The reminders are there. They are purposely placed, like photographs or trophies. Or they are seen during the course of everyday life, such as during a basketball game.

James “Cuz” Cullen sees daily reminders of student Michael Blank Jr. and parent Phil Smith each day since their deaths in a drowning accident a year ago.

Last year Cullen was the coach of St. Theresa Catholic School’s basketball team that went to Mendocino County to play in a basketball tournament. The team finished without winning a game but received the sportsmanship award. The trip ended in tragedy when Blank Jr. died from drowning along with Smith, who tried to save him.

“We had a fabulous weekend,” Cullen said. “Everything was doing great and literally within seconds it went from the best day to the most tragic thing I’ve ever seen.”

While three chaperones packed, two adults, Smith and Michael Blank Sr., accompanied students to the shore for one last look at the Pacific.

Sleeper waves, possibly caused by a tsunami, caught the group off-guard during high tide. Even though they were about 25 feet from the shoreline, the waves struck the teenagers, pulling two of the eighth-graders into the ocean.

Blank Jr. and classmate Jonathan Camello were dragged into the cold waters. Smith, 56, died when he jumped into the water in an attempt to save the two teenagers. Blank’s father also jumped in but was pushed back by a wave, injuring his shoulder on a rock.

Smith was able to place Camello safely on a rock outcropping. Blank Jr., 14, and Smith were pulled farther offshore by another wave. They were pronounced dead at a local hospital.

“I’m fine physically,” Blank Sr. said Monday. “There’s nothing I can put in words that can express how I feel.”

The tragedy struck not only the immediate families of the deceased, but also the private catholic school and South Shore community. Donations helped establish a scholarship in the names of Smith and Blank to assist students attending St. Theresa school.

More importantly, outside support helped the families move forward. Lisbeth Smith, wife of Phil, couldn’t list the names of all who have shown a helping hand. Friends have plowed her driveway. Others are helping her handle her husband’s business which was building custom homes.

The activities of Lisbeth’s two sons takes her attention. She visits her eldest son Christopher at UCLA where he is a sophomore. Her other son, Nick, is on the high school tennis team. Last month Nick was voted “Mr. Viking,” the student that emulates the ideal characteristics of a South Tahoe High School pupil.

She doesn’t second-guess her husband for jumping in the water. It wouldn’t do any good since it was a trait that defined Phil. She sometimes talks to her sons about their father being a hero.

“I knew he would never be able to stand there and watch,” she said. “He was a doer and I knew he would want somebody to do the same thing if it was our son in there. I never asked that question because I knew he wouldn’t do anything else.”

The initial period after his dad died was filled with a sense of emptiness, something perpetually missing, Nick explained. He credited his friends in coping with the loss of his father by not doting on him.

“They just treated me normal and that helped,” he said.

In the Tahoe Daily Tribune article that first described the tragedy, Claire Fortier, a journalist who knew those involved, quoted sources saying the waves were acting strangely. According to Fortier, the U.S. Geological Survey recorded an earthquake measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale in the Pacific Ocean near Commander Islands on Jan. 11.

The agency estimated tsunami waves would hit the western shoreline of North America around 11:30 a.m. It was about the same time the group from St. Theresa was near the Mendocino coast.

Nick Smith described the waves as “really big.”

“At first it was high tide then all of a sudden the waves started getting two times bigger than they were,” he said.

Coach Cullen heard from his son and others on the trip that the waves had receded.

“The way they said it is you could see the bottom of the ocean,” Cullen said.

Danette Winslow, principal of St. Theresa Catholic School, said Blank’s classmates have kept him in their memories. Pictures from an eighth-grade trip to Washington, D.C., were placed on Blank’s headstone. Winslow’s son, Jason, who witnessed the tragedy, wore a sweatshirt in Blank’s memory during the eighth-grade confirmation.

“They found a way to keep him with them,” she said.

– E-mail William Ferchland at wferchland@tahoedailytribune.com