William, 17, played piano. Alex, 15, played saxophone. And both played the drums.
When the Trimble brothers weren’t performing with the Jefferson High School band, they played in their own bands. Music was a constant part of their lives, and the boys were talented.
On Friday night, just two days after a car crash claimed both brothers, the 109-member Jefferson band went silent. The marching band opted to skip the football team's playoff game because it was just too soon; the tears too fresh. While the community grieves for lives taken too soon, William and Alex will live on through music.
“We’re planning to commission a piece of music in their honor,” Jefferson band director Kris Plummer said Friday.
The brothers will have their own song, which the band hopes to perform at a spring concert, Plummer said. It’s the only thing that makes sense after a tragedy that has shaken the community.
“It honestly makes me feel happier,” John Wheeler, a senior trumpet player, said Friday.
Wheeler was among the 30 or so friends who gathered Wednesday night at the Jefferson Pizza Kitchen to celebrate William’s birthday. About a week before his birthday, William had invited his friends to celebrate with him. His younger brother came, too.
When the celebration ended. the brothers headed home through heavy rain. William was behind the wheel of a 2006 Toyota Corolla, heading north on Ga. 11 when he attempted to turn left onto Old Pendergrass Road, according to investigators.
Already an intersection where too many wrecks happen, William and Alex would be the latest victims. While turning left, William pulled into the path of a Freightliner truck. The brothers were less than a quarter-mile from their home.
Alex died at the scene of the wreck, but William was taken by ambulance to Athens Regional Medical Center. He lived only a few hours before dying from his injuries.
“Now my boys are together,” William and Alex’s mom texted one of their friends.
Wheeler, a close friend of William’s, struggled to believe it was true. When he walked into the band room Thursday morning, it became all too real.
Students, parents and teachers gathered both at the school’s flag pole and in the band room, sharing memories of the boys through tears. Classes weren’t a priority, but instead harder lessons of losing friends.
“I’m glad that I got to spend William and Alex’s last few moments with them,” Wheeler said.
Thursday night, Kelly Caudell, 19, and her family hosted a “spirit fire” at her house. It was a bonfire where memories were shared in honor of the boys. Caudell’s younger sister, Claire, is a sophomore and considered Alex one of her best friends.
“They were so incredibly talented, both of them,” Caudell said Friday. “They were both really passionate about their music.”
By Friday, there were fewer tears. But the grieving continued throughout the school, Assistant Principal Randy Gambrell said. The sudden loss has pulled an already close-knit community closer together, he said.
Some band members are hopeful the football team will advance to another playoff game. But if not, Wheeler is at peace with that.
“The very last game I got to march was with William,” he said.
A memorial service for the brothers will be held Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Jefferson High School arena. In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be made to the Jefferson band. Donations to the band can be mailed to the school at 575 Washington Street, Jefferson, Ga. 30549.
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