Obituary of Evan Orval Sweeney

Evan Orval Sweeney

December 16, 2017 – June 19, 2023

We are heartbroken to announce that Evan has left us, and gained his angel wings on June 19, 2023 at age 5-and-a-half. He was diagnosed in May 2022 with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG), an incurable brain cancer, which he battled for over a year.

He loved his family so much, eagerly anticipating his didi (older sister Jocelyn) and dada (older brother Merrick) coming home every day, and always asking every morning whether they had school, or daddy (Scott) had work, so he would know if he could expect a full day of play and fun. He spent every day of his life with his mommy, Gloria, and she always got the most hugs and kisses, especially when Evan knew he had done something he shouldn’t and wanted to bring mommy back around. He loved playing card games of war with Gram (Suzanne) and Nani (Juliana), and he always loved G-Pa’s (Orval) funny jokes. He stole Nani’s phone every day to play games with her and would ask her to sit next to him. He never missed an opportunity to have Nani squeeze fresh orange juice for him by hand, or to have her make him Nani’s Special Salad.

Evan loved playing video games and watching his favorite streamers, especially once cancer had stolen his ability to walk. He was an ace in Fortnite, and he loved playing with his mommy the most, because she would always let him lead, and give him first pick of all the items, but in the end, time and time again he would end up saving her in the match. He especially loved playing Minecraft with Didi, Minecraft Dungeons with Dada, and all sorts of things, including wrestling games, with his daddy. He loved Star Wars and Mario, and he stole his favorite color pink from his sister, and his favorite superheroes from his mommy, including Hulk.

He would start every day playing games with his daddy before work, and end every evening spending “big big time” with Didi and Dada in their room before cuddling in with mommy to sleep. He had two smiles… one big one that would light up the entire world that he would show you for the biggest laughs, and one crooked mischievous half-smile that he would save for when he had played a great trick, or knew he’d gotten away with something.

Evan was a truly amazing person and showed a reservoir of strength beyond belief fighting his awful cancer. We will miss him every day and every night, but we are certain that he has gone to God, gotten his angel wings, and will watch over all of us until we can be with him again.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Evan’s name to some of these institutions and charities that helped Evan on his journey:

Children’s National Hospital Foundation : https://childrensnational.org/giving

Inova Schar Cancer Institute : https://support.inova.org/page/3749/donate/1

Smashing Walnuts (childhood brain cancer) : https://smashingwalnuts.org/gift-of-life-campaign/

Make-a-Wish : https://wish.org/

Give Kids the World village : https://www.gktw.org/

ChadTough (defeat DIPG foundation) : https://www.chadtough.org/donate/