About 6:35 p.m. Thursday, three buses carrying Arizona Wildcats football players pulled up outside St. Pius X Catholic Church.
A few minutes later, the crushing reality set in.
Teammates, coaches, family members and friends came to St. Pius to pay their respects to Zach Hemmila, the UA senior offensive lineman who died of unknown causes earlier this week.
Some of the well-wishers sat quietly in the pews. Some conversed. Some knelt and prayed. Many sobbed.
After exiting the buses, the football players — more than 100 , all wearing bright red UA polos — lined up outside the church . Coach Rich Rodriguez asked the seniors to step to the front. Former teammates Jake Fischer, Chris Putton and David Catalano hugged the players as they slowly walked into St. Pius.
Most of the players elected to exit quickly and return to the courtyard. Hemmila lay in an open casket in the middle of the church. Rodriguez had said earlier in the week that the viewing would be difficult, and it certainly seemed to be.
Having seen their fallen friend one last time, players sat silently on benches. The sun was about to set. The only sound came from the wind rustling through palm trees. Flags from the Hemmila family tailgate — one featuring the Arizona “A,” the other the family name — fluttered in the breeze.
UA athletic director Greg Byrne and wife Regina arrived shortly before the team. Rodriguez’s wife, Rita, waited outside for her husband.
Hemmila died sometime Sunday night or Monday morning in his sleep at a residence in the Foothills area. A cousin found Hemmila’s body. The Chandler High product, set to become the UA’s starting center in his final collegiate season, was 22 years old. A private funeral is set for Friday afternoon.
Visitors to the church were greeted by tributes to Hemmila in the lobby. A flat-screen TV displayed a photo slideshow of happier days — Hemmila as a child, as a teenager, as a Wildcat. He posed at an amusement park, celebrated a birthday, attended a wedding, graduated from high school, made the “Bear Down” sign. Friends and family members stood by his side in every picture. The song “See You Again” by Whiz Kalifa accompanied the slideshow.
A framed Hemmila jersey sat on an easel in one corner of the lobby; in the other, three more images, two featuring Hemmila in his red UA uniform.
Just to the left of the guest book, a ribbon extended out from a bouquet of red roses and purple irises. The ribbon had an inscription: #forever65, the hashtag created to honor Hemmila on social media.
A UA flagged was draped on one end of Hemmila’s casket; a white No. 65 jersey hung from the other. Red, white and yellow flowers surrounded the casket.
Everyone who entered the church received a small white card. One side featured an image of Hemmila; the other, a quote from 19th century English poet Thomas Love Peacock:
“He kept at true humour’s mark. The social flow of pleasure’s tide: He never made a brow look dark, nor caused a tear, but when he died.”
