Community comes together for Grunwald vigil

PALMER — Hundreds turned out Friday evening for the Candlelight Vigil of Hope and Prayer for David Grunwald, a Palmer teen who troopers said was slain by other teens. The boy had been missing since the night of Nov. 13 when Alaska State Troopers found his body on Dec. 3. Five teens have been charged in connection with the murder.

During the vigil, the crowd gathered outdoors in the cold to hear Grunwald’s friends and family tell stories about him and how much they loved and cared about him.

“He was the best nephew ever,” an aunt of Grunwald’s said through tears. “I’d buy him the goofy t-shirts, and he’d wear them, and take a picture and send them to me. He is so fabulous. He can be missed more than any words can describe.”

A photograph of David Grunwald lit up on a screen behind the stage at the Borealis Theater on the state fairgrounds where the vigil was held, and people held candles, or held on to each other, while they listened. Earlier, at the beginning of the vigil, a slideshow of photos from the boy’s life played to a cover of Leonard Cohen’s song, “Hallelujah”.

“We have a wound now,” teacher Zach Lamphier said. “We have a wound in our seventh hour (class), as all of us have a wound in our life. And we are working and doing our best to allow that to heal. And it’s gonna leave a scar.”

Adam Mokelke stood at the podium and fought tears at points as he spoke with daughter Victoria, Grunwald’s girlfriend, by his side.

He recalled the day his daughter had told him she’d been asked out on her first date by “a really, really nice guy,” and Mokelke told her whoever it was would need to come and ask him first about it.

“I thought that’d fix it,” Mokelke said. “But I didn’t know David yet.”

He said the boy rang the doorbell at his home the next day, introduced himself with a solemn expression, and told Mokelke he’d like to take his daughter, Victoria, out to a movie, and that Grunwald’s mother would be along to chaperone.

“Who does that anymore?” Mokelke said. “His aunts and teachers have talked about how he was an old soul, and old-fashioned. I think that’s true. And I think that’s a sign that the boy was raised right by some incredible people.”

Sometimes, David’s friend Jacob Wood said, they’d be hanging out, and Grunwald would turn to him out of the blue and say, “You know, I love Victoria. I love my mom.”

He said the boy would talk often about his family, and his dreams of one day becoming a pilot.

“As long as I’m alive, I’ll remember him,” Wood said, “and all the good memories I have with him.”