# The Passing of My Brother, David James Font

- Link: https://fontlife.com/passing-brother-david-james-font/
- Published: 2011-03-05T03:06:25-05:00
- Author: Victor Font

Arriving home from a wonderful family getaway this week at Atlantic Beach, I flipped
on my computer and found an urgent Facebook message from my nephew to call ASAP.
Instinctively, I knew what the call was about. The police had visited him this afternoon
to make the notification that his father and my brother, David James Font, was found
dead in his trailer in Lorain, Ohio. My brother was 55. He died alone, his body 
undiscovered for several days.

For all of us, death is as individual as our births. At birth we are surrounded 
by those we love. At the moment of our death, some of us may be fortunate enough
to be surrounded by our loved ones as well. However, in many cases, who we are with
when we die is a matter of the choices we’ve made in this life. In my brother’s 
circumstance, it was his choices in life that led to being alone at his death.

My brother did live a hard life. He was born physically challenged. He is the younger
half of a set of fraternal twins. His older by one minute brother Julio was born
with severe mental retardation. Julio lives with us and through the consistent, 
loving guidance of my wife and daughter, he has become a productive member of society
and at home.

David was a spina-bifida baby. Despite enduring a number of experimental operations
as a small child, the doctors predicted he would never live past his teen years.
The doctors were wrong. Regardless of the physical challenges my brother faced, 
he adapted and thrived. But something else went horribly wrong in his life.

In 1985, he worked for me at the computer store I owned in Bayonne, NJ. He lived
right around the corner from the store. One day, he doesn’t show up for work. Neither
did he call to let me know he’d be out sick. I decided to cut him some slack. After
all, he is my brother. When he didn’t show up or call on the second day, I called
Denise, David’s third and then current wife. She said, “What? Don’t you know? He
came home from work the other day and announced he was leaving us. He packed his
bags and left. We haven’t heard from him since.” None of us had ever heard from 
him again. David Jr., the son he abandoned, was 7 years old. My brother was 30.

Over the years, I tried to track him down and discovered he had settled in Ohio 
and became a locksmith. All attempts to contact him failed. He didn’t want anything
to do with his family. Then as I was talking to my nephew, I learned my brother 
had sent Denise a letter about three or four years ago. My brother had suffered 
a ruptured bladder and was fighting a massive infection in his body. I suppose it
gave him time to think about the choices he had made over the years and the people
that were hurt by those choices. Whatever was going on in his mind, he wrote Denise
and asked if he could come home. Both Denise and David Jr. rejected the overture.
From what I understand, he never did recover from the infection and it ultimately
took his life earlier this week. We’re not quite sure if he died before Monday or
not. His neighbors hadn’t seen him for a few days, waited a few more days and then
decided to call the police to investigate. The police ruled no foul play. Death 
by natural causes.

It’s really hard to mourn for my brother’s passing. For us, he passed in 1985 when
he abandoned his family and the hope of ever seeing him again faded. We mourned 
his loss then. It’s hard to mourn his loss again. What does bother me though is 
that he may have very well gone on to a Christless eternity. As bad as his actions
were in this life, he didn’t do anything Christ could not and would not forgive 
through His blood. The only sin that sends anyone to hell is unbelief. I don’t know
if my brother believed or not. He did pray once with Pastor Zeron to receive Christ
as his personal Savior. I was there and I witnessed it. If he was sincere in his
belief that night, david’s in Heaven now awaiting the reconciliation with the loved
ones he abandoned on earth.

## Comments

### By: David

- Link: https://fontlife.com/passing-brother-david-james-font/#comment-65
- Published: 2011-03-06T15:51:41-05:00

You and David and your family remain enfolded in prayer.

### By: Marcia Schulman

- Link: https://fontlife.com/passing-brother-david-james-font/#comment-66
- Published: 2011-03-07T07:45:43-05:00

Your story is a moving one.
 May you find comfort through the support of your community,
friends and loved ones and your belief in the power of forgiveness.