Jakob Town, the Medical Lake teen killed before his senior year of high school, never missed a moment in life

Seventeen-year-old Jakob Town touched many lives in Spokane County before his death. In what his father described as “miracle connections,” there was always a trail of people and places that knew his name.

Town died on Sept. 1, five days after he was struck by a Jeep on the side of a road near Four Lakes. Town had exited the truck his friend was driving to check a load in the bed around 8:30 p.m. when he was hit in “a tragic accident,” the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office said. He was supposed to start his senior year at Medical Lake High School the next day.

His parents, Alison and Shaawn Town, sat outside a bakery in Medical Lake on Saturday and pointed to their favorite photos of Jakob they put out to commemorate the teen who loved his faith, family, country and life. He also loved his mother’s music, the classic 1970s and ’80s songs she said “were our songs.”

The two knew how important their son was to them his entire life. But after his death, they were stunned to see how important he was to others.

“People said they wouldn’t have felt comfortable moving to this town if Jakob hadn’t made them feel comfortable. … He was a values person … a good boy,” Alison Town said. “So I feel proud every single day.”

The last time Shaawn Town spoke to his son, he was leaving the house to hang out with friends.

“He looked at me and made a weird face, and I made a face,” his father said. Shaawn Town told him at the time he loved him, to have fun and be safe.

“Those are things I try to say every time,” he said. “You just want to wrap your kids in a bubble and never let them out of the house. But with him, I knew he had adventure.”

From a young age, Jakob Town was inviting friends over he’d meet at random and riding motorcycles, going fishing or doing anything outdoors. His father would come home to another boy in their house – in addition to Jakob’s four other siblings – and ask, “Who’s that?”

Sometimes Shaawn Town didn’t know how his son would find the connections he did.

Some friends were home-schooled, others were miles away.

It was a type of miracle that he reached people so far away, his father said.

As Jakob got older, he would reach out to people through bike clubs and grow his circle of friends from schools in Freeman, Cheney, Reardan and more schools in between.

He also started showing animals at local fairs through the Future Farmers of America program and was attending Newtech Skill Center to become a welder.

Once he got into trap shooting, he’d be gone for hours, Shaawn Town said. When his son came home, he’d show off the gun’s bruises on his shoulder like a badge of honor.

He had finally found his niche, his mother said, and he enjoyed every minute of it. There wasn’t a moment in life he wanted to miss, especially with his girlfriend, Jordyn. Since his death, Jordyn and Jakob’s friends have become even more like family to Jakob’s parents as a welcome and supportive distraction from the grief of losing their youngest, the “baby of the family.”

The grief, however, isn’t linear.

For two days, Alison Town couldn’t get out of bed. Shaawn Town realized he sometimes struggles being alone, because the thoughts and emotions he can put on hold for a moment all come flooding back too quickly. The two also had a difficult time writing his obituary.

But the two continue to persevere since losing their son, because it’s what he would have wanted.

“Jakob knew us that way. He was always proud of us that way,” Alison Town said. “Make time for your children. Hold on to them. You never know what’s going to happen.”

A GoFundMe page started for Town has raised more than $14,000 to help with the family’s medical and funeral expenses.