JERSEYVILLE - Anna Hausman is a young lady who will not be forgotten in her Jersey County area and beyond.
Funeral services were held for Hausman today at First Baptist Church in Jerseyville. On Wednesday night, a visitation was held at Crawford Funeral Home in Jerseyville, and both members of her volleyball and soccer teams came with their coaches in unison for her and her family.
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Hausman, 15, died at 9:10 p.m. on Saturday from injuries that occurred in a vehicle crash in Jersey County. She was the daughter of John C. and Susan Hausman.
Jersey High School varsity volleyball coach Bob Siemer and girls soccer coach Brad Kimble have both worked with their players about the devastating loss of a friend and co-athlete/student.
Siemer coached Anna in eighth through 10th grade and said she always gave 100 percent to the team.
“She was just somebody who always came to practice with a smile and took coaching very well,” he said. “She never second guessed anything and always had her teammates in a better mood when she was there.”
This past season, Jersey had only five sophomores on the volleyball team and Siemer said all of them are devastated by her loss.
“The five sophomores were all very close and they are taking it pretty hard,” he said. “I can’t imagine what her parents are going through.”
Siemer said that Anna was just a good person and would always help anyone out.
“She was always going to be somebody to count on,” Siemer said. “She was one of those people who didn’t need to be in the limelight. If I had a whole group of like her, it would be great.”
Siemer said he had gathered the volleyball team together on Wednesday morning to decide what time to go to the funeral home that evening and be a support for each other.
“I hope this helps the girls pause to think about how special it is to be alive and not to take things for granted,” he added. “We met as a team to show how much we care. This is something we hoped would never happen, but we have to support her family as much as we can. I think it will be emotional for the girls when they have open gym in June and practice starts next August. This will be something all our girls will think about the rest of their lives. She was just a good girl.”
Coach Kimble said on Monday, May 9, the team will have a match against Mascoutah and honor Anna and one of the assistant coaches who lost her son a year ago.
The coach said the memorial match will mean a lot in the healing process for the team.
“We have a definite family approach and we support each other in moments like these,” he said.
Kimble said the loss of Anna, also a stater in soccer, has been tough on his girls as expected.
Anna was a midfielder and fullback and consistent as a player for the Panthers, Kimble said.
“I think our sophomore class this year is very unique,” Kimble said. “They all get along. This will have a huge impact in a lot of different areas of the school, because of the students who went to class with her and saw her in the hallways. As a school community, we are dealing with daily reminders she is gone with empty chairs and an empty locker. She was of the students that everybody knew.”
Coach Kimble and Coach Siemer had a way to describe Anna that likely would stand for everyone else who knew her: “She was a bright star. She was also a great person and everybody that knew her loved her.”
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