Roan Abraham Vaughan

I am quite late to adding to this as I have not known what to say. I met Roan through camp, he was someone who I had always looked up to and I refused to believe the news when I heard it. At camp we have a ceremony called the 5 year club, in said ceremony everyone who is initiated gets to choose an "elder brother". An "elder brother" is someone who speaks on the initiates behalf. Roan was going to be my "elder brother", my year at camp this past summer was extremely tough without him. I am upset every time I see admin porch where Roan and I would sit and talk, or when walking past his old village. When I think of Roan the first words that come to mind are inspiring, resilient, characteristic, and funny. He embodied every single one. I miss Roan, this past summer I was put into the 5 year club, in remembrance of my dear friend Roan I dedicated the back of my 5 year shirt to him entirely. We miss you Roan, all of our hearts will never be as full without you here. We all love you man!

Roan was my cousin and I’m the sibling to Riley smith and he was honestly my favorite cousin and this year for thanksgiving is going to be hard for me because every year we would play football with each other and so going to thanksgiving this year knowing he won’t be coming is really sad. Rip Roan

Roan and I worked together at camp, and his absence has cast a darkness over my life. I regret not taking the opportunities I was given to get to know him better when I had the chance to. I remember he made a lasting positive impact on me this past summer. During a random staff training exercise at the beginning of camp, we paired ourselves up with people we didn't know well. Roan and I chose each other because we didn't know each other well. The task was to walk together for awhile and ask each other questions that where provided to us. We had to ask each other to list things we were proud of ourselves for. Roan stated to me that this would be difficult for him. We laughed it off and took our time to think. We took turns and he told me that he was proud of his ability to not be afraid of failing. I didn't think much of it at the time. But throughout the summer that answer stuck with me. I realized I also didn't want to be afraid of failing. I looked up to him in that regard, and watched that in our community he took his mis-steps in stride and with the grace and wisdom of someone far older. He also had the quirkiest fashion sense, and I deeply admired his bravery and comfort in being himself. I wanted to emulate the same qualities and he inspired confidence in me. I saw him as a leader who would only grow more impactful as he experienced life. I regret never telling him that I loved his sunflower patch jorts, I was planning on telling him all last summer. I will miss him forever, but I plan to keep working on my fashion sense, and not being afraid of failure.

I am a part of Roans family and I remember going to his funeral and hearing the song 'Godspeed' by Frank ocean and when I hear it, I think of himI miss him so much and I wish he didnt pass away, rip my dear

Roan was my cousin and everytime I saw him, he made me and my family laugh and smile, he had the greatest personality and he was the kindest person. I will always remember his warm smile. Roan taught me leadership and to always be my best self. Anytime someone talks about baseball, I think of roan and his passion for it, he loved prospect park dearly and given that he lived across from it, he went there nearly everyday. I wish he was still here, I miss him more than anything and I will always remember himRip my dear cousin

I met Roan through camp. This past summer, one day when it was raining, I was sitting on admin porch reading a book when I overheard Roan tell someone he wanted to slide down the hill. Then I watched him sprint towards the hill and slide almost 10 feet. On the last night, he joined our cabin for cabin chat. Roan was always smiling. I'm going to miss him. Camp won't be the same without him. Rest in peace Roan.