Isaiah Eugene Kappenman
10-24-1996 to 3-1-2021
“Let’s play Monopoly!” Isaiah treasured spending time with the family, sitting around the table playing board games. He even helped us create a double-boarded version of Scrabble. Isaiah also enjoyed playing chess, card games, and puzzles. He was competitive, but fun.
Isaiah was our source of comedy, being able to do impressions and accents and just act silly. He often played Santa, enjoying handing out the presents. He sent friends and family funny texts all the time, some perhaps more appropriate than others, but he felt life was short and should contain a decent amount of humor. We’ve enjoyed family vacations, lake trips, camping trips, and multitudes of family gatherings. He always brought laughter to any occasion.
“Live and let live.” Accepting folks at face value was important to Isaiah. He didn’t want to judge someone, even if they made decisions he didn’t like. He felt everyone should be loved for who they were. If they found Christ, God could do the changing better than man could.
Isaiah enjoyed singing with the family at church when he was younger. He also enjoyed singing with songs on the radio or Pandora. He had another talent – he could act! He participated in skits, VBS, and holiday programs.
“No need to fight.” He was, to a large extent, the family peacemaker. Isaiah didn’t like dissension among the 7 siblings, so he would sometimes try to reach out and smooth over ruffled feathers.
Isaiah packed a lot of living into 24 years of life. He tried his hand at various industries before settling on emergency services. He knew how to do landscaping, flooring, electrical work, basic construction, automotive repair, household repairs, and cook. He pursued his great love for emergency services with all his heart, loving the adrenaline rush of an exciting call. “Hey, Boss,” or “Hey, Darlin’,” became a signature greeting for him in the field.
The family was blessed when Isaiah married Ashleigh and they began their new life together. They married in the backyard due to Covid, but the wedding was still sweet and the family welcomed his new wife.
Isaiah was our “miracle baby” after nearly dying at birth – but God said, “You can keep him a while longer.” Death knocked again when he cabled tied his neck at age 4, but God said, “You can keep him a little longer.” At 16, his appendix ruptured. The surgeon said it was the worst he’d seen – another day, and he would have died. But God said, “You can keep him a little longer.” But this past Monday, we couldn’t keep him a little longer. We praise the Lord for the years we had – God’s been so good to us. We will sorrow as we miss him, but since Isaiah knew Jesus Christ as his personal Savior, we know Isaiah is more alive today than he’s ever been, in the presence of Jesus Christ our Lord. We know we will see Isaiah again. We know Isaiah wasn’t perfect – he certainly made mistakes as we all do. But his sins were forgiven through the salvation offered by Jesus Christ. It was Isaiah’s heart’s desire that the men and women he served with would all know Jesus and that he would see them in Heaven one day.
If you are here at this service today, and you don’t know Jesus personally, as Isaiah did, the family encourages you to pray, even right now, asking Christ to forgive you of your sins and save your soul. What a great reunion day we are going to have one day when we see our Isaiah again. ■
