Protective, loyal, adventurous, reliable, hilarious
Will is a twin. He was born 30 seconds before his sister, Thea, as he would often remind everyone. He comes from a family of six siblings, but specially adored his baby brother, Max, who was only 13 when Will passed away. Max has ADHD and Will was very patient and protective of him. He would talk to Max about school and listen to him when he was having off days. Will also had nieces and nephews who he absolutely adored. He was never too old to be found alongside the kids at Chuckie Cheese, or sitting at the kids table at get-togethers. More than anything, he never missed an opportunity to tell each of them how much he loved them.
Will was a very talented athlete when he was younger. He played football and baseball, and excelled in wrestling, placing in nearly every meet. This was a proud accomplishment for him and was something he would reflect on.
Will worked alongside his brother Joey as an HVAC technician. He worked long hours, typically starting at 5AM and ending some days around midnight. When he started with the company, he was part of the clean-up crew, but quickly rose to become a HVAC tech. Without Will being aware, the company was planning to offer him a position as a lead with his own crew. At his funeral, coworkers spoke of the profound impact Will had on them with his infectious personality and willingness to learn about the business. Stories also flooded in from clients, speaking of the friendliness and level of professionalism Will exhibited.
His oldest brother, Brandon, was murdered in 2011; this started Will on the path of destruction he fought so hard to overcome. His brother didn’t have insurance, so the family was tasked with making and paying for the funeral arrangements. Will sold all of his things to help raise money for the burial of his brother. Will was finally able to live on his own and had a little tidy house. This was a huge accomplishment; he had never been able to achieve because of his substance use disorder. He was drug free for nearly a year before he died.
Will’s older sister, Bethany, said, “I think the most difficult part was watching how Will went from being a gifted athlete to having such a severe active addiction in such a short period of time. After our brother was murdered, Will started smoking pot. It rapidly changed to harder drugs and led to heroin use. The fear of finding Will dead or awaiting the phone call that he passed always kept me up at night.”
“I would like to explain how William died,” Bethany said. “He was helping a friend when a fence fell on his leg. Will had numerous surgeries and intense physical therapy to be able to walk. Will often spoke of the pain he was in, but despite this, still continued to work long hours on his job. His autopsy found only his prescription meds in his system. Will was only two days from getting his pain medication refilled when he ran out. He reached out to someone who had what he thought was the same thing as his script. Will returned to his home, sat on his couch, took the pill, and fell asleep to never wake again. The pill was laced with fentanyl.”
William’s big sister, Bethany, provided the information for this narrative.
July 6, 1993-July 1, 2022-Age 28
Portrait Artist: Theresa Clower
Narrative Writer: Jerald Pope
