Stories: Forever in our Hearts

Abigail Rae Wambach, “Abbey”, 10, of Charlotte, NC passed away November 22, 2009 at Levine Children’s Hospital from Long QT Syndrome. She was a 5th grader at Rivergate Elementary School in Steele Creek.... see more

A beautiful heart stopped beating. On January 17, 2002 after completing the first semester of sophomore year, our loving fifteen-year-old son, Adam, an honor student at Grayslake Community High School in Illinois, died of a heart condition called LQT Syndrome. Around 4:00 P.M., his mother, Colleen, went out with our son Andy. When she returned an hour later, she found Adam lying on his bedroom floor. She immediately called 911, started CPR, and administered our home defibrillator paddles. Every... see more

Our incredibly sweet Adam died unexpectedly March 7, 2019 in his sleep at the age of 36. He was a very healthy and active man and had no symptoms. He leaves such a gaping hole in this life to all those who met and loved him especially myself, his boys (ages 4 and 7), his family, his in-laws, and all his co-workers/friends. It has been a journey to try to find out what has happened to him as I had heard several times that he was "perfect". As I sat in my office one day, I had an overwhelming ... see more

Alva was born in Houston, Texas on August 27, 1957. She was named after her father's youngest sister. Alva loved the uniqueness of her name "Alva" but later embraced "Alva Jean". Although born in Houston, Alva spent the majority of her childhood in the state of California. She loved California and the beautiful California beaches. She often remarked that if it were a paying profession she would have been a "beach bum". She attend the University of Houston Central Campus but later realized that s... see more

Anastasia grew up a normal healthy child. She loved dance, gymnastics, piano, basketball and most of all softball. She smiled all the time and had more friends then we even knew about. She was an A-B student. Her best friend Molly and her were inseparable most the time. A lot changed this summer of 2016. We finally took another family vacation, Anastasia was to be a freshman and made the softball team, she finally got braces on July 1, 2016 and was finally showing confidence in her appearance... see more

My son Andrew's story is one of tragedy, but also one of triumph. It started early one afternoon in July 1991 when the telephone rang. A sheriff's deputy said that Andrew, our fifteen year-old son, had been taken unconscious from a car and paramedics were driving him to a local Houston hospital. I assumed Andrew had been in a car wreck. As a minister, I have been with many families who have received similar calls. While the anxiety is always great, I knew that many times the outcome was better t... see more

SCHNITZLER, Mrs. Annie Rivera, 67, of Midlothian, Va., passed away on July 1, 2018. She was born October 15, 1950, in Manila, Philippines. She was preceded in death by her mother, Aurora (Divinagracia) Rivera. She is survived by her beloved husband, Greg Schnitzler; her father, Sonny Rivera; her son, Christopher (Michelle) Callanta of Mechanicsburg, Pa.; daughters, Melanie (Mike) Swain of Richmond, Va., Abigail (Pete) Ehlers of Jacksonville, Fla.; one sister, Corazon Beltran; five grandsons, And... see more

Wow when I sat and thought about putting this in a story for someone else to read, I thought could I ever summarize those events to explain the sudden reality of what I now can say our community went through, I always wonder when I pass if I would have many show, or remember me.. Well for Jennie she did, it made me feel so at peace to see how every one stepped up and helped say goodbye to one of the most amazing friends I ever had the pleasure of knowing, and now helping raise her child.... see more

After months of trying to write Bailee's story and trying to describe how beautiful, loving and amazing she was in a few paragraphs I finally decided that it's not possible, so I am going to try my best to sum her whole 15 years and 10 months up in a few paragraphs. Bailee was born June 2nd, 1997 and was the prettiest little baby I had ever seen! She was so tiny and had bright blue eyes and enough dark hair on her head that she left the hospital with a little pony tail on top of her head. When... see more

Barbara Elizabeth Masters, 38, passed away on Friday, July 22nd at Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo. Barbara was born on Oct. 23, 1972 in Aurora, Il. She graduated from St. Joseph Elementary and High School in Lakewood, Ca. She relocated to Michigan upon her marriage to Craig Masters in 1992. She received her RN nursing degree from KCC in Battle Creek and her BS degree from Western Michigan University. Barbara was a former employee of Oaklawn Hospital, Marshall. ... see more

On December 19, 2009, Brett Ivan Anderson died unexpectedly at his mother’s home near Winterset, Iowa. He had just driven from his home in Wichita, Kansas the previous evening in anticipation of spending the Christmas holidays with family and friends. After telling his mother “it’s good to be home”, he fell asleep on the couch. Sometime during the night Brett went home to be with the Lord. The autopsy results were “probable cardiac arrhythmia”. Brett had shown no signs or symptoms of heart probl... see more

Brett passed away from Long QT Syndrome on June 16, 2014 at the age of 29. He was a graphic designer, a lover a music and animals, and an artist above all else. He was witty, smart, and gentle. He could walk into a room and strike up a conversation with anyone, and everyone liked him. He had gotten married just 5 weeks prior to his death and was looking forward to welcoming a son at the end of September. It took a long time to figure out the cause of his death, but genetic testing confirmed that... see more