Posted november 6, 2009

CCHS Key Club Honors Fallen Soldier

The family of Colonie Central High School graduate Amy Seyboth Tirador, who died in November from non-combat-related injuries serving in Iraq, received a special award from the CCHS Key Club.

About 50 members of the Tirador family were on hand as Amy's parents received the Sandy Nininger Award on behalf of their daughter. Sandy Nininger was the first Medal of Honor recipient in World War II and was also a former member of Key Club. Staff Sgt. Seyboth Tirador, 29, a member of the CCHS Class of 1998, was the first woman from the Capital Region to die in the Iraq or Afghanistan conflicts.

According to CCHS Key Club Co-Advisor Lisa Eichholzer, the award was presented in memory of Tirador as a former CCHS Key Club member who not only made the most of her opportunities in high school, but also beyond in her career in the military. It's the highest tribute a Key Club can give to a member for making the most of their talents in service to others. The award was part of Key Club's annual induction ceremony where more than 130 members were inducted for their service.

Tirador was laid to rest with full military honors at Saratoga National Cemetery. At the time of her death she was working as an Arabic-speaking interrogator on her second tour of duty. She enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1999, and had lived in Washington state the last few years.

According to military reports, Seyboth Tirador had seen action and saved at least one American life during her first tour of duty when she served as a medic. In 2004, she was credited with saving an American soldier who had been shot down during a convoy mission, the Times Union newspaper reported.

In addition to Key Club, Seyboth Tirador was a member of the National Honor Society and a Regents graduate at Colonie Central High School, finishing her four years of study with a 90% average and ranking 59th in a class of 384. She studied Spanish through Level 6, took college-level economics through Hudson Valley Community College, was a four-year member of the school band. She played trumpet in the Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Orchestra, and played girls softball and varsity lacrosse.

South Colonie music teacher and band director, Karen MacWatters, said Amy was one of those students who as a teacher, "stand out in your memory forever."

"It wasn't just her music talent or intelligence that left an impression on you, it was the way she never took life too seriously," MacWatters said. "Amy would walk into a room, a rehearsal, a concert and absolutely light up the room with her spirit. For a person who was so young she really knew how to live."