FAIRBURY, Ill. (WCIA) — Funeral services have been scheduled in Fairbury for 18-year-old Dylan Bazzell and 17-year-old Drew Fehr, who both passed away earlier this week in a Colorado sledding accident.
Bazzell’s services have been set, and will include two visitations at the First Baptist Church of Fairbury, one on Sunday from 2-8 p.m. and another on Monday from 10-10:45 a.m.
Funeral services are scheduled for Monday at 11 a.m. at the First Baptist Church of Fairbury with Pastor Daryl Evans officiating. Burial will be at Graceland Cemetery in Fairbury.
Memorial donations may be made to the Dylan Bazzell Memorial Fund, payable to Prairie Lands Foundation.
Services for Drew Fehr will include a visitation from 1-7 p.m., on Tuesday, March 28 at the First Baptist Church of Fairbury.
Funeral services will be 11 a.m. on Wednesday, March 29, also at the First Baptist Church of Fairbury with Pastors J.D. Buchenau and Dan Robertson officiating. Burial will follow the service in Graceland Cemetery, Fairbury.
School district closing schools, offering supportive services
The Prairie Central School District sent a letter to all families announcing classes will not be held at any school in the district on Monday, March 27 or Wednesday, March 29, due to the large number of staff members attending the funeral services for Fehr and Bazzell. They said Prairie Central High School will have counselors available in the library during school hours both days for any students who need services.
The closure will be classified as emergency days, which means they will be made up at the end of the year, moving the last day of student attendance to June 1.
The district also shared that a candlelight vigil walk will be held in Fairbury on Saturday, March 25 at 7 p.m. The walk will begin at the First Baptist Church, where there will be a short program, followed by a candlelight walk towards the Memory Wall at the Prairie Central High School football field.
Photos, notes, and flowers can be left at the Memory Wall. Stems and bunches of flowers are available at Dave’s Supermarket and Nature’s Designs.
The district’s Facebook page also stated that people can also pick up signs of support at no cost at various locations in Fairbury and surrounding communities. The signs are provided by Prairie Central Athletic Boosters to hang on windows and doors.
Bazzell and Fehr were involved in a sledding accident at Copper Mountain Ski Resort on March 19. The Summit County Sheriff’s Office said Bazzell and Fehr were reportedly riding tandem down a half-pipe and were launched off a large snowbank at the bottom half of the pipe, landing hard on the ice.
Police said that despite immediate medical attention from emergency medical services, the teenagers could not be revived and were pronounced dead on the scene.