Berringer handles death with faith
BERRINGER from page 1
pilot error — a closed fuel valve — and high
winds caused the Piper J-3 Cub to lose power
and plummet into the ground.
Berringer and his girlfriend’s brother, Tobey
Lake, were killed instantly in the fiery crash.
Jan’s memories of that day are both sad and
angry. Because of her son’s high profile, me
dia interest in the crash was intense. Once wad
got out that it was a Husker in the pilot’s chair,
radios and televisions lit up with the story.
Around that time, Nicoel, Brook’s older sis
ter, was ready to sit down to dinner with her
husband. She was in the kitchen when her hus
band called her into the living room saying
ESPN had a story about her brother.
What they thought was a story about foot
ball turned out to be a story about her brother’s
death.
“I don’t think she’ll ever recover from that,”
Jan Berringer said. “It was devastating to her.
What a shock turning it on the television.”
Berringer’s younger sister, Drue, was in
class at Kansas State University when it hap
pened. She walked back to her sorority house
to find a group of women in her room. They
told ha to call home.
Jan was running errands, trying to get the
house ready for an NFL draft party. They had
food and family together and they had rented a
satellite dish so they could get ESPN2, which
was to broadcast the later rounds.
When Jan walked in the house, her sister
told her that Football Coach Tom Osborne had
called. There had been an accident.
The mother’s first instinct was a knee in
jury, or an elbow. But when the coach called
back and said he was on the way to an accident
scene, she knew it wasn’t an on-the-field in
jury.
Drue and Nicoel called in the meantime,
but warned their mother not to turn on the tele
vision.
I came that close to seeing it on the news
myself,” she said. “If (the media) knew at all
i be together.,Bfq ? :T A shtuoS
; “I told (hBttdafoghters) to keepipray ingthat)
Brook was OK and that Brook wasn’t fn
volved.”
But it wasn’t to be true. In a matter of mo
ments, Jan said, she went from planning a draft
party to planning a funeral.
She said the transition was almost seam
less. There were things to be done, people to be
called. There were plenty of tears, but there was
work to do.
A better place
On Friday, the fa ly was taking care of
arrangements when J-h felt kind of funny. She
said she felt a weigh! ng lifted off her shoul
ders.
Just then, the phone rang. It was Osborne,
calling to tell her that there were many, many
people praying for her. After Osborne, calls
came from receivers Coach Ron Brown, and
quarterbacks Coach Turner Gill, both report
ing an outpouring of prayers and concerns.
“It was so obvious what was happening to
us,” Berringer said. “It was just so awesome.
“The power of prayer is so powerful.”
Jan’s transition may be indicative of the way
die has dealt with grief throughout her life.
When her husband died in 1982, she dedi
cated herself to raising her children in the ways
that she and Warren had laid out — high ex
pectations, strong morals and compassion for
all. She says she has not been disappointed in
how her children have lived their lives.
When her mother went into the hospital this
January, it was right around the time Jan was
filling out her report cards for her second-grade
class. Jan was at her mother’s side that evening
when the doctors decided she needed to go to a
hospital in Denver or Wichita. Because of
weather, she was rerouted to Wichita; because
of her weak condition, she was flown back to
Goodland.
Jan had gone back to the school to finish
her report cards. When her mother’s helicop
ter landed, Jan got a call to come back. An hour
later, her mother was gone.
After she said her final goodbyes to her
mother, Jan went back to the school at 3 a.m.
to finish her report cards. In her mind, she knew
that her mother was in a better place, and she
was not sad.
“She saw a light and was looking at the ceil
ing,” she said of her mother’s last moments.
“She just started to reach up.
“I looked up and I knew I was looking right
into the face of an angel. I can’t see it, but I
know mom can.”
Keeping the faith
Faith has run strong for generations in both
Jan and Warren Berringer’s families, so strong
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this thristinhs EVc, but
refused to go to the hospital before the evening
service was over.
“It would be awful not to be there on Christ
mas Eve,” she said.
Spirituality and compassion have been a key
part in the upbringing of her children, Jan said.
It also was a big part of her son’s personality.
Brook, because of the time he spent in hos
pitals with his father before his death, oflen
would go to nearby hospitals unannounced
when he had a few minutes before a speaking
engagement.
He would walk up to the nurses’ station and
ask if anyone would like a visit from a
Comhusker — never did he hear a no, and
never did he leave not feeling good.
“He learned a lot of adversity growing up,”
Jan said. “His dad was his best friend when he
was a little boy. He saw a lot of hospitals, a lot
of pain. ~ ’
“His dad showed him how to get through a
crisis.”
There were several moments in Brook’s
young life that other children enjoyed at home:
The boy experienced them at hospitals. Fun
times, like Easter egg hunts, were held in the
hospital yard.
“I think (Brook) had a special empathy for
people having a hard time,” his mother said.
“Anything he could do to help.”
Power of the pen
After her son’s death, Jan said she received
dozens of letters from hospital nurses thank
ing her for the time her son spent in their hos
pital.
Thousands of letters poured in to her house.
Amid the boxes and boxes of letters — some
heartbreaking, some thankful, others support
ive — Jan says she will try to write a thank
you note to them all.
The letters came from as far away as Bali,
Indonesia and Canada. She has received calls
from Japan, Turkey and Sweden.
The support of strangers has amazed her,
helped her continue. And she is grateful of the
support of those who knew her son.
Those she is most grateful for are those who
encouraged her son toward his faith and to
ward study of the Bible.
Jan said she was happy her son came to
Nebraska because she knew Osborne and
Brown were men of strong character. She later
learned that Berringer’s position Coach Gill
also was a man of faith.
Later in Brook’s football career, Art Lind
sayi’VLincOln man who authored, the book,
^Oiie Final Pass,” and eulogized the player at
His ftin&dl,tame into the young man's life and
helped Brook’s studies of the Bible.
Osborne, standing on the Memorial Stadium
turf he coached Berringer on when he was a
player, said people often see the loss of a young
person as a tragic one. But Berringer’s death
has caused many — from players on the team
to people around the nation — to take a look
inward, and enter a life of faith.
“We’ve been able to see that Brook’s life
wasn’t in vain,” the coach said. “He was the
kind of guy who lived life the way it ought to
be lived and you have to feel good about know
ing a guy like that.”
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Photo courtesy of Jan Berringer
THE BERRINGER CLAN made Its way to many
games darlag Break’s career. Friends and
family said he was always acting amend for
extra tickets so bis family could see him play.
Guidance through grief
Because of his spiritual beliefs, Jan
Berringer, Osborne and Gill all said they will
see their son, student and friend again in
heaven.
“I know he’s there,” Gill said. “TTiat’s what
is so comfortmg.”
Gill said his faith carries him through hard
times. When times are good, he thanks God,
and when they aren’t, he asks for guidance.
Faith is an everyday part of his life, Gill
said, and it influences everything he does, from
living to coaching.
And, Gill said, Brook’s faith has been an
influence on others.
“Yeah, Brook’s not here, but he’s touched
so many people’s lives,since he died because
he lived for ^*|®5^888
people when he was 'here: -
“If we can leave, and continue to touch
people’s lives, I think that pleases God.”
For Jan Berringer, her mind is on today, and
her heart is looking toward a reunion. Her son
had faith, as did her husband and mother, and
they are together now.
But she still feels the loss.
“I can’t stand not having him here,” the
mother said. “I miss him a little.more each day.
I know from losing Warren that that’s die way
it’s going to be.
“I have that wonderful knowledge that I
know where he is and I will get to see him ?n
That’s how I can get through dm