Kevin Alan Mapes

Kevin Alan Mapes was born August 31, 2001 in Burlingame, California to Laura and John Mapes. At the age of two, Kevin suffered what was thought to be a febrile seizure. The seizures continued throughout his entire life. Numerous drugs and therapies were tried to control and stop his seizures. There were some victories and successes; he had a few long periods where there were no seizures but ultimately nothing prevented them, the dragon won. Kevin lived in Union City with his parents and grandmother, Joan Chafe nearby also in Union City, California for most of his life. He spent much of his time with his grandmother, Joan Chafe while mom and dad worked. She watched him and took care of him because a regular babysitter just would not do.Kevin attended Fremont Christian School in Fremont, California; Eastin Elementary, Hillview Crest, Pioneer and Cabello Schools in Union City, California. Kevin also attended Lincoln Child Center in Oakland, California for a short time and Achieve Kids School in Palo Alto, California. Kevin and his family had recently moved to Prescott, Arizona. Kevin began school in Arizona at Prescott High School. This was a very big achievement for Kevin as he was so very proud to be attending a real high school. He never would have had this opportunity in California. However, High School proved to be a bit too challenging for Kevin and he was currently attending Ascend School in Prescott. He was just beginning to be comfortable in his new environment. He quickly made friends and stole the hearts of the staff and students at Ascend School.He enjoyed being a Cub Scout and a Boy Scout and participating in scouting activities such as camping, hiking, shooting, archery, campfire, swimming, pinewood derby and rain gutter regatta. He went to Boy Scout Camp and got to sleep under the stars. He was active learning Taekwondo, playing T-Ball with the Union City American Little League (UCALL) Mariners. He also played baseball with the UCALL Red Sox. Kevin played soccer with the Union City Youth Soccer League Fire Dragons. For two successive years, he attended the “Mighty Mike Basketball Camp,” hosted by the Epilepsy Foundation of Northern (EFNC) California. Last year, Kevin attended and a special event San Jose Sharks ice hockey game also sponsored by the EFNC. Kevin was honored by the Sharks and he was displayed on the big scoreboard screen as a representative for the Foundation.Kevin was a real fan of Sponge Bob in his early years. Most times he would sit with his grandmother and they watched every episode on the television together. He wanted to be a spy and an actor when he got older. He had lots of ‘Spy Gear’ gadgets, spy cameras, video watches, infra-red binoculars, motion alarm traps, rear view sunglasses and walkie talkie radios to mention just a few. Kevin’s dad had him convinced that dad had made him handsome. They used to perform “the routine” for mom where they both would show off their matching characteristics, “hair, chin, nose, eye brows, wink, hand, high-five…” at the end, Kevin displayed a goofy look and said: “did you miss me” the same way Jim Carey did in the movie “The Mask.” He also wanted to be an actor; his role models were Jim Carey and Kevin James mostly because they are funny, goofy guys. Kevin’s’ mom often called him a “goof” because he had a delightful sense of humor and mom would be silly right along with him. His favorite movies were Back to the Future, The Mask, Spy Kids, Avatar, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Despicable Me, Transformers and Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs. At Universal Studios, he saw how movie magic was made. He wanted to have his own green screen and movie camera to make his own super hero movie, with him as the star of course. He often said that he wanted to be a super hero and help people.Kevin had many passions that kept him busy. His last most favorite of all things was the “Power Rangers” He wanted to make his own movie with a Power Rangers theme. He would play the tunes repeatedly and lip sync the words on his Power Rangers communicator and Power Rangers ‘Morpher’. He memorized the words to each different Power Rangers Theme song and then sent the complete lyrics in text messages to his grandmother. He happily explained to everyone how the Japanese Power Rangers equipment was different from the American versions. He was teaching himself to speak Japanese. He found examples of Japanese language symbols on the internet and made exact copies of the ones associated with his name and the equipment into his sketch book. Then he showed us and talked about what the symbols and words meant.Kevin loved to go to Lake Havasu and drive the boat, swim in the lake and ride with his cousins behind the boat on the inner tube. Kevin also loved to ride his bike and his skateboard, make snowmen at our cabin, throw snowballs at dad, bowling, play basketball and swimming. He loved music; he had just received his first real guitar for Christmas and was beginning to learn how to play it.Mom and Dad had recently taken Kevin to some concerts, he saw the Beatles play “Love” and a live performance by the Moody Blues in Las Vegas. He also enjoyed seeing the dancing fountains at Bellagio Resort there too. He had a very good time watching Dave Davies play his awesome guitar in Napa, California. Kevin enjoyed going places with his parents. We took him to see the Grand Canyon, numerous museums, the beach, Great America Theme Park, Monster Jam, Giants Games, Meteor Crater in Arizona, Sedona, England, the Golden Gate Bridge just to mention a few. Kevin was going to go to Disneyland with his mom during Spring Break this week and then when school got out, we were going to take him to Hawaii to see the erupting volcano.Kevin’s Favorite restaurant was Benihana. We went to Benihana every birthday, regardless of whose birthday it was. That was his rule, so that’s where we went. In 2017, Kevin got the chance to be away from mom and dad for a whole week at the Epilepsy Youth Summer Camp in Occidental, CA. Here, Kevin got to make new friends, go to the beach, campfire, have his face painted and enjoy arts and crafts.Kevin is survived by his parents, John and Laura Mapes, his Grandmother Joan Chafe, his Grandfather Frank Chafe, his half big brother, David Joel Mapes, his step-brother Mike Mapes, cousins Evan and Jason Mapes.The Mapes Family wishes to express their sincere appreciation and heartfelt gratitude for all the support, prayers, posts, comments, visits, flowers, texts, emails and expressions of kindness during this very difficult time of grief and loss of our beloved Kevin.