SPENCER COUNTY, Ky. — Of the hundreds gathered outside Spencer County High School on Saturday, not a single one wanted to be there.
Despite the food, games, and live entertainment, it was a solemn reminder of the young life taken far too soon.
Nathan Wimsatt, 18, was killed in a fatal crash in April. His death sent shockwaves through the school where he was a senior and set to graduate soon.
"It was very shocking," Evan Coffey, one of Nathan's friends, said. "He was an oddball. Anytime you walked into the room, you'd know he was there."
Coffey said the day after students learned of Nathan's death, the halls were just silent. "Nobody was talking," he said. "You went to the library if you need help...everybody loved Nathan. Everybody did."
On Saturday, Nathan's friends and family gathered to raise money for a special fund to keep his memory alive for many years to come.
The young teen's parents, Brian and Kathryn Wimsatt, said they are still struggling with their son's death.
Kathryn Wimsatt said she takes her son's death day by day.
"He was quite the extrovert. Life of the party," she said. "He had tons of friends. And he was just living his best life."
Nathan was a Kentucky Provost Scholar and was planning to attend the University of Kentucky in the fall, she said.
"He was going to be a pharmacist," Kathryn Wimsatt said. "He had his whole life planned out."
Nathan's father said a part of him died with Nathan that night.
"I'm never going to be completely happy ever again," Brian Wimsatt said. "I mean, a parent's not supposed to lose their child."
In the wake of an unimaginable tragedy, Nathan's parents saw an opportunity to make some good out of their immense pain.
"We thought, 'What's the best thing we can do to honor his name?'" Brian Wimsatt said. "And that's when we came up with the scholarship fund."
A fund with his namesake, dedicated to helping deserving high school students take that next step in life -- something Nathan would never get the chance to do.
The scholarship's first recipient was an obvious choice, the Wimsatts said.
"For us, there was no better recipient than Conner Sheble," Kathryn Wimsatt said. "He was Nathan's best friend. Conner is the person that need, that deserved, that award."
Conner and Nathan were planning to be roommates at UK together.
"I think it meant everything to him," Coffey said. "When he got that, I think he thought that Nathan is there with him too helping him through."
And Nathan's family said it's just the first of many to come in the future.
"I think he really would have liked it. I mean, my son never got the chance to go to college," Brian Wimsatt said. "That's why helping other kids go to college is very meaningful."
If you'd like to donate to the Nathan Lane Wimsatt Scholarship Fund, click here.
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