Trevor Randolph Gause

Born August 24, 1986 in Fontana, Ca to William and Donna Gause, died July 21, 2011 in Redlands, California.

Services will be held Wednesday August 24, 2011 at 10 am in Montecito Mortuary- Valley View Chapel in Colton.

From The Prophet by Kahil Gibran, one of the books from Trevor’s bookshelf.

"Speak to us of Children

And he said:

Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you,

And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love, but not your thoughts,

For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their soul,

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams".

Trevor was brought into this world on August 24, 1986 at Kaiser Hospital in Fontana, Ca. He immediately became his mom and dads “whole world” an event not to be equaled until his brother was born 3 years later. As an infant he was bright, cheerful and loving and made our household a true home.

Trevor attended preschool, Kindergarten, and grades 1-6 at Azure Hills Seventh Day Adventist School in Grand Terrace, Ca. Prior to Trevor starting school, his little brother, Travis, arrived. Trevor loved, protected and cherished his little brother for the next 21 years of his life. The boys attended Azure Hills Academy together until Trevor transferred out after 6th grade. Trevor also attended Azure Hills Seventh Day Adventist Church in Grand Terrace, Ca. and was Baptized there at age 12.

The boys played sports, camped, fished, hiked, explored and hung out together a large percentage of the time. They seemed inseparable in their childhood. They went to elementary school together, learned to swim together, played basketball together, and explored the world around them with each at the others side. This closeness continued into the early teens when both boys became more independent and gradually began to seek their own identity.

From an early age, Trevor chose his interest and then pursued those interest with passion and fervor. His knowledge of dinosaurs as a child went past toys and games and he amazed adults with his knowledge of phylogeny and natural history. Later his love for music led him to an advanced education experience at The Musician’s Institute in Hollywood Ca. and eventually he formed a rock band with a few friends. He didn't like doing things "halfway"

Another great interest of Trevor's was sports and he followed several, but his love for basketball was a large part of his life. From an early age and played well. In 1996 he started for the San Bernardino Bulls in the National Junior Basketball League. Eventually he moved closer to home and played for the Grand Terrace Youth Basketball League from 1998 to 2000. He played in Division B then moved up to Division A where he competed at the Regional finals in 29 Palms, Ca. and his team placed 3rd in the region. The following year found Trevor playing basketball at Redlands Junior Academy, a season in which he was awarded “Best Defensive Player”.

His love for Basketball also influenced his younger brother who went on to excel in the same league. In 2000 his younger brother also went on to compete in the Div. B regional finals in 29 Palms, with his older brother fervently cheering him on from the stands. Trevor took as much pride in his little brothers skills as he did his own.

It was 2001 and basketball was ingrained in Trevor’s and his younger brother’s lives. Trevor idolized the character, sportsmanship and determination of people like Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. His hobby of collecting Basketball cards grew to enormous size until the walls of his room were lined with autographed 8x10 photos of the top 50 players in the first 50 years of the National Basketball League. When Trevor felt down or defeated he would look at those autographed 8 x 10,s. He said it gave him courage and strength when he had a hard time finding it elsewhere.

2003 found Trevor at Colton High School. But he was now less interested in the form of education offered in high school. By now he had stopped playing league basketball and his interest had turned to music. He devoured anything to do with the history of rock music. His mother’s musical abilities and his Dad's love of rock music fueled a fire that would lead him into a music college in Hollywood Ca. and a rock band. For two years he immersed himself in writing, playing, performing and promoting rock music. In school by day and in the recording studio all night with the occasional weekend home in Redlands was his norm. Trevor loved all types of music and once told me he never felt more alive than when he was on stage performing or working in the studio.

A prolific writer, he produced volumes of lyrics and poems. His encyclopedic knowledge of early rock history amazed his fellow performers. Some of the music and lyrics he wrote for “hard rock” or “Metal” songs, used techniques he learned from hours of listening to early classic rock. Studying guitar, bass, piano and voice gave him a platform on which to develop his writing skills. He produced volumes of poems and songs, some insightful, some dark. Through writing, he explored the depths of human emotions without restraint or reverence but always with passion. He read continuously, exploring religion, philosophy, fiction and music, but as he studied, he became more challenged and more conflicted. The unanswered questions of philosophers, the darkness of metal rock, the pain and suffering he saw around him that he tried to describe in verse, the arduous scramble to make it in music and his dashed dreams of musical success took their toll and eventually that which he wrote about began to define him.

As a front man in a Metal Band his energy and charisma was evident. But he also could be introspective and sullen. As Trevor grew into his early twenties he faced other challenges. He had left the band, and the philosophy and lifestyle of a Rock and Roll musician didn't’t translate well into the work-a-day world into which he was thrown. His artistic soul struggled with the mundane and his now malnourished artistic ability left him longing for musical success while rejecting the 9 to 5 cubicle mentality he wished to avoid. Trevor could often be seen, alone, reading some book on philosophy or writing and smoking cigarettes. There were few jobs for unemployed "rockers" and he became discouraged when he was not employed. He set out to change the world with his music and it ended up changing him. It was a hard time for Trevor. However, recently he had time to rethink his objectives and was engaged in a plan to start his own business in landscaping. But he didn't’t get to try. He was called to a more important task with God.

Trevor liked to visit his paternal grandmother and grandfather in Florida and developed a relationship with them that lasted throughout his life. His Grandfather died several years ago and Trevor attended his military funeral It had a profound effect on Trevor as he loved his Grandfather very much. He continued a long distance relationship with his Grandmother and on her last trip to California , he invited her into his room, played guitar and sang her a song he had written for her about how much his grandmother meant to him. It brought them both to tears. To this day my mother cherishes that song. She says “That’s the kind of loving Grandson Trevor was”.

Trevor was often an enigma to his parents as well as his friends. C.S. Lewis seemed to describe Trevor when he wrote:

“his incurably abstract intellect; his haphazardly selective memory, his set of preconceptions and assumptions so numerous that I can never examine more than a minority of them, never become even conscious of them all........"

These characteristics always made for interesting but often challenging encounters with Trevor, especially for his parents. However, these things that once perplexed us by their presence, now plague us by their absence.

Our son Trevor will be missed immensely. His blithe spirit and humor will live on in our hearts. His darkness and despair will forever be mirrored in the pain of our loss. His beauty as well as his brashness will be remembered as reflections of a pure soul who loved and was so loved back. There will always be a void in our life and a pain in our souls. He was our son and we will forever feel humbled and so very grateful that God gave him to us, even for a short time on this earth. It may be that "this world was never meant for one as beautiful as him."

From The Prophet

"For what is it to die, but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun:

And what is it to cease breathing but to free the breath from its restless tides,

that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered:

Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing,

And when you have reached the mountaintop, then you shall begin to climb.

And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance."

Trevor leaves behind a loving family,

His Father William R. Gause

His Mother Donna H Gause

His Brother Travis Gause

His Brother Shaun Arnold

His Paternal Grandmother Bernice Gause

His Maternal Grandmother Helen Lum

And his beloved fat cat Mallory