Final Arrangements for Debra R. LaVan (Kilgore)

After enduring years of grappling with health challenges, our beloved mother, Debra LaVan, passed away on August 8, 2025, at 12:40 p.m. She was at Passavant Hospital, surrounded by her sons, Seth Kilgore, Ethan Richardson, and Jacob Richardson, as well as her daughter-in-law, Kaylee Richardson, who married Ethan March in 2025.

We are relieved that our mother is no longer in pain, as the suffering she endured was difficult to witness. We know that she is now in Heaven with loved ones from the past. However, we are also saddened that she could not have had more time with us to meet her first grandchild, as Ethan and Kaylee are expecting.

Health issues and the financial burden of her expenses cost our mother everything, including attending the funeral for her mother and brother, Ethan’s wedding and baby shower, and even her home and car. She spent all of her savings fighting for more time with us, and now we are faced with difficult decisions regarding how to give our mother a proper goodbye.

The plot has been purchased, and she will be laid to rest next to our grandparents, Donald and Marion Kilgore. The remaining expenses, including cremation and a headstone, and a transportation fee to bring her home from Pittsburgh . We have two options: the state will cremate her body, and we will have no control over where her ashes will be scattered; or we can raise the money needed for a cremation and headstone and transportation to allow our mother to be laid to rest where she always wanted to be, with her loving parents our grandparents.

Regardless of the financial decision, we will do what is right by our mother, even though she would never have asked us to. If you would have considered sending flowers, a card, a meal, or anything else on our mother’s behalf, please consider making a donation to our GoFundMe instead. Mom would never asked us to take on these expenses on her behalf, and though we will, we hope you’ll consider helping on her or our behalf. We would also appreciate it if you could share this information with others who may not have heard and may be inclined to help.

In Loving Memory of Debra LaVan (Kilgore),

Seth Kilgore

Ethan & Kaylee Richardson

Jacob Richardson