Hi! My name is Kelsey Johansson Becerril and my younger sister is Keely Noel Johansson, we are two daughters of the beloved Clay Johansson. Our dad loved the Lord, helping others, and riding his road bike. That is why dad joined up with the Fuller Center Bike and Adventure foundation and did his first and last ride in January 2023, "Tour of Florida". The Fuller Center for Housing is an amazing Christian based organization with it's mission to "end poverty housing worldwide". They accomplish this task by organizing rides or "tours" where volunteers sign up to bike through communities and build / repair homes for families on specific days during the tour. The riders commit to a registration fee and funding fee which goes directly back to the organization to help these families. During the rides, the Fuller Center fully relies on the hospitality of host churches so that 97% of the donations go back to the Fuller Center to build / repair the homes.

Our dad volunteered and donated to the Fuller Center by riding in the Tour of Florida 2022. Dad met up with the group in Sarasota, Florida (our hometown) and rode all the way to the tip of the Florida Keys while stopping to repair/ build homes. Our dad was passionate about this program and everything it represented (he could also ride his bike, which was his favorite activity), spreading the love and light of Christ in this very dark world. He loved the trip, loved the people he met / rode along, and loved sharing the gospel.

In December of 2022 daddy started having upper abdominal pain that radiated to his back. This pain worsened, but he STILL rode his bike, helped build homes, and spread love and joy to others during his Tour of Florida trip. After returning from this ride, our mom started taking dad to emergency rooms to help figure out what was causing his horrific pain.

FIVE emergency room visits, multiple CT's / ultrasounds, and a visit with a GI MD, colonoscopy / endoscopy later we found out that our dad had a mass on his pancreas and was finally admitted to the hospital. Two weeks admission and more testing, it was confirmed that daddy had Pancreatic Cancer stage 3 inoperable.

Initially daddy did not want to fight, he did not want chemotherapy, he wanted to live out his time as best he could without chemo breaking down his body. But, daddy was a fighter his whole life and his oncologist told us she felt "100% confident" she could cure this cancer from dad's body. I am a BSN, RN with 13 years experience with the last 8 in the ER, so I knew daddy's prognosis was poor even with chemotherapy, but that did not stop dad from believing that God could move mountains if it were His will.

Dad endured 3 months of chemotherapy (March 2023-June 2023) at which point he became extremely weak, lost hair, lost most of his weight, had "chemo brain" which were periods of confusion, and was ALWAYS in SO much pain! Dad fought as hard as he could, enduring so much pain and suffering, unable to leave the house or even talk to loved ones because he was just so weak he couldn't lift his head off the pillow. My mom had to take dad back to the infusion center over and over after chemo to get rehydrated and medications thru his port to help his intense nausea / vomiting. His medication regimen was insane and gave him little relief, but my dad continued to FIGHT as we continued to pray without ceasing.

June 8th, 2023 dad was told his tumor had tripled in size and there was nothing more that could be done. He was then placed on Hospice. Keely and myself drove thru the night with her 2 girls and my 3 kids to be with our dad the next morning, June 9th.

We stayed by dad's side, tried to make some lasting memories with him and his grandchildren, but all daddy wanted was for us to promise him that he would see his 3 girls and ALL his grandkids in Heaven one day. Those last few weeks were some of the hardest times in my life, but we continued to pray without ceasing.

Daddy was sent to the Hospice House for a couple of days to get on a pain pump and control his nausea / vomiting. When he returned home, he was in a hospital bed that had been delivered the day before, set up in the front room of their house. I made the bed, placed pictures around the room for daddy to look at, and I slept on the pull out couch with my mom in that room every night. I had promised daddy back in March that I would be by his side, holding his hand, until the end.

Daddy was a part of a road biking group in Summerville, SC. Several of his biking buddies went on the Tour of Florida with dad that past January. Two of the men came to see daddy in his hospital bed and told dad that they would be riding the ENTIRE TOUR OF FLORIDA 2024 in HIS honor! At this point, my dad was pretty out of it, but when he heard those words, his face just lit up! He smiled, looked shocked, but was so incredibly honored. I still have that video of his reaction and it is beautiful to watch.

So, Keely and I told dad that we would also join the Fuller Center Tour of Florida 2024 in his honor. Keely being the athletic one would ride and I would volunteer to help in any way I could. This was our promise to our daddy before God called him to Heaven in the early morning of June 24, 2023.

I have been extremely excited and anxiously awaiting this trip, a way to honor my dad and the Lord, what an awesome opportunity! Unfortunately my family has had a lot of set backs this year and we are struggling financially. I had to quit my last ER RN job in Aug 2022 due to a worsening back condition and mental health illnesses. My family (husband - Esteban, daughters- Ellie (7) / Emery (5 on 12/12), and son- Eli (2.5)) moved from Goose Creek, SC to Collinsville, IL in June of 2022. Since moving here we have had to replace our AC unit, replace our water heater, replace our kitchen sink, we have had 2 major floods due to children that left us with hefty bills, mice infestation due to holes in our attic that were not found during inspection, and countless other things because the previous owners of the home did a lot of DIY the wrong way.

On top of all of this, I have been battling with severe chronic back pain and was told a year ago that I needed to get my BMI from 43 to 35 for spine surgery, I have had countless spinal injections, 3 ablations, my 2nd spinal cord stimulator in Sept 2023, broken big toe in 3 places that ended up displaced halfway through healing so it left me in pain and a boot for much longer than originally anticipated, 8 Ketamine treatments that made my mental illnesses 100x worse, weekly psychologist visits, monthly pain doctor appointments, a week stay in a psychiatric unit in July 2023, trips to be with daddy during his first hospitalization, again in April, and then the last in June, all while my husband has been working 5-6 shifts/week from 6am - 11pm as a Public Safety Officer at St. Louis University, leaving me pretty alone with all 3 kids most of the time.

I have lost 63 lbs since Feb 2023, only roughly 10 lbs to go before I can "officially" get surgery if warranted. My oldest daughter, Ellie has accepted Christ as her Savior and is reading the bible, praying, and even participated in a program after school called "Kids for Christ". Daddy would be so proud of her and Ellie says "Pops is proud of me"! I have reconnected with God and am working on our relationship again. Even though this has probably been the toughest year of my life, God has always been by my side and I know His will will be done.

So, the point of all of this is to humbly ask for donations so that my sister, Keely, and myself can buy plane tickets to and from Orlando, FL in Jan 2024 to honor our promise to our dad by participating in the Tour of Florida 2024. I will also be having to fly a friend from SC to STL while I am gone to watch our kids and take them to school while my husband continues to work. Since I am a volunteer, I do not have to raise any funds for the trip, but Keely is riding and has to raise $1500 in order to participate. ALL donations will be going towards plane tickets / travel expenses and Keely's fundraising to participate. I strongly believe that God will always provide, so I trust in Him to help us if His will is for us to keep our promise to dad and the Fuller Center now that we have registered.

We thank each and every one of you who have read this and ask that even if you cannot donate, you will keep us in your thoughts and prayers during this endeavor!

Sincerely,

Kelsey Johansson Becerril

Keely Noel Johansson