Travis was a kind, brilliant teenager with a bright future when he died by suicide just one month after his 16th birthday shortly after the start of his junior year of high school.

 

He quickly made friends at school, in his neighborhood and on sports teams. He had a great sense of humor and was not afraid to make fun of himself.  He chose a large high school, Desert Mountain, where he knew nobody because it offered more class options.  He quickly made friends at Desert Mountain and became heavily involved in technical theater, helping on many productions in different roles including lighting designer.  He had perfect grades in all of his years in high school and could always judge how much effort he needed to put in to get an “A”, which was often not much!

 

Travis enjoyed many things including travel, sports (both watching and playing), video games and food, especially Italian cuisine.  He was very interested in cars and was excited to learn to drive and get his driving license. Unfortunately, he only had his license and own car for a month before he died.

 

Family was always Travis’ priority.  When asked what he wanted to do on vacations with aunts, uncles and cousins, he would respond “I don’t care what we do as long as we’re together.”  He loved spending time with all family members from grandparents down to young cousins. 

 

Travis was able to impress adults with his manners and ability to hold intelligent conversations while also able to goof around with friends of his age and much younger.  He would always try to ensure no one felt left out at an event by spending time with them and trying to get them involved.

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Travis was planning to attend university and major in engineering.   He was researching universities all around the country and even exploring the idea of studying in England, where his father was born and raised.

 

Tragically, Travis suffered in silence from major depression in the months before he took his life.  Travis never told any adult about his depression and/or suicidal thoughts.  Travis was not bullied and did not take drugs or alcohol.  He was not in any trouble other than inside his head.  He knew he could have sought help.  Instead, he hid his problems so well that his parents and siblings had no indication that Travis was suffering and were shocked beyond belief when Travis took his life.

 

The world lost a shining star on September 28, 2015 when Travis lost his battle with depression and died by suicide.