Friday, November 10th, 2006

Classmates pay tribute to Natalie

By Margie Wuebker
Photo by Laura Walker/The Daily Standard

Kendal Smith and Kendra Menchhofer, both seniors at Celina High School, sign a Celina Bulldog shirt to go in the casket of fellow classmate Natalie Feliciano.

Signs decorate Natalie Feliciano's locker at Celina High School in silent tribute to a caring teenager who packed a lot of living into 17 short years.  
The mood was somber as students and staff try to come to grips with the sudden death of the honor roll student, cheerleader, band member and a runner on the track team Wednesday night.
"Why?" is a question family and friends wrestle with as the investigation continues. Celina Police have turned over their findings to Mercer County Coroner Dr. Timothy Heinrichs who will decide whether the death was accidental or the result of suicide.
A steady stream of people - many bearing casseroles and desserts - came to Betty Feliciano's James Drive home Thursday to offer support and to remember happier times.
Others stood in the garage where the young artist decorated the walls in Ohio State fashion with Brutus Buckeye caricatures and familiar block O insignias.
It was in this very setting that the black-haired girl with a mischievous glint in her dark eyes spent the final minutes of life.
Her mother arrived home shortly after 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, never expecting to find a tragic scene as the garage door lifted. The red Chevy Monte Carlo was running with the windows closed and the teenager seated inside unconscious and with no pulse.
"I called 911 and wonderful neighbors who heard my screams came running," Betty Feliciano says with tears welling in her eyes. "Oh Nat....."
Paramedics tried without success to resuscitate the girl and she was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at Mercer County Community Hospital in Coldwater.
Surrounded by framed photographs and stacks of photo albums, the grieving mother smiles through her tears.
"Nat was mischievous, fun loving and a real practical joker," she says. "She was a deep thinker who thought more than she spoke, especially around me. She was not the easiest child to raise and we did not always see eye to eye."
Fellow senior Staci Braun said classmates and underclassmen spent much of Thursday recalling memorable events. The chuckles generously laced with tears.
"We all have special memories," she says as Kami Menchhofer nods in agreement. "Nat brought Hershey kisses to Latin class every day. We shared them and passed the wrappers to a guy in back. He had quite a pile by the time class ended."
They recall their mischievous friend placing chalk out of the reach of "Miss Hayes" a diminutive teacher, roller blading at breakneck speed behind a bicycle or Daisy the family Beagle tearing through mud on a four-wheeler and placing Post-It notes or signs on lockers with obvious glee. She donated blood last week and loved reading and talking on a cell phone by the hour. She traveled throughout the world with her mom and friends say she looked forward to accompanying them on a senior trip to South Carolina or Florida.
The teenager had talked about pursuing a degree in interior architecture, possibly at Ohio University where her boyfriend, John Rhodes, goes. A diehard competitor and a member of the Premiere Lakers cheerleading squad, she reportedly was excited after a spectator at a Sunday competition commented she should have no trouble landing a spot on the University of Cincinnati cheerleading roster.
Devotion to her late father, Dr. Emiliano Feliciano, never wavered. Just 18 months at the time of his death in a traffic accident, she knew him through photographs and stories.
"Mel used to celebrate the monthly anniversary of her birth," Betty Feliciano says. "If there is any consolation in all of this, it is that they are together again."
Assistant high school principal Kevin Mast recalls seeing Natalie passing out grade cards at school on Tuesday. She vowed to bring in a photograph taken on a school trip to Stratford, Canada, for his bulletin board but never had a chance to keep the promise.
"Natalie was the kind of person who could mix with anybody at anytime," he says. "She could talk with peers or underclassmen without the least hesitation. Everybody knew her and her passing has made quite an impact."
Additional online stories on this date
Numbers from a $9,200 Mercer County Community Assessment survey are complete and indicate alcohol abuse is a prevalent local problem.
The numbers w [More]
FAIRBORN - New Knoxville advanced to its first-ever state volleyball title game after winning a grueling four-game match against Toledo Christian in the Division IV state semifinals on Thursday night at the Ervin J. Nutter Center on the campus of Wright State University. [More]
Subscriber and paid stories on this date
Officials began discussing the topic more than a year ago
Efforts for a joint water system between Mercer County and Celina are in limbo as the city works toward a solution for its water woes and county officials play the waiting game.
Mercer County and Celina city officials continue to move forward with plans for a joint sewer system, including a new treatment plant northeast of Celina.
Celina city officials have received tentative approval to increase the city sewer plant's permitted capacity from 2.5 million gallons per day to 3 million gallons.
ST. MARYS - Library board members voted to put a mileage limit on the proctoring service currently offered.
Effective immediately, St. Marys Community Public Library will offer proctoring to students of colleges/universities located only in excess of 50 miles from St. Marys.
The Mercer County Soil and Water Conservation District is developing a protocol for reporting alleged violations of regulations for spreading manure on frozen ground, SWCD board members learned on Thursday.
A Celina man has been sentenced to community control sanctions after pleading guilty to aggravated assault in Mercer County Common Pleas Court.
Bra
A co-worker here at the newspaper office recently began watering the potted amaryllis bulb on her desk. It sat there, un-touched and unwatered, all summer long after offering up a beautiful display of large red flowers last winter.
Before the Rev. David Dennis ever packed his bags for college decades ago, he felt he was being called to serve the Lord.
There were "nudges" he couldn't ignore while studying to earn a degree in biology at Illinois State University.
FAIRBORN - The last time New Knoxville went to state in volleyball was in 1989.
One year later, their current coach got her chance.
New Knoxville
7 p.m. Saturday - Alexander Stadium/Purk Field, Piqua
Now we have The Rematch.
After meeting in week one - with a week-one meeting set for 2007 - and seeing the Redskins humble the Spartans by 28 points, the teams meet again with the loser out of the postseason.
7 p.m. Saturday - Lima Stadium
Highlights: The Roughriders brushed off fumbling the ball three times - twice in the opening minutes of the game - to hold off Tippecanoe 21-14 at Ti