Family, friends mourn Cade Poulos' death
BY RHETT MORGAN World Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 03, 2012
10/03/12 at 8:07 AM
STILLWATER - Wide-eyed with a red Afro, Cade John Poulos, 13, stuck out in a crowd.
And a crowd is what he attracted Tuesday.
An estimated 850 people filed into LifeChurch.tv to say goodbye to the eighth-grader, who was remembered by friends and family as a bookworm and movie buff who maximized his short life.
On Sept. 26 in a Stillwater Junior High hallway, Poulos died of a suicidal gunshot wound to the head, according to the state Medical Examiner's Office. Stillwater detectives maintain they have found no evidence of bullying or harassment.
"Thirteen years is not a lot of time to love someone," Pastor Charles Graham, of Dermott, Ark., said at Tuesday's service. "... But I can say with assurance that his life was full."
As mourners entered the chapel, they were asked to sign banners that read, "...We will never forget you."
On a table were spread photos and other items connected to Poulos, including a violin, Gameboy, unlaced bowling shoes, a tin of Altoids, movie DVDs and SpongeBob SquarePants figurines.
Graham called Poulos a deep-thinker who liked movies, reading, riding go-carts and collecting comic books. The boy could impersonate Bill Cosby, played the violin and liked to open doors for people, Graham said.
Several references were made to Poulos' curry-colored hair, which Graham said the teen took pride in and earned him the nickname "Carrot Top." When girls asked to touch his mane, Poulos eagerly obliged, Graham said.
Randy Wick said his nephew so loved to read that he once crawled on a floor to retrieve a book he had forgotten at a relative's home.
"Everybody was waiting on me," Wick recalled Poulos as saying, "and you can't wear your shoes in Grandma's house."
Poulos had a routine called "Did You Know?" during which he tried to stump unsuspecting grown-ups, Wick said.
"The kid was intellectual," he said. "As an adult, it was kind of embarrassing to get outsmarted by someone his age."
The roughly 80-minute service included a 14-minute slide show of Poulos.
"It's not the movie we would have wanted," Graham said. "But we praise God for the time we had."
Original Print Headline: Family, friends mourn teen's death
Rhett Morgan 918-581-8395
rhett.morgan@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
Pallbearers carry the casket of 13-year-old Cade Poulos to a hearse at the back of Lifechurch.tv in Stillwater after funeral services on Tuesday. MICHAEL WYKE / Tulsa World
A choir performs during the funeral service for 13-year-old Cade Poulos at LifeChurch.tv on Tuesday. CHASE RHEAM / Stillwater NewsPress
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