OU senior dies in skateboarding accident

The parents of Ohio University senior Rebecca Mead planned to celebrate their daughter's 22nd birthday on Thanksgiving and to enjoy having her home that week. Instead, the Meads spent the week arranging memorial services for their only child.

Mead, a photography major and avid skateboarder, was skateboarding down the hill on Mill Street on Nov. 20 and "was obviously out of control" when she fell and hit the back of her head on the pavement, according to a report from the Athens Police Department.

Emergency responders treated Mead, who was unresponsive, at O'Bleness Memorial Hospital before flying her to Grant Medical Center in Columbus,where she was pronounced dead, the report shows. She was not wearing safety gear.

Mead's father, David, said his daughter had skateboarded since seventh grade and wore protective gear only when she did tricks at the local skate park.

"She knew when to bail," he said. "She knew how to fall.. I guess it just caught her off guard."

The Meads, who live in northern Columbus, started a scholarship fund through Huntington National Bank to honor the memory of their daughter, who attended Columbus Alternative High School and the career development program at Fort Hayes High School. Donations to the Becca Mead Scholarship Fund can be made at any Huntington location, David Mead said.

The Meads said they are pleased with the way their daughter lived her life, from volunteering at local animal shelters to starting her own photography business.

"I have no regrets in the way we raised her - or the way anything was left," her mother, Judy, said. "She was just really right with her own life."

David Mead said his daughter taught those around her many valuable lessons. "She was pursuing a dream, and I think that's the thing we take with us," he said. Mead's boyfriend of three years, junior Kyle Browne, said he hopes people will remember the independence and strong will of the woman he planned to marry.

And although Mead's death is tragic, her life seemed to have come full-circle, said senior Samer Al-Madani, one of Mead's roommates at their Coss Street residence.

"She was ready for life. She did everything she wanted to do," Al-Madani said. "She almost came into this world with a skateboard, and she walked out with one."

What are people saying about mortgages today:

Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down last week to a seven-month low. Mortgage-giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.3 percent, down slightly from 6.31 percent two weeks ago. It put rates at the lowest level since they were at 6.24 percent the first week of March.

Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Territorial Savings Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgages all cut their 30-year mortgage rates to 5.75 percent this week.

Most people think of a mortgage as a means to an end. After all, you buy a house, not a home loan. But a mortgage is much more than the path to homeownership. It is a financial instrument that must be managed, just like any other financial investment.