Johnny’s Memorial & Kids

Hello,

The unexpected loss of our dad, Johnny left a huge hole in our hearts and on those who knew and loved him. He was 49. Our dad was born January 23, 1974 to William and Etsuko Hailey inside a navy military base in Okinawa, Japan. His dad was a serviceman. He grew up in Denver, CO with his mom and sister. In 1999, he married our mom, Ia and moved to Minnesota. 

Together, they had two daughters and a son. During their 21 years of marriage, they were each other’s best friends and cheerleader. Unfortunately, our dad’s struggles with mental illness became too difficult for our mom to handle during quarantine in the summer of 2020 and by early 2021, they divorced. He was a beloved son, little brother to Naomi and loving uncle to Reece and Liana. He leaves behind three young children, Rhaine (22), Raedon (15) and Rowan (14).

For those who were fortunate enough to know our dad during happier times, he carried a warm and friendly smile wherever he went, he was cheerful and giving. He would give you the clothes on his back without a second thought if he felt someone else needed it more than him. He gave without expecting anything back. One of our favorite memory of our dad was when he told us about a time he played Santa Clause with our mom and helped her give Christmas presents to her little cousins.

Our dad’s early life had not always been easy. His parents separated early and he grew up without seeing his father much. He was mentally ill and suffered in silence for a long time. He tried his best to live a normal and happy life but sometimes his inner demons got the best of him. 

On a cold, wet and stormy morning on 4/19/2023, he succumbed to his battle with depression and he left us tragically. Because of how he left us, his life insurance policies cancelled out. The funds we are able to raise is what we have to budget with for his funeral.

This June 2023, our dad will not be around to see our little sister, Rowan his youngest child graduate from 8th grade. He won’t be around to see his son, Raedon race at his high school track meets. He will no longer be here to share in our life “milestones,” like prom, graduations, or walk us down the aisle one day or meet his future grandchildren. It is an unimaginable pain knowing he no longer exists in this world…

It is our hope and prayers that our dad, who struggled for so many years has finally found the peace and happiness that eluded him during his short time here on earth with us. 

We know our dad loved us deeply and as best as he could. He was not perfect, but he was our dad and he loved us unconditionally. Although he is gone now, his love and memory will live on within us. We love him, will forever miss him and cherish our short time with him.

We are reaching out to our family, friends and the community for help to raise funds to help us pay for our dad’s funeral, memorial service, funeral flowers, a burial plot to give him a final resting place to rest, a tombstone and other expenses related funerals. 

Any amount like $10, $20, $50, $100 or whatever you can makes a difference in getting us one step closer in helping us pay for our dad’s funeral. 

We also hope to raise extra funds, if possible to help with living expenses for the days and years to come as we learn to live a life without our dad there to help our mom take care of us until we all become adults ourselves. Depending on how much we raise, a portion of left over funds will be used to help our mom take care of us until we finish high school. The other portion will be set aside to help us go to college in the future. 

 

When we think of death… we think of grief and loss. No one thinks about how expensive it is to bury a loved one, how lost and overwhelmed we feel at times, or the aftermath of the death of a parent with minor children. 

We never thought we would find ourselves here in this situation... this early in life… yet we have no choice but to face this ugly reality whether we are ready or not.

If you or anyone you know is struggling and feel alone, please reach out for help. If you don’t have anyone to turn to, you can dial 988 and speak to a trained professional confidentially who can help you. Sometimes, it’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel when we are in the middle of a storm. You don’t have to figure it out alone. 

Your life matters!!! You mean the world to someone. Please don’t give someone this pain we are going through.

Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to listen to our story about our beloved father and request for financial help to pay for our dad's funeral and give him a final resting place to Rest in Peace.

If you can share our story and request with everyone you know and the public to help us in our fundraising goal, it would mean the world to us. We cannot do this alone without your love and support.

Thank you,

Rhaine, Raedon and Rowan