MARCUS, Iowa -- Students and athletic teams across Northwest Iowa reached out this week to remember a popular MMCRU High School student who died on Monday after collapsing at the school in Marcus.
Funeral services for Natalee Henke, 18, daughter of Ted and Tracee Henke, of rural Marcus, will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at Holy Name Catholic Church in Marcus. Her visitation will be held after 4:30 p.m. Friday at the MMCRU High School gymnasium in Marcus.
MMCRU's football game, slated for Friday evening at Okoboji High School in Milford, Iowa, was postponed to 7:30 p.m. Monday, an evening in which the Pioneers will observe their homecoming by dressing in the opposing Royals' colors while taking a collection to be given to MMCRU school officials to begin a scholarship in Henke's memory.
"Natalee was a cheerleader, she was big into softball, a very, very involved student here," said Dan Barkel, MMCRU superintendent of schools. "She was very well-known on our campus."
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Henke had friends in a number of districts around MMC and Remsen-Union, and many of those peers acted in unison to honor her memory. At South O'Brien High School, for example, a moment of silence was observed on Tuesday prior to the Wolverines' volleyball match with Akron-Westfield, and students from both schools dressed in blue, the dominant color for Henke's MMCRU Royals.
Similar tributes and a moment of silence in Henke's honor were observed in volleyball matches across Northwest Iowa, from Onawa to Lake Park to George and points in between.
"Natalee had a magnetic personality," said Lonnie Boekhout, a longtime teacher, coach and athletic director at the high school in Marcus. "There's always a kid on an opposing team who stands out, a player who reaches out to the other team and you remember that person. That was Natalee."
Boekhout coached Henke as a freshman in track, a season that, in reality, lasted but for a few seconds. "Natalee was in junior high track and was a promising runner for us," he said. "And in the first race of the spring of her freshman year we ran indoors at Sioux Center and she pulled a hamstring getting out of the blocks in the 50-meter race."
She missed the rest of her freshman track season and didn't return to the sport as a sophomore or junior.
Boekhout heard in recent weeks from Henke's friends that she was considering a return to the oval for the spring of her senior year. He was excited about the prospect of having the sprinter on the squad again.
Track was one of many sports Henke participated in during high school. In addition to her cheerleading and brief running career, Henke was a member of the volleyball team and the girls' basketball squad. In softball last summer, the Royals left-fielder hit three of the team's four home runs and earned second-team All-War Eagle honors after hitting a robust .329.
According to Barkel, Henke had just stepped into the high school around 7:30 a.m. Monday when she collapsed. The school nurse and other school personnel responded within seconds. Within minutes, he said, local EMTs who were dropping off their children at school administered aid until an ambulance arrived to transport Henke to Cherokee Regional Medical Center in nearby Cherokee.
Barkel said staff received the tragic news of Henke's death later that morning. At that time, Jason Toenges, the high school principal, and Kayla Schroeder, the counselor, went into each classroom to inform students that their friend and classmate had died. "In the meantime, we called in as many clergy and counselors as we could find," Barkel said.
Classes in the high school were, in effect, suspended around 2 p.m. that day as nearly every student headed home to be with family. Barkel and administrators then met with teachers.
"On Tuesday, we began with an assembly to let our kids know what had happened," Barkel continued. "We let them them know how much we cared about Natalee and how much we care about them. We let them know what services would be available to them and that we'd do our best to carry on in light of a very difficult situation we were in."
Counselors who met with students informed Barkel that most MMCRU High Schoolers expressed a desire to be with their classroom teachers as classes resumed amid a grieving process that will take time.
Henke's locker is covered with Post-It notes fellow Royals left with messages for the former member of the student council. Students have also adopted a "Flying High" slogan through which they'll remember Henke, using the slogan on signs, decorations and decals, doing what they can to remember all the best they saw in their friend, cheerleader and one-of-a-kind teammate.
"The juniors and seniors are still hurting, which is to be expected," Boekhout concluded. "It will hurt for a long time."
