Let’s Introduce The World to Zane Harvey
Here’s a salute to a long life: goodness that outlives the grave, love that outlasts the final breath. May you live your life in such a way that your death is just the beginning of your life. ~ Max Lucado
I am so proud to be a part of my family today. I am so proud of my heritage. I am so proud that I have family building this kind of a legacy. I am so sad that I have family that is a part of leaving this legacy. I am so proud of the goodness and the love and the life that my cousin Zane lived. I am grieving that the grave, the final breath, and death is now a part of his story. Not Zane. Please, I thought, not Zane.
It’s kind of like every major “event”/circumstance/life moment that takes your breath away, good or bad. The circumstances surrounding it are seared into your brain. Much like 9-11. I can tell you the time, where I was, what I was wearing. It seems like slow motion that keeps replaying over and over. Waking up and making coffee. Checking Facebook. Seeing the status updates about the bad bad crash in Ansley and losing the basketball coaches. “How sad!” I thought. You see, I don’t know the Ansley basketball coaches but it’s a community that I love. My roots are from there. I knew my Grandma and probably parents would have known them.
Wait. What did that read again? No, no. The crash was in Ansley. And there were basketball coaches killed. It doesn’t say that the coaches were from Ansley. Zane coaches basketball. Broken Bow is close to Ansley. So I stopped reading status updates and read the comments instead. Zane? Why did they say Zane? I went to my cousin’s status update, “Jamee, people keep saying Zane on FB. That’s not our Zane right? Not our Zane.” In my mind I kept saying over and over and then out loud over and over. “Please no. Not our Zane. Please no. Not Zane.” And then I googled. And up popped his picture. Big. “Nooooooo! Please! Please!” The intensity of my emotions surprised even me. The sobs came next. I had kind of forgotten about the intensity of loss. It’s overwhelming, it takes your breath away.
As I learn more details I become even more proud of him. The players say he tried everything he could. It was too sudden, too fast, there was no where to go. I have been trying to move past the moment of death into the moments I like much better. Zane. Not Zane’s body. Not Zane’s final trip, not the moments, not the accident. But Zane.
I see the picture that all of the news outlets are using and I kind of laugh. While, yes, I’m sure that using the school photos were easily accessible – come on. The world needs to see his smile. It’s a great smile. I mean, who smiles for school pictures? Not football coaches. Definitely not math teachers. Math is nothing to smile about! 
Zane’s smile was slow and laid back. If you didn’t know it you might mistake it for a shy smile. But if you did, it’s obvious you were looking only at the smile and missed the fact that his smile reached his eyes. And in an instant you know – he’s 100% genuine. He cares. And you feel comfortable, secure. Good. He had that effect on people.
For Zane, family = love. Family = support. He had no problem making time for family – no matter that technically it was our grandparents who were the siblings, parents the cousins and that makes us 2nd cousins – or something like that. Some Ferguson I’m sure can set me on the straight and narrow w/ that one. But you see, it didn’t matter. We were family. So he made time. He was there when it mattered. Dancing with me at my wedding. At my Grandad’s funeral I’ll never forget standing there, lost in my own thoughts and looking up to see Zane walking my direction. He stopped a foot away and just looked at me. “What a sucky day huh?” I said. “Yeah,” he replied with hands in his pockets. We looked at each other for a moment in silence and then he stepped forward to give me one of his hugs and simply whispered, “You did good.” Stuff like that matters doesn’t it? When you’re at your most vulnerable, and someone who loves you just says, “You did good.” Three words. Three words that make a world of difference.
In church today the pastor was talking about the fact that we sometimes have a preview of who God really has made us to be. It’s a preview of who we will be when we are raised again with Jesus without all of our ‘stuff’. He said, “It’s when we engage each other with a level of authenticity – no games.” That’s Zane. A preview of who God made us to be, that was our interaction with Zane.
You see, I want to be angry. I’d rather be able to channel all of this emotion into SOMETHING. Something else. Place blame somewhere instead of just accept that this is a tragic accident. What a human reaction, yes? I don’t want to feel all of this emotion, just being sad. No, I want it to be directed somewhere else. Something else. But I must keep coming back to facts.
Zane loved Jesus. He believed Jesus had saved him and lived it out everyday. From some of the things I’ve read on Facebook it expanded way beyond family. He lived his faith by how he treated others, the friend that he was, the coach that he was, the FCA sponsor that he was.
A friend of ours lost her father in a very tragic accident last year. I will never forget what she shared a few weeks later. She had been praying and God gave her this vision. She saw the accident happening again in this vision and she saw God, watching from above, and His tears fell. While I believe that he welcomed Zane with open arms. I believe he saw this accident and there were tears. Heavenly tears. The real thing. This world of sin and this world of hurt – this is not what He has envisioned for us. This is not what he wants for us.
Hope. I Corinthians 15:19 says, ‘If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.’ There is hope. There is hope that is beyond just this life. Zane loved Jesus. Zane had that hope. There is hope. This is a temporary separation and through the tears, there is hope. That is the message that Zane wants left. Hope. This is not the end. He lived his life in such a way that his death is merely just the beginning of his life. Today it sucks, but ultimately, Jesus came and paid the price so that at the end of the day and at the end of Friday, through the tears, there is hope. That is Zane’s message.
What did you love about him? What is one of your fondest memories? How did he change you? Did you get the smiles and the hugs? Were you changed? What is Zane’s legacy in your life?
Please share. Please please please share. Let’s keep his legacy alive. Please.
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25 Comments
I wept when I watched it on the news,I weep as I read this.I remember those moments from my life experience as if they’re yesterday.the dreaded phone call,the realization that in a blink of an eye,your life is changed forever.heavens gain,the earths loss.I’m glad to know he’s with Jesus,I’m so sad you all have to go through this but I KNOW he carries you.I KNOW he will use this for his glory,with the legacy zane left behind.I’m praying for you all.my heart aches for you.
Jana… what do I say? Thank you for your tears. Thank you for your inspiration. You have experienced loss and you above all are an example of letting Jesus begin to heal wounds, wipe away tears. Thank you so much.
Tiffany – What an amazing tribute to Zane. I didn’t know Zane personally, other than seeing him here and there and at Uncle Jim’s funeral, as you spoke of above. Even though I didn’t know him, one thing is very obvious to me after reading what you have to say and what the students from BBHS have to say about him. Zane Harvey was a good man who touch so many people in his life. I
Oh Jana. Thank you. Knowing you were there though and the person that you are – that matters! That matters to everyone who loved and lost that day, that those who were on the scene are wonderful people who respected and knowing that they were not alone… it matters. What a hard day for you. I’m so sorry you also had to go through that!
I cried reading this. I didn’t know him, but my Grandmother lives in broken bow and I have visited many times. It is a wonderful community. I cried because it was like a flashback to when my brother died in a car accident. The cop car rushed past me to the scene of an accident and I felt in my gut that something was wrong. But I didn’t go see. My brother was up the road dying and I didn’t know and I couldn’t hold his hand. Zane seemed like a good man and I could see him with your words and your picture because you are a wonderful writer. Your words invoked such an emotional intensity. Accidents like these happen so often and it’s such a shame when a life gets cut off before their time. I am praying for him and his family.
Renata, my heart hurts for you. I’m so sorry for the loss of your brother. I understand too about that gut feeling, not doing anything about it, and the overwhelming emotions that follow. They can haunt us if we don’t forgive ourselves. That is my prayer for you!
His gentle spirit. I so appreciated how he always took the time to stop and see his great-uncle Jim and great-aunt Bonnie when he passed through town. Dad loved visiting with him and I am sure dad greeted him in heaven!!!
I thought the same thing Denise! I was wondering who was in Zane’s cheering section and knew Grandad would be in the front row. He loved Zane so much, he was always talking about him and bragging him up! Both Zane and Scott, he loved like they were his own!
Beautiful tribute and testimony of Zane’s love for the Lord!
I too grew up in Broken Bow and know the love of support of small town people.
Thank you Pam!! I can say that I have heard over and over the support of the Broken Bow community has been inspiring. It is truly the beauty of small town Nebraska isn’t it?
Zane led my daughter’s FCA group here, transported her and other students to FCA camps, and attended the FCA banquet with us when she was named the FCA area athlete of the year. I am grateful he wasn’t afraid to share and show his faith with the students which in turn helped them to share their faith too. Prayers and sympathy to your family.
That is so great Teresa. I remember being FCA Athlete of the Year my Sr Year in HS and Zane’s congratulations at that. FCA was definitely something he believed in and invested in his athletes!
What a beautiful article….he was a very special young man. We watched him at Cozad when Broken Bow played there…he was very genuine and you knew he was serving our wonderful Savior…what a testimony he was….I do know that he had a hearty welcome in heaven from the Ferguson clan that are all waiting there to welcome each of us as we transition over….what a joyous thought that is…prayers and thoughts are with the Harveys during this time
A walking testimony for sure. Love you Susie!
Patient! That’s what I think of when I think of him as my former geometry teacher. You know how high schoolers are? They’re obnoxious, loud, and defiant. I remember how patient he always stayed during it all. He didn’t overreact and just kept going on with his business and never missed a beat. Thank you for writing this. I had goosebumps the entire time.
I do know how high schoolers are
Yes, Zane had the perfectly patient spirit to survive with high schoolers! Way way way more than me.
What a great tribute to an amazing person. Zane was not only a teacher or a coach to me but a great friend. I learned so much from him and have so much respect for the way that he carried himself as a person. I will never forget the first time I hurt my ankle and had to go to the emergency room he was the first one there. Haha he might have even had a few pointers for the nurse when she was trying to wrap my ankle. He was not only a coach to me but we became teammates as we played town team basketball together ever since I was out of high school. We had the same love for sports and I will never forget staying after every game and just sitting on the bench talking about strategies and what we could have done better (typical coach i guess). One of the things that I respected him for the most was standing for what he believed was right and not being afraid to show it. His Faith in Christ was shared with young kids through FCA and by example by how he lived his everyday life. Words cannot even describe what I felt when I found out about this tragic event. I just know that even though we lost a great person heaven gained another. RIP Harv Dog you will always be remembered and never be forgotten.
What wonderful memories Corey. I think it’s friendships like yours that always made Zane laugh off my comments about trying to get him to move to Lincoln.
Oh sweet girl … I am so SO very sorry! But what a blessing that you KNOW that this goodbye is temporary! I will be praying for you and your family!
Thanks so much Beth. This world would be nothing without prayer warriors like you.
TIFF: Thank you for the wonderful tribute to our Zane…
Ahhh, and now I’m out of words. “You’re welcome” doesn’t seem to suffice. I have thought of you all so much and prayed so much that I sometimes have to resort to what Romans 8:26 says: And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.
Please know you are covered in prayer, even when we seem to run out of words to say.
I haven’t seen or really even heard of Zane since my freshman year of college. That was when I lived in AgMen, and Zane was an integral part of the house that year. I will always remember thinking that he had something, a quiet assuredness, that said he had a peace in his life. It didn’t take a very long introduction to know that Jesus was that peace. And he was a walking testimony to Christ’s love. While I mourn with those left here in this world, I celebrate with all of Heaven as they welcome Zane Home. Very nice post about Zane’s life and the legacy he left. Thank you.
As a student that saw this man everyday in 1st hour geometry, and every single day after school at practice, I can not even begin to tell you how great he was. As a great Algebra student…I was a horrible geometry student. Knowing that I was struggling he asked me to come in several times after school just so he could help me, and no matter how many times I said I didn’t get it, or understand, his patience did not falter. As basketball season came around every year you saw Zane come to life. I remember a few specific memories.
We were running drills and he was standing in front of us. We had to get around him and make the shot. All I remember is me getting mad because I was getting shoved around, but Zane just smiled and said “come on Graham, you think its going to be any easier in a game” I then realized it was only for my own good.
Another other favorite memory…It was a Saturday (on Saturday practices we had scrimmages) We had been playing for at least an hour and a half. Smith had rebounded the ball and all of girls were surrounding her trying to get to this ball. Knowing she couldn’t get away from us, she planted her foot and started moving. Being right behind her I caught an elbow straight to the mouth. As soon as she started moving we all started running back down the court. Running back Zane, and our head coach at the time, yelled at me as I was running by “Graham…you alright (I had a seriously confused look on my face, as I had no idea what they were talking about)…your bleeding.” Turns out when I got hit, I got hit hard enough that I obviously started bleeding. The only reason why I remember this is because he was seriously concerned, then after realizing that I had no idea I was bleeding…he started laughing which made the rest of us start laughing.
After every game that I played, there was nothing but gratitude for Zane. Having horrible back problems from volleyball, by the time I got done playing a game or not even a full quarter sometimes, I could barely walk. I remember Zane wrapping a huge bag of ice to my back, and him telling me I had to wear it til we got home. I felt like such a dork. It helped though and that is all that he cared about. He truly cared about the well being of his players and what was going on in their lives. He was a great teacher, and on top of that he was an amazing coach. I am sorry for your lose. I know though he is looking down and smiling at the way the community, students, and families have come together.
I wanted to share a facebook status update from Monica: “”Asking for prayer, please for the Blum and Sherbeck families as they have their funerals tomorrow………..for God to give them the peace ‘we’ feel tonight. Autopsy reports show BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA to Coach Zane Harvey,…[ Coach Anthony Blum also died of similar injuries.]…..and BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA with a CARDIAC EVENT for Mr. Sherbeck. Pray for the burden of guilt to be lifted from his family………..WORD FOR THE DAY: FORGIVENESS………”
This is the foundation of faith that Zane grew up with. And also one more reminder that this was indeed a tragic accident. Please keep the Sherbeck family in your prayers as well. Heart attacks happen, to anyone.