Teen Earns Eagle Scout with Work on Veteran’s Memorial Before Own Passing

[InHonorOf]

Fifteen-year old Simon Sharp's diligent work on a Veteran's Memorial in Florida earns him his Eagle Scout the day before his own passing. Work on the Memorial continues. The newspaper article can be viewed at the following link:

 

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/columnists/orl-owens1707nov17,0,425756,full.column

 

[local1400]

I tried the link, but the page was not found. Welcome InHonorOf. Please tell us more about this Scout!

[Trevorum]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-owens1707nov17,0,6425543.column

 

Ailing Scout soars with veterans memorial; Boy Scout makes his Eagle and succumbs to acute lymphocytic leukemia at age 15.

November 17, 2007

Two summers ago, Simon Sharp proposed a veterans memorial for his Eagle Scout service project.

 

But from the start, time was never on his side.

 

Over the first summer, the senior patrol leader in Boy Scout Troop 125 hoped to raise $15,000, and on Veterans Day dedicate the shrine that would grace Founders Park in Celebration, an Osceola County community. That Fourth of July, Simon sold commemorative American flag pins, which helped net $7,000. The project was well on its way.

 

But the next month, time froze.

 

Simon felt ill, sluggish and unable to hold down any food. Soon, he suffered drenching night sweats and screamed at his mother's touch.

 

Doctors drew blood and revealed the diagnosis: Leukemia. The aggressive kind.

 

Meanwhile, his fellow Scouts soldiered on with his project. By January, they had raised more than $12,000. But the budget had swelled to $40,000. Simon had hoped to bring in enough donations by March for completion on Memorial Day. But fevers, nausea and pneumonia scuttled his plan.

 

Then time sped up. Treatment for acute lymphocytic leukemia typically takes more than 2 1/2 years. Only 15 months in, doctors realized that more therapy would do no good.

 

But Simon wanted to die an Eagle Scout.

 

On Tuesday, his Scoutmaster, Joel Kostuch telephoned the boy he says always wore "these ratty tennis shoes . . . and played old rock and roll songs on his guitar that he thought nobody over 30 had ever heard," the young man who walked slow, but whose quiet example led Scouts to follow in his footsteps. Simon slid down his oxygen mask and through painful coughs recounted his Scouting lessons.

 

Then he gasped the familiar oath that governed his life:

 

On my honor . . . I will do my best . . . To do my duty to God . . . and my country . . . and to obey the Scout Law; ... To help other people at all times; . . . To keep myself physically strong, . . . mentally awake, . . . and morally straight.

 

And in that moment, Simon mustered his final smile. He'd earned his wings.

 

The next afternoon, Simon Alexander Sharp, Eagle Scout, passed away. He was 15.

 

"In the final [analysis], the Scout has to understand that there are things in the world greater than him, like family, love, and duty to God," Kostuch said. "I'm sure Simon did."

 

Two summers ago, Simon launched his Eagle project concerned with leaving a legacy. But in fighting his losing battle with winning grace, he left lessons about the most precious things in life.

 

"We have learned how important family and friends are. . . . We have learned about the power of prayer and the gift of grace," his mother wrote in his blog. "It just blows us away."

 

There still is unfinished business. But Bradley Trowbridge, 15, who often relied on Simon's wise counsel, for one, is determined to see the large stone star memorial stand in Founders Park.

 

"It [will] be a veterans memorial," he says, "but there would probably be an additional piece that would say, 'God bless the founder of this.' "

 

To make donations, make checks payable to Celebration Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 470125, Celebration, FL 34747.

 

 

[InHonorOf]

Thank you for posting the article. Sorry about the link.

 

There will be a tribute to this Scout in his hometown of Celebration, FL this week. His former school bandmembers will be honoring him with special music selections. His Scout Troop will be present to pay their respects and everyone whose hearts he touched will be in attendance.

[Ohio_Scouter]

Thank you, InHonorOf. If you will be attending the tribute this week, please convey our heartfelt condolences, a Scout salute, and a job well done to Eagle Scout Simon Sharp's family and friends from BSA Troop 325 in Englewood, Ohio.

[Eagle'07]

Yes, a great job by this Eagle Scout.

 

God bless.