End of Life Expenses for Family of Stephen Corwin

My father was truly my hero. As we reflect back on one's life, it is ultimately not the physical accomplishments (the job, the house, the car) that define a person, but rather, how they treated others. While growing up, my father had a very stressful job for the County of Muskegon, facilitating multi-government deals involving millions of dollars - he spent many sleepless nights pondering and brainstorming on how he could best serve the needs of the people of the county and facilitate agreeable arrangements for all parties involved. In his later years, he helped countless families and individuals facing foreclosures and the loss of all they held dear, with grace, compassion, and humor as he guided them through the often-daunting process of personal bankruptcy. And yet, through all of these things, what stands out the most is who he was as a man: as a husband, a father, a grandfather and a friend. Although he would come home from work each day exhausted, he coached creative problem-solving programs with a bunch of rambunctious elementary and middle-school students, because no other parents wanted to sacrifice their personal time for the program. He spent weekends coaching my brother's baseball, basketball teams, and attended Boy Scout camping trips as a parent troop leader. In my later years, we would go on long drives around town, where he would give me "pep talks" and we would discuss everything under the sun. Everyone who knew my father knew him as a tremendously compassionate, engaged, funny, and positive person, who refused to let the trials of life get him down.

However, the stress of his professional career eventually came with consequences, and he developed esophageal cancer in 2015. This ultimately forced him to close his private practice, creating severe financial constraints for my entire family, which have unfortunately never been fully recovered from. Although he "beat" cancer after a lengthy and debilitating hospital stay, many other health challenges took place, and he lost his life at the age of 71.

We are humbly asking for any community support that people may be able to give at this time to help defray end of life services. As the adage goes, "Times are tough," for almost everyone, but we would deeply appreciate any contribution that may be made in honor of my father's memory. Thank you, and God's blessings to everyone! <3