Photo by Bill Green The students at Urbana Middle School recently held a memorial service at the end of the school year for former classmate David Brockdorff. Students shown, from left, are Nathan Hefner, Michael Gardner, Katherine Tobler, Bharhdwaja Chappa, David Smith, Michael McCarty, Patrick Smith, Zack Ladson, Addie Straus, Anish Dalal, Adrian Amegashie and Daniel Yang. At lower left is Janet Blackburn, David’s aunt. Purchase this photo

And thanks to some friends who unveiled a memorial Monday night at Urbana Middle School, that's the way David will be remembered.

A framed Patriots jersey, bearing the name Brockdorff and the number 12 -- for quarterback Tom Brady, David's favorite player -- now graces a display case in the school's front lobby. A ceremony was held Monday night, before the school's end-of-year awards assembly, to unveil the jersey. David would have been in eighth grade this year.

Students at Urbana Middle formed the group Forever in Our Heart (4evr in r <3 in text-speak) to remember their friend, killed Nov. 22, 2007, along with his siblings, Megan and Brandon, and mother, Gail Pumphrey, by his father, David. After slaying the entire family on Thanksgiving Day, the elder David Brockdorff then killed himself.

At Urbana Middle, former classmates of young David have worked hard to honor the memory of their friend and create a greater awareness of domestic violence.

This year, the group of students also remembered classmate Ian Willis, who died in February. The proceeds from this year's Teen Night, an event started last year by Forever in Our Heart, will be split between Heartly House, in David's memory, and Best Friends Animal Society's Dogtown, in Ian's memory.

Urbana Middle School counselor Dana Lippy said she continues to be amazed by the 13 students who have bonded like no others she has known.

"I've never seen a group come together like this," Lippy said Thursday. "They have so much respect for each other, and they have such an immense understanding of what it takes to work as a team."

The students were all close when David was alive, Lippy said. They were all magnet program students, and many of them have been together since first grade. David's death tightened the bond, the counselor said.

After the students returned to school after the Thanksgiving break in 2007, Frederick County Public Schools provided grief counselors to Urbana 's student body.

David's closest friends didn't want to talk to a counselor who didn't know David. Instead, they sought out Lippy.

"The first thing they said to me was, 'We need to do something to make this right,'" Lippy said. "It was really unique to see how they processed their grief and they need to do something positive."

Since the tragedy, much has been done to memorialize the family, including the planting of trees and a memorial garden at Urbana Elementary School. But the framed jersey, which will hang permanently in the counseling hallway, is a personal touch the students can all relate to.

"The kids all knew what a New England Patriots fan David was," Julie Amegashie said Wednesday. Her son, Adrian, is one of the magnet students who helped establish Forever in Our Heart.

The students tried to get a jersey from the NFL but didn't get a response.

"We wrote a letter to the Patriots asking for a jersey," Adrian Amegashie said Thursday. "I was a little disappointed we didn't hear back."

The students wanted to make sure the memorial was in place before they left for high school, Julie Amegashie said.

"So they ordered a custom jersey, and it just took a while," she said.

Counselor Lippy said Monday night's ceremony was "an incredible moment" that brought tears to the eyes of many, including two of David's aunts who attended.

"It was one of the most touching ceremonies I've been to," Lippy said. "It's been a very rare opportunity to work with a group of students as special, as mature, as driven, as motivated as they are.

"I can't express how proud I am of them."