The Central Florida community is mourning the loss of 2nd Lt. Evan Fitzgibbon, who recently died while training in Georgia.

Fitzgibbon graduated from Foundation Academy in Winter Garden in 2017, and the people who knew him are honoring his service and remembering the person he was.

What You Need To Know

  •  Army officials say 2nd Lt. Evan Fitzgibbon was killed this week during a training exercise in Georgia

  •  He was a 2017 graduate of Foundation Academy in Winter Garden

  • Linda Schefstad, who taught him while he was a student, says the entire community is mourning his death

Linda Schefstad smiled through the tears as she remembers her former student.

He’s a staple in the 2017 yearbook —  highlighted as part of the homecoming court, captain of the football team and an honor student.

“It makes me smile because you can see the joy on his face, he loved life, he just enjoyed everything that he was doing,” said Schefstad​, Foundation Academy's Bible Department Head. 

He was also winner of the best smile superlative and was a star athlete — Schefstad said she thinks of him fondly. 

“He was driven, he was focused," she said. "He knew what he wanted but he also knew how to enjoy life and have fun along the way."

Fitzgibbon was one of her first students at Foundation Academy — she taught him Bible study for three years before he graduated and headed off to the United States Military Academy in West Point.

“I think I was the one that was blessed, because as a teacher every once in a while you wait for that student and Evan was that student that came through the room," said Schefstad.

On Tuesday, Fitzgibbon was one of two Army Ranger candidates killed during a training exercise in Georgia. Army officials say a tree fell on him and four others while waiting for a storm to clear during a training exercise at Yonah Mountain.

Schefstad learned the news of Fitzgibbon's death on the first day of school.

“It affects us down to our core," she said. "We are definitely telling stories of Evan to our students — we have here today, that this is the kind of person that we want them to aspire to be."

Heartbroken, Schefstead remembers him talking often of his strong faith and dream of joining the Army.

“He wanted to serve," she said. "He wanted something bigger than himself — he was focused, he just knew what he was called to do and he went out and did it."

Schefstead said he was a bright light gone too soon that the entire community will miss.

“This may not have been our plan," she said. "God has a bigger plan for this and we know where Evan is."

Schefstad said that Fitzgibbon was recently engaged and now leaves behind a fiancé as well as a loving family.