Loving, funny, thoughtful, kind, compassionate
Tim never met a stranger, and everyone who knew him loved him immediately. He had a vibrant, fun-loving personality, and loved to make people laugh. His mom cherishes the videos the family has where they can hear his contagious laughter.
Tim played football, basketball and baseball and was selected as Male Athlete of the Year in eighth grade. He thoroughly enjoyed being around kids, helping them learn about sports. He was an umpire for recreation leagues, little league and middle school baseball and softball and travel ball, and acted as a referee for basketball. He also played on his church softball team.
Tim graduated from high school and earned an Associates Degree in Business Administration from Wake Technical Community College, later working for several distribution companies, such as Long Beverage, Triangle Vending and Coke. He also worked for a building supply company and later with a building and contracting company.
Tim loved children and cherished his daughter, Briella. He also loved the elderly people in his community and would lend a helping hand when he saw them outside doing yard work. His goals for his future were not clear due to his distraction with drugs, but he always had a powerful desire to take care of his daughter and possibly get married.
Tim also had a strong faith. He would often ask his mom to talk with people about their relationship with God and wanted people to know that they would go to Heaven when they died.
As Tim’s drug use got more serious his mother said, “I lost my trust in him.” He would lie and be disrespectful to her and his dad, something he would never have done before. She prefers to focus on the happy memories like the fun she had watching Tim ride a wave runner at his Uncle’s lake house.
Since Tim’s death, his mother, Ramona, has gained more insight into substance use disorder. “I now know that substance use disorder is a disease and the only person who can help, is themselves. They have to want to get help. It is a stronghold; it binds them in chains that only God can break. I pray for all people in this terrible fight, and for their families.”
Tim’s mother, Ramona Willett, provided the information for this narrative.
August 14, 1986-January 1, 2019
Age 32 – Lived with addiction 7 years
