“A lot of times, people are afraid to ask us (about David),” Chuck Staley said. “If somebody asks us, ‘How many children do you have?’ how do you answer that?

“There’s not a day that goes by that we don’t miss him or think about him.”

“We would never have gotten through (losing David),” Lynn Staley said, “but for God’s faithfulness and the prayers of our friends, who supported us during a time when we were vulnerable and weak.”

“He was a part of us,” said Catherine, “and followed the same example.”

That example was the volunteering spirit demonstrated by Chuck and Lynn Staley, their daughter said.

“They didn’t teach me anything specifically,” Catherine said. “I just watched them and how they act and how they communicate with others.”

Chuck Staley said that spirit had always been there with him.

“I was born in Anderson, and I remember Anderson in its prime,” he said. “I remember when there were a great many retail stores, and industry was in its heyday. And over a process of many years, I watched that disappear, or at least diminish.

“And the thought was, ‘What can we do as citizens to help turn the ride, so to speak?’ That was not just with the Flagship; there were other ways.”

Lynn Staley’s philosophy mirrors her husband’s.

“My philosophy on service: you bloom where you’re planted,” she said. “You look for ways to serve there.”

Lynn said she had kept that spirit in the classroom, whether teaching children in public school or, now, teaching their future teachers.

“The most important thing I want (her teaching students) to learn is that passion for children and families,” Lynn said. “Those students can then go out and advocate for their families.

“All around us, there are people who need encouragement and need hope. My role is as an encourager.”

Catherine, who plans to attend Anderson University as an elementary education major, said she had seen that kind of spirit in many of her fellow classmates.