Hundreds of mourners filled the sanctuary of St. John African Methodist Episcopal Church in Aurora on Saturday to grieve the passing of Darion Verner, an Oswego East High School junior who collapsed and died after gym class March 17.
“He was funny, very talented, a great human being to be around,” Verner’s cousin, Tyran Bailey, said during the funeral. “I grew up with him. He’s my first best friend.
“Darion was very competitive. We competed in everything — basketball, who was going to finish their food first,” Bailey said, drawing laughter from the crowd. “We had a brother bond. We knew we loved each other. We brought out the best in each other.”
Personal tributes, along with emotional Bible readings and rousing gospel music, punctuated the service, which was preceded by an hour of visitation in the church. Two large screens displayed a continuous slide show from the 16-year-old’s life.
“Oswego East is fairly large, but we are a tight family,” principal Scott Savage said during the service. “If we stick together, we will get through. Staff and students are here. We care. I’ll never watch basketball the same again because of Darion’s love of basketball.”
The funeral drew dozens of family and friends from Verner’s hometown of Memphis, Tenn., as well as many classmates from Oswego East, such as senior Dan Kalenga, who said he met Verner playing pickup basketball games near Crossroads Community Church in Aurora.
“Darion played mostly small forward, but he was good at everything” on the court, said Kalenga, whose friends all agreed Darion was “the best” basketball player in their gym class. Kalenga said Verner was on a basketball team in Plano before transferring to Oswego East High School, and his friend was planning to try out for the Amateur Athletic Union youth basketball team.
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“Monday was hard for everyone. It just didn’t seem real,” said Kalenga, noting that Verner’s favorite college team was UCLA, which lost in the NCAA tournament Friday.
“His goal was to beat his father in basketball,” said Vandail Verner, Darion Verner’s grandfather. “Darion was a great sportsman, a great competitor.”
“His career intent was to pursue basketball professionally and become an athletic trainer,” Vanessa Verner told mourners. She said Darion had six siblings, served in the youth ministry and facilities ministry at Living Purpose Church in Aurora, and loved music, sports and his family.
“A lot of people have nightmare stories of their teenagers ignoring them and pulling away from them. This was not our case. You were always by my side,” Darion Verner’s father, Dwayne Verner Sr., wrote in a printed obituary.
The funeral featured a musical tribute from Dwayne Verner Sr. on keyboards and his sons Dwayne Verner Jr. on bass and Dorian Verner on drums, as they accompanied the Living Purpose Church Choir. The music brought the crowd to its feet, clapping and raising hands.
“This is a tough time. It’s hard to lose someone at an old age, let alone 16 years old,” the Rev. Tim Bailey, Darion Verner’s uncle and godfather, told the gathered group. “We scratch our heads. Why do bad things happen to good people? But we trust God. We celebrate today because Darion made Jesus Christ his lord and savior.”
Tim Bailey praised Dwayne Verner Sr. and Kimberly Verner as “two of the most giving people I know” and principal Savage for being “at the hospital for hours.”
The school had grief counselors on hand all week, according to students, who said they were with Darion Vernon while he was playing basketball in gym class just before he went to the locker room and collapsed for “no apparent reason.” Kane County Coroner Rob Russell said Verner’s cause of death is pending results of toxicology tests, but no foul play is suspected.
Financial support and prayers have been pledged to the family at www.gofundme.com/verner-family-bereavement-fund.
Diane Moca is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.