Journal-News.com

HAMILTON — While time has moved on since 1st Sgt. Ricky McGinnis was killed in Iraq, his widow, Kerstin, has had difficulty doing so.

"People say it's getting better, but I don't think it's getting better," said the widow last week from Texas, where the Hamilton High School graduate is buried.

She said life without her husband has been especially rough for the family recently.

Relationship milestones are on the horizon, and with them come painful reminders of the October day in 2006 when McGinnis died from injuries suffered when a roadside bomb exploded near his patrol in Iraq while he was serving with the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division.

"It's my anniversary right now," she said, beginning to cry. "My daughter is also getting married and she asked her father-in-law to give her away yesterday. That was hard — she was pretty upset. She said everybody has a dad" but her.

For many communities, tragedies bring its members closer together.

This has been true for McGinnis' hometown, which he left more than 25 years ago to join the Army. Hamilton High continues to honor his memory.

"The Yellow Ribbon Support Center gave a scholarship to Hamilton High in his name last year, in his honor," said his sister, Rhonda Isaacs, of Hamilton. "Every April 9th they have a fundraiser on the day Matt Maupin was kidnapped. The family gets to choose who the scholarship goes to."

For Isaacs, the scholarship is just one of many ways she remembers her big brother. This year, on the anniversary of his death, she had a few family members over for dinner.

But like her sister-in-law, thinking about McGinnis and grieving for his absence is a constant in Issacs' life.

"I think about him every day and I remember him every day in my heart," she said. "I miss him. He was always a big brother I could call. He gave advice, was a shoulder to cry on."

With McGinnis' death, his widow said, came the loss of a husband, father, brother and loyal soldier.

"He was the best man. He was a good father and a good husband and a best friend and a good soldier," she said, "He always took care of his soldiers."