The Harlan, Iowa, community honors the life of a beloved basketball player. Thirteen-year-old Mia Schwieso died last year. On Tuesday, her team retired her jersey.”Mia’s very last outfit she put on was her school basketball uniform,” Chris Schwieso, Mia’s father, said. “How fitting for a girl that loved the game of basketball so much.”Mia is remembered for her overflowing kindness, love of basketball, the color blue, and shoes.”There isn’t a day that goes by where not only myself, but other people, I’m sure when they put blue on that one of the first things they think of is, is Mia,” Bill Mueller, principal and activities director of Harlan Middle School, said. Jan. 31, marks one year since Mia’s death. “There’s not a day that goes by that we don’t miss her or think of her or share stories,” Chris said. Retiring her basketball jersey at the eighth-grade girls basketball game, Tuesday, Mia’s parents, Chris and Ann Schwieso, said the ceremony was about the entire community, not just their family. “This team that loved her and misses her and just that we all get to come and show them support and continue to support this class,” Ann said. “It means a lot.””To us, it’s more of a tribute to the community as a whole for everything that they’ve done for us,” Chris said. Mueller told KETV, the number 15 will be retired until Mia’s younger sister reaches middle school. She can then choose to wear the number in her sister’s honor. And, the memorialized jersey will transition to the high school when Mia’s class graduates middle school. “The Schwieso family just means a lot to our community,” Mueller said. “And, you know, it’s something that we can do and you know, there’s lots of numbers that people can wear. And so we just want to make this special. We just want to always remember what 15 means and that means Mia Schwieso.”On display at the ceremony, a special pair of shoes made in Mia’s honor. “She was just a shoe fanatic,” Mueller said. “And so we thought as a middle school student council, that one thing that we could do to honor Mia would be to create a shoe. We had a shoe made in blue and had a picture of Mia on it and have some little words on it as well. And we put those in a box and gave that to the family.”Leaving the Schwiesos overwhelmed with gratitude for their community.”It’s really almost impossible to put into words,” Chris said. “I can’t imagine the parents that have lost children that don’t live in a community such as ours and we, I’m not sure we’ll ever be able to pay all of these people back.”And encouraging everyone to live like Mia. “Her legacy is kindness and inclusion,” Ann said. “Just look for the kids or the person that might need a little more attention, but also just be kind even when nobody’s watching.”The Schwiesos have started a scholarship fund in memory of Mia. Last year, $14,000 in scholarships were given to the community. The family hopes to raise even more this year. “We want to continue to do that,” Ann said. “We want to keep feeding this community that has supported us, but that was important even before Mia passed. So it continues to be important.”Click here for the latest headlines from KETV NewsWatch 7