February 16, 2005
'You always think it will be someone else'
For Our Kids Volleyball Tournament benefits foundation started in memory of Evan Warsecke
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Transcending unimaginable loss, Laura and Evan Warsecke are turning the heartbreak of their son's death into a mission to serve others.
Thanks to Saturday's Fifth Annual For Our Kids Volleyball Tournament, held at Traverse City Central High School, the couple will receive approximately $1,800 for their St. John Foundation. They created this non-profit foundation after their son's accidental shooting death last year, determined to help other families facing similar tragedies.
The foundation is named after St. John, Evan's patron saint. Evan is Welsh for John, his father noted, and the boy died on St. John's Feast Day last May.
"You always think it will be someone else, but every once in a while it has to be you," said Evan Warsecke. "It feels great to know that this is in his memory. Until this, I never thought we'd need help from other people, but when you realize the fragility of life_"
The Interlochen couple buried their son, Evan Warsecke, Jr., 4, on May 31, 2004. A spunky kid with a wide smile, Evan's picture was prominently displayed at the tournament. His father noted that Evan would have reveled in the fund-raiser this event.
"He would be running around here right in the middle of everything," he said. "He loved anything to do with sports."
Evan fatally injured himself in an accidental shooting on May 26; he died the next afternoon at Munson Medical Center.
That fateful evening, Evan's mother was at work and his father had tucked five of the family's six children, including Evan, into bed. The oldest had been allowed to stay up and watch a basketball game on television. Warsecke, a Traverse City Police Officer, said that three co-workers stopped by the family's Interlochen home that night to see the newly finished basement.
During their visit and unbeknownst to the adults, Evan got out of bed, pulled out drawers and climbed to the top of a seven-foot-tall armoire. He retrieved a .32 caliber handgun and mortally wounded himself.
The couple, relatively new in town, were sustained by their Christian faith, family members and friends plus extended work families at Munson Medical Center and among area police. Donated vacation and sick time from colleagues allowed them to spend the summer with their surviving children.
In addition to receiving bags of groceries and non-perishable goods after the accident, cash donations came in from around the community. These funds allowed the family to pay the funeral costs, medical bills and provide a headstone for Evan's grave.
"After Evie died this summer, so many people helped us out with everything we felt the need to give back," said Evan Warsecke, who also served with the Grand Traverse County Sheriff's Department and a police force downstate.
"There's so many things you don't expect, how many people have life insurance on their kids?" he noted. "Without all the help in the community, we'd be bankrupt."
The For Our Kids volleyball tournament drew 23 teams of ten players each from around the school and community to benefit the St. John Foundation.
Seven teams entered the competitive category and played nuclear volleyball in the Central's small gym. The games in the main gym focused more on fun with a side of fierce play. A silent auction and proceeds from concessions also boosted the event's bottom line.
The day's face-offs made for some strange court-fellows: Marine recruits against seventh graders from East Junior High, members of St. Francis Basketball team vs. members of Central's Student Senate, teachers against students.
"It's good to see the kids out here, to see more kids than adults," said Erin Kosch, a special education teacher at Central. "[Our team] hasn't won a game yet but it's not about winning, but a good cause."
In 2000, Pat Bowen, secretary at Central, and Dennis Padgett, the former police liaison for the school, started the For Our Kids Foundation. They inaugurated the annual volleyball tournament to help the family of Erin Lockman after she was diagnosed with cancer.
In five years, the foundation has raised $18,000 for area families whose children are affected by illness or accident. Part of last year's tournament proceeds helped the Elkins family. Three of Randy Elkins' daughters had been seriously injured in a car accident early last year.
"Our mission is to help families that have a financial need because of medical expenses or related issues, such as the St. John Foundation," Bowen said.