A former high-school classmate of Otto Warmbier, recently shared her memories of his warmth and charisma.
Warmbier, a 22-year-old American student, died Monday after returning home from a year in a North Korean prison.
He “felt like everyone’s friend in our small town of Wyoming, Ohio, given his nondiscriminatory friendliness, ” Sallee Ann Ruibal wrote in the Post Independent.
Ruibal said that Warmbier extended himself to others. She wrote:
“I remember one day in the lunchroom, I saw him sit down at the table where all the kids in the special education program sat. His face lit up as he talked to each of the kids, addressing them by name. He was his same exuberant, talkative self. They talked sports, popular culture, normal teenage things. Once more, it was evident Otto wasn’t acting that way because he felt he should or that it would gain him favor or attention. He acted that way because it was his good nature to.”
Warmbier was crowned homecoming and prom king in high school, and, as salutatorian, gave the class graduation speech.
