends, but so does everyone else who was close to him.’

Meghan Freas

Throughout her life, Meghan Freas loved to learn about languages. In high school, she studied German, Latin, Arabic and Spanish and enrolled at the Harrisburg Area Community College during her senior year to take two additional semesters of Arabic.

She also understood bits of French, Russian and Turkish and recited a multitude of foreign phrases to her friends whenever they got together.

It came as no surprise to her friends and family when Meghan decided to major in linguistics during her first semester at the University of Pittsburgh and wanted to study abroad.

‘She was always saying something in random languages and would make a joke about it afterwards,’ said Chelsea Jones, one of her friends from the University.

Freas, an 18-year-old sophomore from Camp Hill who started at Pitt last fall, died at 10:15 p.m. on May 5 at York Hospital, a week after she was seriously injured in a head-on car crash on Interstate 83 in Shrewsbury Township, according to the Harrisburg Patriot-News.

Last fall, Jones met Meghan through an acquaintance from Camp Hill Senior High School and said that her outgoing and goofy personality allowed them to quickly become friends.

‘When we first met, Meghan’s sense of humor attracted me,’ said Jones. ‘Everybody had fun around her, and she always made people feel comfortable. She was constantly using accents and making jokes.’

Besides languages, Meghan also loved to travel and experience different cultures, said her mother, Brenda Eppley.

‘She embraced the idea of diversity and loved meeting individuals from every culture and ethnic background,’ she said. ‘It was only natural for her to pursue international travel. She had been to Egypt, England and the Caribbean and spent six weeks last summer living with a family in Turkey.’

When Meghan was in fourth grade, she moved from Carlisle to Camp Hill and lived there with her mother and stepfather, said Anna West, one of Meghan’s best friends.

On weekends, she visited her father and stepmother in Baltimore, Md. Freas was also very close with her stepbrother and half sister.

In high school, West recalled how Meghan helped to plan all of the school’s spirit activities, including homecoming, as a member of the pep club. She also participated in Quiz Bowl and theater.

‘She was just an all-around great person who loved life,’ said West. ‘She was the very definition of joie de vivre.’

Clare Ferrari, Meghan’s best friend since sixth grade, said that Meghan had a personality that lit up the room and possessed the ability to make her friends laugh during conversations.

‘Everyone always loved her for who she was,’ said Ferrari. ‘Nothing ever held her back from fulfilling her dreams.’

Known as ‘Button’ by her mother, Eppley said Meghan was genuinely interested in what people had to say and was an excellent listener.

‘Megs was selfless and had a wonderful, altruistic nature,’ she said.

Meghan’s fun-loving, friendly personality especially stood out to Jones when they attended a Christmas party together in Pittsburgh last December. Even though Meghan did not know many people there, Jones said she instantly made friends and connected with nearly everyone in the room.

‘She was a remarkably loyal person to her friends, and she was so caring even about people that she didn’t know very well,’ said Jones.

Even though she transferred to the Harrisburg Area Community College after her first semester at Pitt, Jones said that she still made sure to stay in contact with her friends in Pittsburgh.

‘She wanted to visit Pitt and stay in touch with us,’ said Jones. ‘She taught people how important friendships were and taught us how to be loyal friends to each other.’

Emily Keammerer, one of Meghan’s friends who studied with her at the community college and worked with her in the school’s theater box office, agreed that Meghan always cherished her close friends.

‘Meghan was the best person to go to when you were having a rough day,’ she said. ‘She would just randomly say something to make you smile. I will miss the random text messages that I used to get from her.’

Keammerer also added that Meghan was the master of catch phrases. She remembered how she would say expressions like, ‘These are my words; use your words!’ and, ‘Hey, I know you!’ to her friends.

‘I swear every week she would have a new thing to say,’ said Keammerer.

Like many young people, Meghan’s Facebook profile displays her collage of interests. Some of her favorite bands included The Doors, Pink Floyd, The Velvet Underground, Jefferson Airplane and The Guess Who.

‘Meghan loved all music,’ said Keammerer. ‘When we would work together in the box office, we would listen to anything from techno, Feist, rap and Celtic music.’

In addition to music, Meghan enjoyed reading the Harry Potter series and went with West to Barnes and Noble for the midnight release of the sixth book.

‘We both finished it within 24 hours,’ said West. ‘Then we went back to the same Barnes and Noble and dissected the book chapter by chapter. It was the nerdiest, most awesome thing that I have ever done.’

Meghan never finished the seventh Harry Potter book since it came out over the summer while she was in Turkey, but West said that she was in the process of reading each chapter out loud to her at night.

Although Meghan Freas wanted to learn more languages and dreamed about traveling to other places during her lifetime, she wrote on her Facebook profile that ‘the simpler things in life go unappreciated by most people.’

‘I don’t think I enjoy anything in life more than laughing and laughter,’ she wrote. ‘Life’s not worth living without it.’

‘I will always remember her fiery red hair,’ said West. ‘That was her defining physical characteristic. And her smile and laugh. She had the best teeth that I have ever seen.’

Eppley said her daughter taught her forgiveness and unconditional love.

‘She didn’t hold grudges and preferred to see the positive side in every situation,’ she said.

To Ferrari, Meghan’s sparkling personality and sky-lighting smile allowed her to become a part of everyone who surrounded her.

‘I feel so privileged for every second that I had the honor of knowing that girl,’ she said. ‘She will always be my best friend, the one who knows everything about me. She was the most trustworthy person I knew.’