Zachary Williams didn’t have official seat at Joplin graduation, but he got to ‘sit with his senior class’

Tammy Niederhelman knew her son would be with her Sunday, the day Joplin’s Class of 2016 got diplomas.

Every other day in the five years since her son died in the massive tornado that devastated Joplin, she has talked to him. Told him what she’s doing, maybe how the family is getting along. But on this day — the day Zachary Williams would have graduated from Joplin High School with his class — she figured there would be no need for words.

“Zachary’s going to be there and patting Mom on the back,” Tammy Niederhelman said. “He’ll be there to support me, helping me.”

After Sunday’s graduation, Niederhelman said the day was emotional. Several parents hugged her, sympathizing with her grief.

Niederhelman believed Zachary knew she tried to get him a seat at the graduation, a chair where she could hang a cap and gown in his honor. But leaders declined, saying that the school had a traditional way of honoring students who had passed away in high school and that some teens said they’d rather not have an empty chair at graduation.

What the school did is have a moment of silence near the beginning of the 2 p.m. ceremony for all seven Joplin students and one staffer who were among the 161 who died in the storm five years ago.

Niederhelman said she received a certified letter inviting her to the graduation. She also received a yearbook with a dedication to her son inside.

She knew Sunday would be tough for her and her husband, Tony. They should have been watching their son receive his diploma and embark on his next journey.

“I think all of the time, ‘What would he look like?’ ” Tammy Niederhelman said. “Would he be tall and skinny? Would he still be my short and chunky little kid? Where would he go to college? What would his cap be decorated like?”

The Niederhelmans met with school officials late last year and requested an empty chair for Zachary. Other school districts in the area and across the country have set out empty seats in honor of students who have passed away, but some schools don’t have any type of remembrance.

“If there are other children who died, we wanted them to have a seat, too,” Tony Niederhelman said. “We wanted it to be for everybody. … It’s kind of heartbreaking that they’re not trying to instill compassion in the kids while they are in school.”

Principal Kerry Sachetta told The Star earlier this year there has never been an empty chair at graduation in his 14 years at the school. And no middle school student has been recognized alongside graduating seniors.

But the plan, he said, always was to recognize the young man at graduation, which fell on the fifth anniversary of the tornado.

Sachetta said in March: “He was always going to have a place in our graduation from the start.”

When news spread that the school wouldn’t have a seat for Niederhelman’s son, one local man decided he needed to do something to honor the boy who liked school and living in Joplin. Resident Charlie Brown started a campaign for people to decorate a chair in honor of Zach. People can post photos and messages on the Facebook page “Save One for Zach.”

“I didn’t have the chance to know you personally, but you’re an angel and even though we know you have a much better seat in heaven, you deserve one here on earth too,” one woman wrote with her photo of a decorated chair. “You should be celebrated just like the rest of the class of 2016. In love and remembrance of u Zach.”

Brown also helped organize an event Sunday evening at a Joplin Park. It started at 5:30, and then there was a moment of silence at 5:41 to signify when the tornado hit Joplin. Zach’s parents were presented a “heavenly diploma,” a printed invitation just like the ones graduates ordered and a shadow box with a cap and gown.

Plus, a Joplin woman — the one who made the shadow box — gave the Niederhelmans a class ring. Zach’s name and a cross were on one side with 2016 and an Eagle on the other.

“When I saw it, I just lost it,” Tammy Niederhelman said late Sunday evening. “It felt like something hit me in the chest. It was a feeling of overwhelming joy and sadness at the same time. Because that should have been his ring.”

What the woman who gave it to them didn’t know is that the shade of blue in the gemstone was Zachary’s favorite color. Tammy put it on her right pointer finger Sunday night and doesn’t plan on taking it off anytime soon.

The time at the park was exactly what Zachary’s parents said they needed.

And it was on their way there Sunday evening that they discovered, in the end, that Zachary had a seat at graduation. Sort of.

A graduating senior, who had math with Zachary in middle school, contacted the Niederhelmans last week. She told them she felt the boy who used to pull her hair in class deserved a seat. But Zachary’s mom didn’t want her to get in any trouble. She herself gave up the fight when she realized her son wouldn’t want any friction or battle in his name.

Yet still wanting to honor her friend, the senior took a photocopy of Zach’s picture to graduation. And when she saw an empty seat at the end of a row — it isn’t known why it was empty — she passed the picture down so someone could place it in the white chair.

“That was perfect, because that’s what Zachary would have wanted,” Tammy Niederhelman said. Something subtle and simple. No trouble caused.

“It wasn’t the chair, with a cap and gown on it, that we wanted,” Zachary’s mom said. “But at least he got to sit with his senior class.”

This story was originally published May 22, 2016 at 8:15 AM with the headline "Zachary Williams didn’t have official seat at Joplin graduation, but he got to ‘sit with his senior class’."