SpringfieldNewsSun.com

SPRINGFIELD — "Gone but not forgotten."

Those are the words etched into a stone monument on the Urbana University campus, dedicated Thursday, April 24, to the memory of three Chinese students killed in a 9-car crash last year.

The smiling faces of Jin "Jack" Bian, Bing "Jo" Xue and Yan "Zoe" Sun adorned the glossy, black front of the memorial, below a map of their homeland.

"You were more than classmates, you were friends," said Xue "Paulette" Zhang as she addressed the audience, her tears glistening in the afternoon sun. "Your parents have become our parents."

Zhang, also a student at Urbana, said she still grieves for her friends more than a year after their death.

"This is too much to stand," she said.

The monument was crafted in China from rock native to that country, said Robert Keller, Urbana University vice president of institutional advancement.

"I couldn't be more pleased, (the monument) is absolutely gorgeous," he said, adding that the university financed the monument, which cost nearly $6,000.

The three students were killed at Urbana and Moorefield roads March 8, 2007.

Jason Skaggs, 35, is charged with three counts of aggravated vehicular homicide and two counts of aggravated vehicular assault in connection with the crash.

He is scheduled to go on trial July 23.

After the dedication, as quiet settled over the memorial site, friends of Jack, Jo and Zoe observed a Chinese tradition.

The young men and women laid flowers and fruit at the foot of the memorial.

"So they have something nice in the next life," said Paulette. "It's how we remember a person who passed away."

Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0360 or vlough@coxohio.com.

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