Trevor James Stabbert

Trevor James: Born July 10, 1968 died August 14, 2013 at the age of 45. He is survived by his grandparents, parents, 3 siblings, his partner Diane who is carrying his son, due to be born January 20, 3 nieces, 1 nephew, 3 half-sisters, as well as a large community of friends, family and close business associates; many of whom are here today honoring his passing.

Trevor’s life told a story of generosity, rambunctiousness and determination.

Trevor started life right from the start full of happiness, high spirits and liveliness. In his grade school years, he ran with what might be called a tough 6 year old crowd. He was always was in the thick of any boisterous, rough and tumble recreation. I remember one incident in the second grade that involved something to do with a pencil and somehow the lead from the pencil became lodged in the leg of one of his cohorts in crime, his first of many trips to the principal’s office.

His determination also showed up early when he really wanted to be part of the school band. The band was full but the orchestra had an opening for a violinist. He carried that violin case even though it meant getting pushed around to the point that his big sister had to protect him from his tormentors. The violin playing didn’t last long but it was for lack of affinity to the instrument not being teased for carrying it.

Trevor played baseball, wrestled and loved riding dirt bikes as he made his way through grade school, Jr. High and High School. Cars were always important to Trevor; his Black El Camino was his pride and joy in high school so it makes perfect sense to find a 67 Camaro, a Maserati and a Harley Davidson among the possessions he left behind. The first vehicle he loved was a little green plastic tractor that he much preferred over the up and coming plastic Big Wheel.

Another aspect of Trevor’s life was anything that blew up or made a loud noise. The 4th of July was his favorite holiday and he knew all the best Indian reservations to get the “good stuff”. Josh and I spent one 4th of July with him in Hawaii and he wrapped firecrackers around lots and lots of steel poles stuck in the beach and lit them off all at once. There is a certain incident, always referred to as the “M80 incident”. When Josh was about 11 years old, he was sitting quietly in our family room minding his own business, when Trevor dropped by unannounced, snuck around the corner of the house and right next to where Josh was sitting he lit off an M80 behind Josh’s back directly outside the sliding glass door. Now imagine two very different looking faces one white and terrified and one with a huge grin and sparkling blue eyes, I wonder which one was Trevor.

The marine corps was an important part of Trevor’s life that he was very proud of. Those 4 years, which included Desert Shield and Desert Storm, would forever be a turning point in Trevor’s life. He was particularly proud of his sharpshooter status. His Sergeant Big ‘O’, still living in Hawaii, phoned and expressed his deep regret and share some memories. He called Trevor a force multiplier and recalled how level headed Trevor was under fire and that he could always be counted on to do the right thing. Even after Trevor’s military service ended, they kept in touch and Trevor was a great friend to Big ‘O’ and his wife. I have had calls from Illinois, Wyoming and California from his old Marine buddies expressing condolences and sharing what a great friend Trevor was to them.

His years in Hawaii, were very happy years for him. He loved the Hawaiian culture and was very proud of the Prime Time Sports shack where he worked, located outside the Hilton Hotel on Waikiki beach, renting beach paraphernalia to tourists. He practiced his Japanese so he could communicate with the tourists and better express his personal friendliness with them. His grandparents have fond memories of how he would always set them up with lawn chairs on the beach while they were visiting. He was very happy on the beach but had a strong desire to do something bigger. His next job in Hawaii, was converting the USS Missouri to a public memorial, after he had completed this with his usual commitment to a job well done, his grandparents received a personal escorted tour of the vessel.

On one of the visits to Hawaii that Josh and I made, Trevor got to be big brother and arranged for Josh to get his first tattoo. Even with parental consent, tattoos weren’t allowed if you were under 18 but Trevor had a friend who was a tattoo artist and made sure it happened.

Trevor’s life over the last decade has been comprised mainly of traveling for business and building for his future economic security. Looking at his passport from 2004, he has been in the following countries, very rarely staying more than 2-4 days in any one place.

Finland, Korea, Singapore, Panama, Chili, United Kingdom, Canada, China, Thailand, Hong Kong, Nigeria, Philippines, Mexico, Spain, Netherlands, Malta, Jamaica, New Zealand, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Japan, Ghana, Malaysia and several unreadable stamps in foreign script.

He had residences and friends in Singapore, Manila and Bellevue. His generosity and friendships were really evident as friends descended on Ho Chi Mihn City to assist me, Stacy and Josh with all the many hardships of dealing with a death in a foreign country. I will be forever grateful.

One of his grandparent’s greatest joys was when Trevor asked them to locate a church for him and he started attending Christ Church. They had a wonderful part in his entire life and will miss his hugs and how he told them how much he loved them.

I will always think of Trevor as my tender hearted child. When his brother Matt lost his daughter six years ago, Trevor was extremely distraught and sobbing into my shoulder. I reminded him that he was always my tender heart. He looked at me with his big blue eyes and said “You are the only one that knows that, don’t ever tell my staff.” Well, the secret is out. Even though parts of his life required him to develop a protective shell, his tender heart was always there.

He will be missed.