Family Galleries

Kyrstin Rae Gemar 1/27/87 - 11/1/09 : 11/1/2009 - At approximately 11:15 PM Kyrstin's Jeep Grand Cherokee entered a small "stock pond" nine miles northwest of Dickinson, ND. A few minutes later, Kyrstin, along with Ashley Neufeld and Afton Williamson would drown in the frigid pond waters. It would take 40 hours before they would be discovered and we would know what happened. Referred to locally as "The Dickinson Three", or "D3" for short, Afton, Kyrstin, and Ashley became the focus of a multicounty search. During that 40 hours, law enforcement, search and rescue, and friends would intensely search the countryside for clues as to where they might have gone. Thanks to the skills of Arizona C.A.P. officer Justin Ogden, an expert in cellular forensics and triangulation, they were found sooner rather than much later. Unfortunately, not soon enough to save their lives. Afton, Kyrstin, and Ashley (memorialized on t-shirts, bumper stickers, and in the Z-MAN song "Every Time" as "A.K.A.") were all student athletes on the DSU softball team. The #3 NAIA National team in 2009, DSU was looking forward to these players helping achieve a National Championship title in 2010. While they can't take the field in uniform, we all pray that they'll be the 2010 team's "Angels in the Outfield." Prelude - Photos 1 - 3 Wed 11/4/09 - Family and Friends visit the accident site - Photos 4 - 19 Thu 11/5/09 - Post-memorial reception at DSU - Photos 20 - 80 Fri 11/6/09 - Reclaiming items from the Jeep, and spending time with friends at the basketball game. - Photos 81 - 98 Mon 11/9/09 - Ashley Neufeld's memorial - Photos 99 - 115 Tue 11/10/09 - Thur 11/12/09 - Kyrstin's in-home viewing and family visitation - Photos 116 - 127 Fri 11/13/09 - Kyrstin's Public Viewing at El Camino Memorial Park - Photos 128 - 135 Fri 11/13/09 - Afton Williamson's memorial - Photos 136 - 148 Sat 11/14/09 - Kyrstin's memorial service and burial - Photos 149 - 224 (Photos 153-224 courtesy of Chris Vergara - Photography) Sat 11/14/09 - Post-service reception at Gemar house - Photos 225 - 238 Sun 11/15/09 - Clairemont Girls Fastpitch softball league candlelight memorial for Kyrstin Photos 239 - 261 (Photos 246 - 260 courtesy of Harold Colson) The Aftermath - These are misc photos of items or people that have touched us since the memorials. Fri 2/19/10 - Grossmont College retires Kyrstin "Mama K" Gemar's jersey in this simple ceremony at 3rd base. Teammates Lost Under the Stars by Elizabeth Merrill, ESPN. Kyrstin's tribute web site.

Kyrstin Rae Gemar 1/27/87 - 11/1/09

11/1/2009 - At approximately 11:15 PM Kyrstin's Jeep Grand Cherokee entered a small "stock pond" nine miles northwest of Dickinson, ND. A few minutes later, Kyrstin, along with Ashley Neufeld and Afton Williamson would drown in the frigid pond waters. It would take 40 hours before they would be discovered and we would know what happened ...

Updated: Feb 28, 2010 10:05am PST

Kyrstin, In Memoriam - The College Years : Kyrstin Rae Gemar: 1/27/87 - 11/1/09. These photos of Kyrstin begin after high school graduation. Galleries of her ealier years are under construction. I've tried to minimize photos that already exist in other galleries, and just provide a sampling of sports photos here. The focus of these galleries is to show Kyrstin with friends and family. By the way, geography is turned on for this gallery, so if you click the "Map This" button to the right, you can see a Google location map for many of these photos. If you have photos of Kyrstin that you're willing to share here, please contact Lenny. If possible I'd prefer the original photo, rather than one from Facebook. Facebook photos are too small to look good on this web site.

Kyrstin, In Memoriam - The College Years

Kyrstin Rae Gemar: 1/27/87 - 11/1/09. These photos of Kyrstin begin after high school graduation. Galleries of her ealier years are under construction. I've tried to minimize photos that already exist in other galleries, and just provide a sampling of sports photos here. The focus of these galleries is to show Kyrstin with friends and ...

Updated: Jan 10, 2010 3:08am PST

2009 Lenny and Claire's 30th Anniversary : 8/13/2009, our 30th Anniversary. We celebrated first by having an early dinner at Point Loma Seafoods. We then headed down to Chula Vista's Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre (formerly Coors Amplitheater) to watch Toby Keith's "Toughest Tour." I had to pay in blood to get these tickets... Actually, I got a pair of tickets for donating a couple of pints of blood at the San Diego Blood Bank, where I usually donate every four weeks or so.This was a great concert, led off by Sean Patrick McGraw. He played a four or five song set. I'm not familiar with his music, but his band was tight, and several of the songs were fun. Next up was Trace Adkins, who played a great set. He adjusted his set-list from the tour's earlier concerts in Florida, but still maintained a 12-song set, ended with "Badonkadonk."Toby Keith's set was kick-ass from beginning to end, with a total of 20-songs running just over 90 minutes. With 18-songs in the main set, he came back for an encore, closing out the 20-song concert with "Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue" in duet with Trace Adkins. After the concert, Claire and I celebrated our anniversary with a night at the Hyatt Regency in Mission Bay. A wonderful "climax" to a great day...Photography Note: My apologies for the quality of the concert photos. I was stuck using a Canon G9, because the venue wouldn't allow me to take in my Nikon D3. The quality issue is more a reflection of my inexperience with the camera, than the camera itself. It just proves the point that you should always get familiar with your tools before you use them.

2009 Lenny and Claire's 30th Anniversary

8/13/2009, our 30th Anniversary. We celebrated first by having an early dinner at Point Loma Seafoods. We then headed down to Chula Vista's Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre (formerly Coors Amplitheater) to watch Toby Keith's "Toughest Tour." I had to pay in blood to get these tickets... Actually, I got a pair of tickets for donating a co ...

Updated: Aug 14, 2009 3:14pm PST

2009 Kyrstin Goes Back to College : 8/20/2009 - It's late summer of 2009 and time for Kyrstin to head back to school for her senior year at DSU (Dickinson State University, North Dakota). On our way Kyrstin opted to stop by the Grand Canyon. So here's our trip, in photos.

2009 Kyrstin Goes Back to College

8/20/2009 - It's late summer of 2009 and time for Kyrstin to head back to school for her senior year at DSU (Dickinson State University, North Dakota). On our way Kyrstin opted to stop by the Grand Canyon. So here's our trip, in photos.

Updated: Aug 24, 2009 10:48pm PST

2009 Photos Of Our House : After our fire on March 10th, 2008, we spent over a year working with our insurance company and contractor to rebuild the house. We finally moved back in early May, 2009, and got final permit signoff in July. The new house includes a six-channel/six-zone whole house audio system, six-station selective call intercom, 16-camera security system (eight visible, eight hidden), induction stove top, and lots of space in the attic.

2009 Photos Of Our House

After our fire on March 10th, 2008, we spent over a year working with our insurance company and contractor to rebuild the house. We finally moved back in early May, 2009, and got final permit signoff in July. The new house includes a six-channel/six-zone whole house audio system, six-station selective call intercom, 16-camera security s ...

Updated: Dec 06, 2009 9:31pm PST