A memorial service was held for Ralphy, a Kansas State campus squirrel, Monday at 2 p.m. near campus creek and the Leadership Studies Building. The memorial was held by Jill Jantz, sophomore in elementary education, and Robin Daniels, sophomore in secondary education.
“It was just really sad to see a dead squirrel,” Jantz said. “You never see dead squirrels on campus, they’re always alive, so it just made me really sad.”
In a tweet, Daniels said Ralphy was taken too young.
To honor Ralphy’s life, Jantz and Daniels held a memorial service and gave Ralphy a moment of silence.
“We didn’t have class the rest of the day, so we went back to the dorm and made the tombstone for him,” Jantz said. “I had some flowers leftover from Valentine’s Day that were dying, so thought I might as well give them to the squirrel too.”
The “KSU Campus Squirrel” said on Twitter that Ralphy did not deserve to die.
“Was he a good squirrel?” the squirrel asked in the tweet. “Who’s to say? But he didn’t deserve to die. Never forget.”
Jantz said she felt Ralphy deserved the best because of the happiness he had brought to K-State students.
“I think (campus squirrels) add a lot of life to campus,” Jantz said. “You go to class and get to see so many of them and they’re always energized and running all over campus, so they just make people smile and give them laughs on the way to class.”
Jantz said she takes peace in knowing that Ralphy lived a great life at K-State.
“I think Ralphy had a really great life,” Jantz said. “K-State is a great place for any squirrel to live. While his death is unknown, I hope it was peaceful, and hopefully he is in squirrel heaven having a great time.”
Matt Mindrup, sophomore in biology and candidate for student body president, said he stands for squirrel rights in response to hearing of Ralphy’s death.
“It is our duty as students to protect campus squirrels at all costs,” Mindrup said in a tweet. Mindrup said students can discuss squirrel rights with him and his campaign team at his table in the Student Union from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. today.
