Jadon’s Wake and Mass of Christian Burial will both take place at St. John’s Nepomuk Catholic Church in Yukon, Oklahoma. His Wake is scheduled for Monday, August 1 at 7PM. The Mass of Christian Burial is scheduled for Tuesday, August 2 at 10AM. The church and funeral home details are provided below respectively.
St. John Nepomuk Catholic Church
600 Garth Brooks Blvd.
Yukon, OK 73099
405-354-2743
Yanda and Son Funeral Home
1500 W. Vandament
Yukon, OK 73085
405-350-7101
The family would like to thank everyone for their generous acts of compassion, kindness and prayers through this long and difficult ordeal. The family would also like to thank everyone who participated in the Walk for Jadon held at the Yukon High School gym tonight. A very special thank you goes out to Father Novak, Deacon Dan Lombardi, the school and church families at St. John’s Nepomuk. A very, very special thank you to the dedicated medical staff at OU Children’s Hospital who showed their caring compassion for Jadon through the daily routines of treatments, patient maintenance and unending family questions.
In closing, I have to admit my personal knowledge of leukemia was limited to St. Jude advertising showing the bald kids that apparently had a much different outcome. Leukemia had never touched anyone in our family before. After witnessing the terrible ordeal first hand that Jadon endured this experience has given me not only an elementary baseline of knowledge about the disease but it allowed me to see the strength of Jadon’s character that was never apparent to me before during our casual interactions. As some of you may already know, the treatment for the disease is almost as terrible as the disease itself. I witnessed Jadon taking every injection with only a grimace knowing he was being subjected to extremely high levels of pain. Not to mention the numerous negative side effects that would accompany each treatment. Even though the chemotherapy burned through his body like hot coals his will to fight never waned. Although Jadon ultimately lost his battle to the disease, his tenacity to beat this disease was apparent all the way to the end. He truly exhibited the resolve of a hero. As his grandfather I hereby award Jadon Conger the highest award for bravery and conspicuous gallantry while engaged in action against an unseen enemy – Leukemia. Good bye Jadon and God Bless you for eternity for you are my hero never to be forgotten.
My husband and I can attest to Jadon's character as well. We coached him for basketball and like everything else he gave it his all. If it is ok with his mom and dad, we want to establish an award at St. John's for a middle school basketball player who exhibits Jadon's character qualities that made him so very special. Something that will ensure his exceptional character is never forgotten at St. John's which would include a plaque with each year's winner. We wish all the children we coached tried as hard as Jadon. He may not have been the best player but he had more heart than any child we had ever met. He never backed down from the bigger kids. On the last regular season game he was sick, but still came so the team wouldn't have to forfeit. They won that game completely because of Jadon. He was truly an inspiration.
ReplyDeleteEven though I never met this young man, I have come to know his bravery through the battle raged against him. Because I too am in the mist of my own battle with cancer, I feel I am somewhere between the outside looking in and the inside looking out. My chemotherapy is at NIH and I too have seen this war between the innocent and the raging dragons. And it completely tears me apart and yet inspires me. I know I experience the spirit and strength of Jadon through some of the children here at NIH. Hearing the parents here encouraging their child to please take one more culture, one more IV, one more needle, one more bitter pill, I can only pray for the families and the strength they provide. Through Van’s words I know Jadon’s family and Jadon’s extended family have been a source of strength to Jadon, only because this young man led and inspired them into the battle. I feel sad that I never met Jadon, but in some sort of strange way I feel I know him – because of our common enemy. Yes Van, these little ones are the heroes; and any hero of yours is a hero of mine.....Nathan
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