Zachary Len

Zach-Max
Submitted by: Debbie Len
Born: 1989
Died: 2014
My Tribute: Our family is incomplete without you, Zachary. We miss you each and every day. Love you always and forever.

Kristen Marie McLaughlin

Submitted by: Mom
Born: 1985
Died: 2015
My Tribute: Your kind heart will stay with me forever.

I love you forever and ever Anthony

Anthony
Submitted by: Anitria
Born: 1993
Died: 2014
My Tribute: A whole year later and it hurts like you left yesterday. I love you so much Anthony. Words can’t explain my grief.

Markie Fleishman

Submitted by: mom and dad
Born: 1982
Died: 2015
My Tribute: My only child Markie who we loved with all our heart . We miss you every minute of everyday . I miss you calling me m amadogs and miss your warm smile and big heart . Life for us died that morning Markie and will never be the same. I hope they have a big set of wings for you bud because you are our angel until we meet again.

Nicholas K Pressley

Submitted by: Patti Pressley
Born: 1983
Died: 2015
My Tribute: Nick was my second son. He was born after the tragic loss of our first son to SIDS at two months of age. He was a beautiful soul, a quiet serious individual who even as a child had anxieties about the world we live in. He suffered from addiction for a long time. He felt separated from the rest of the community. He was trying to deal with the legal system which was just digging the hole deeper for him by the day. He was a victim of a grossly inadequate system of care/treatment. He fell apart when the love of his life left him. He was an incredible artist and self-taught musician. He was a lover of animals. He was generous beyond his ability to give and was a protective friend to all he called friend. I miss him every day. We struggled together to get him the help and relief he needed from this awful disease called addiction. He however, paid the ultimate price of this illness. May God rest his soul.

Josh Pierce

Josh-5x7
Submitted by: C. McDannel
Born: 1986
Died: 2014
My Tribute: Josh Pierce, age 27, was born in August 1986 and transitioned in April 2014 as the result of heroin toxicity.

Josh was my only child and I will always long for his warm hearted touch, deep conversations, beautiful smile, infectious laugh, and great big bear hugs.

He was an intelligent man with a variety of interests and hobbies. He had a witty sense of humor and could make me laugh regardless of how I felt. Josh was highly creative and seemed to be able to accomplish whatever he put his mind to.

Josh enjoyed reading so he taught himself to read at 4 years old. When he was 12 years old he wanted to play guitar so he taught himself that, too. Josh had an interest and special talent for fixing and building computers and he learned he could make a living at it, too, so he began his education in computer science.

After Josh graduated high school he attended technical and county college focusing on computer science. He had earned his A+ Certification with an above average score. He had been employed as a Network Technician at local computer and network repair business.

Throughout his shortened journey his fearless and passionate personality seemed to drive him to excel but that drive also steered him towards making a lot of bad decisions that involved experimenting with alcohol and drugs at a young age. His struggles with substance use disorder and recovery attempts included residential treatment for the diagnoses of bipolar.

Josh’s addiction to opiates, and subsequently heroin, did not become evident until he had experienced a near fatal overdose in December of 2013. For the next 4 months we remained vigilant, supportive, and hopeful that his attempts at treatment and recovery would be successful but he lost the battle.

Grieving the loss of a child, at any age, is one of life’s toughest journeys but grieving the loss of an only child is beyond my comprehension. I can only hope and pray that the lives lived and lost to this disease are “testament to a higher cause all for the greatest good of the many”.

Josh, you are always on my mind, in my heart and in my soul. I love you forever and always to infinity and beyond ~Mom