The family pet killed the boy as he played with his younger brother in the family’s home at 2907 Fairlane Drive.
The sadness was most evident in the hallways of the school, Principal Joe Coburn said.
“You could really feel it in that sixth-grade hallway. Those kids and faculty members were very much affected,” he said. “It did not have a normal feel. I was commenting today about how tired our kids looked. They looked emotionally worn out. It’s a lot for kids to deal with.”
A crisis team arrived on the school campus Wednesday morning to help students and faculty cope with Lovitt’s death.
The crisis team is comprised of guidance counselors from throughout the school district who help in similar situations.
The crisis team will remain on the campus until student and faculty needs are met, Coburn said.
“We had them set up in the library. It’s kind of a safe place for the kids to come,” Coburn said. “Some wanted to talk and some wanted to draw pictures and tell stories, and some just wanted a hug.”
Teachers have also been affected, especially those who had Lovitt as a student.
“It gets to that period of the day and there is an empty desk there, and it’s very challenging,” Coburn said. “All the accounts I have gotten from my teachers was that he was an absolutely wonderful kid. There have been all sorts of positive stories and anecdotes that I have been give by teachers and students about him.”
A memorial service for Lovitt may be held at the campus in the coming days, but Coburn said nothing has been finalized.
“There have been conversations already,” he said. “Student groups have asked about it, but we don’t have anything firm.”
Meanwhile, outside the Lovitt’s modest home, the onset of the fall season is evident and so are the feelings of remorse.
The grass has turned brown, the leaves have begun to fall and an eerie calm has settled on a close-knit neighborhood where children still play outside when the sun is setting.
Inside the Lovitt home, Ed and Andrea Kaluza, friends of the Lovitt family, gathered a few belongings to take to Seth’s grieving and distraught mother, Misty Lovitt.
Mrs. Kaluza had been grieving with her.
“Misty is my best friend,” she said, as she dabbed at red-rimmed eyes.
The Kaluzas described their relationship with the Lovitt family as extremely close and described Seth as wonderful child, who was on his school’s honor roll and loved skate boarding, playing soccer and going to karate lessons.
“He was awesome,” Ed Kaluza said. “He liked to come out to the land with us. We have five acres of land out in the country and he liked to come out there.”
Seth’s father is a soldier stationed in South Korea. He is trying to get home, Mrs. Kaluza said.
Mrs. Kaluza said the family is planning a memorial service and an account has been set up at Fort Hood National Bank for anyone who’d like to make donations to help cover funeral expenses.
bkirk@temple-telegram.com
