Jordan Wilson

Daily Egyptian

For the next year, seat one at Illusions barbershop in Carbondale will be empty.

That top barber's position belonged to the late Christopher Gandy, a 23-year-old SIUC senior. In memory of his Jan. 28 death, the chair will not be open to customers or other barbers.

Stories like this and others were told Thursday at a memorial service in Grinnel Hall honoring Gandy and Carbondale resident Larry Williams. Williams, 23, was also killed on Jan. 28 in a separate incident. Williams and Gandy were both from Englewood.

A Murphysboro couple has been charged in Gandy's death while no suspects have been named in Williams' case, which is ongoing.

Gandy's 24-year-old brother, Jonathan, said he misses Christopher, whom he called his best friend. He misses the haircuts, too.

"To this day, I still haven't found a barber good enough to replace what he used to do," Jonathan Gandy said.

Christopher Gandy made Illusions his home away from home while he was taking classes to complete his degree in architectural studies. Lucky Bowden, who holds seat two at Illusions and worked with Gandy for three years, said Gandy was hands-down the best barber in Carbondale.

A sign outside of the shop located on West Walnut Street with messages from old customers serves as proof of Gandy's expertise and following.

"Most of his customers wouldn't let anyone else cut their hair," Bolden said. "If he wasn't around, they wouldn't get their hair cut."

But there was more to Christopher Gandy than a pair of clippers.

Jonathan Gandy said he and his brother performed in a rap group called the YAOP squad, which stands for Y'all Ain't On Point. Aside from that, he was devoted to architecture, which was his major. Gandy said there were times when his younger brother would stay overnight in a classroom to work on projects.

Christopher Gandy even turned down a scholarship for an architect apprenticeship to attend SIUC, his brother said.

Bolden, who got his job at Illusions through Gandy, said the architecture major would frequently draw blueprints and pictures of houses for him. Bolden still has a drawing of a house Gandy drew for him, which he said will be framed.

"Before all this happened, I told him I wanted him to build and design that house," Bolden said. "That's why I took one of his pictures. I'll probably still get that house built. I feel like I owe it to him."

Larry Williams was also remembered at the memorial service, which was sponsored by the Black Affairs Council and the Black Togetherness Organization.

Williams was a 23-year-old Carbondale resident looking to find his way back into school, said SIUC graduate student John Davis, who also spoke at his friend's funeral.

Davis said he spent much time with Williams during the last week of his life while trying to help his friend get back into school.

The recent SIUC graduate was one of many speakers to share memories of their late friends to the diverse, standing-room only crowd. As he reminisced about his friend, Davis suddenly addressed the crowd intensely, saying there was more to Williams than the hard-nosed, baggy-jean wearing thug he portrayed.

Davis said he and Williams regularly worked out at the Student Recreation Center. But their friendship also went deeper than that, he said, with countless intellectual discussions about books, philosophy and politics.

"He was a very good person," Davis said. "He was pretty good at everything he put his hand on, play ball or whatever. He was good at most things I saw him attempt to do. Like reading a book about politics, he could switch it on at any moment.

"He just needed more time. Unfortunately, sometimes our wings get clipped before we start to fly."

The Rev. Joseph Brown, director of Black American Studies at SIUC, expressed his remorse for the pair that was killed, but also said such cases are preventable.

He said he was tired of burying people.

"You didn't come here to be dumb, so don't leave here stupid," Brown said in his address. "Two Children of God were murdered. This has to be stopped."