White, Devan Christopher Memorial Fund

Donor Fund Story:

Devan White was born on May 11, 1995 in Goshen, Indiana. He had a humorous personality and wanted to make people laugh all the time. He was a fun person to be around and he liked to pick on his dad but he especially loved to pick on his stepmom, Margarita. Devan liked Red Lobster, Rascal Flats, and his favorite colors were black and red. He was an active and competitive guy. He enjoyed wrestling, running, football, basketball, hunting, fishing, and being outdoors.

Art was a big part of Devan’s life as well. He liked drawing, painting, and sketching. When he became sick, he and his dad would sketch together. This created a good bonding time for both son and father. At the 2011 Relay for Life, two of Devan’s drawings were displayed during the art show. If Devan had made it to college, he would have gone into graphic design and been a creator of video games.

Devan liked going to his church, Trinity Assembly of God in Ligonier, and even when he did not feel well, he still wanted to go. He also liked when people would read the Bible to him. Margarita, Devan’s stepmom, would read to him throughout the night and it would calm him down. Mike remembers his son being sick and how bad it was, but he also remembers the faithfulness of God. Devan accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior.

Mike says, “I look at it this way; we don’t know when our time is coming to an end and we just have to be ready, Devan was ready. He was saved. When you get sick like that you can either get mad at God or you can embrace God. Devan embraced God.”

Mike cherishes all of the memories of Devan that he had with him. One of his favorites was being able to hunt with him. Devan wanted to go deer hunting, so he and his dad found a hunting class, which both of them passed, and went hunting the next weekend. Although they did not get a deer that weekend what they did get was just a valuable as they were able to spend the day together. Mike says he and Devan were almost inseparable the last part of his life. The entire family was able to share some good memories with Devan.

Mike is a cancer survivor as well, so he was able to relate with his son more than most. Mike remembers Devan wanted his opinion on everything that the doctors told him. Mike was in prayer about all of the decisions he had to make about Devan’s condition. Mike says, “I feel like I was directed with all of the decisions that I made. God was in control and it was out of my hands.”

“The community here was great,” Mike said in his interview. “Once they knew how bad Devan was, they had a benefit for him to raise money for doctor’s bills.” Mike said the community would show up at the family’s home with food, money, gifts or just visit with the family and tell Devan that they were praying for him. Mike and Margarita were overwhelmed by the blessings of the community.

After Devan’s last trip to the hospital he shared with his father that he was scared. He wasn’t scared of leaving this world but that when he did leave that he would not be remembered. Mike and Margarita did not want that to happen and knew that one way they could assure Devan’s memory would live on after he was gone would be to create a named fund. In January of 2011, the White’s established the Devan Christopher White Memorial Fund at the Community Foundation of Noble County so that Devan’s memory would live on forever.

“The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He refreshes my soul.”  Psalm 1:1-3