Toby LOVED being in the Army. This picture was the day he re-enlisted – one of his happiest days!
“My husband did not go overseas. Rather, he served securing our borders in the desert southwest. That took its toll on him as did other events. He was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2000. It was like a gift to me; it explained so much that I thought was happening and was a vindication of sorts. Toby was unwilling to take the meds that would help him and go to counseling. He spiraled ever deeper into the darkness of his paranoid schizophrenia. He got so lost in it all that he never found his way home. Just after Thanksgiving of 2001 he died of self-inflicted wounds. How he died is not who he was. He was a son, a husband, a father, a brother in Christ and a son of the living God. How he died was the last moment of his life, the one he chose. I choose to remember the man he was when he was trying with all his might to be that man.”
Toby’s wife now hopes to advocate for suicide awareness and support others in their journey.
Final Rest – National Cemetery Arizona
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