Virginia Tech shooting victim laid to rest

Today a Georgia victim of the Virginia Tech shootings was laid to rest. A funeral was held in Augusta for 22-year-old Martinez native Ryan Clark. Clark was a month away from graduating from the school in Blacksburg, Virginia, when he was killed last Monday, along with 31 other victims and the shooter.

Martinez resident among those dead at Virginia Tech

Credit: The Marching Virginians

http://www.music.vt.edu/performance/ensembles/mv/index.shtml

Nearly three dozen people are confirmed dead in a shooting spree on the Virginia Tech campus, including 22-year old Ryan Clark of Martinez, Georgia.

Clark was a resident assistant at the school's West Ambler Johnston dormitory and was one of the first killed by the lone shooter.

Marcie Anderson teaches A-P history at Lakeside High School in Evans, Georgia where Ryan was a student.

She remembers Ryan as a good student, well liked by both faculty and students.

"He always had such an upbeat outlook on life, you couldn't help being caught up in his personality."

Anderson says her favorite memory of Ryan is that Clark often complained about the difficulty of his A-P history assignments.

"But, he did them and then afterwards, when he would come back and visit he would always say, 'I used to complain so much, but it really helped.' That was a compliment in itself."

According to Virginia Tech's website, Clark completed both his biology and English degrees in December 2006. He was working toward his Ph.D. in psychology with a focus in cognitive neuroscience.

Clark was also a member of the schools band, The Marching Virginians.

Ryan Clark is survived by his twin brother, Bryan, and his parents, Stan and Lettie Clark of Martinez, Georgia.

President Bush is scheduled to visit Virginia Tech for a memorial service today.

Classes there have been cancelled indefinitely, as officials there try to piece together a motive behind the killings.