To:  Cyndi Joiner

I am so sorry to hear of the passing of your nephew Ethan.  My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family during this difficult time.  Please take care.

~Terrie Robertson
    RCS

Dear Pauline, 
  So sorry for your loss, he was a great kid.  Deepest Sympathy, 
                                                                                                 Laurie Raska

I hope you overcome the grief over the loss of your son, Ethan, soon.

I am so sorry to hear of Ethan’s passing. I had the pleasure of working with Ethan in elementary school as his speech pathologist. Ethan was an absolute joy to work with and brought a smile to my face each time I saw him. Ethan loved to play a particular Dinosaur game that I have and whenever I pull that game out I still think of Ethan. My prayers are with the family and hope that they will soon move beyond the sadness of losing him and just be able to remember the happy times. 
Amy Sartor
Stoney Creek high School

Just over 9 years ago, we made a special family memory all together.  This is one of my favorite pictures to look back on and remember Ethan! The Joiners were in Florida and we all met up for some water park resort fun.

2nd half of the video from Ethan's graduation.

I will never forget Ethan and the positive impact he had on others!

Ethan loved joining in with his classmates to have fun! This picture has him playing Dragon Tails and he along with his group are the Dragon moving around the gym floor. I enjoyed having Ethan in my classes and I will always remember the joy he had playing ‘Ring Toss’!

Rochester Adams Honors Convocation, Most Exceptional Student award

Ethan led a courageous battle for 16 years. We met him at a birthday party. He was an Inspiration to all.

Dave and Jackie Foster

Ethan & my buddy Dave loved to tease each other.  The day of this pic, Dave brought over his new Corvette & they cruised our neighborhood.  Dave was teasing Ethan that some girls in the neighborhood were checking Ethan out.  Little memories keep popping up that make me laugh.

It was so nice having Ethan home with us at the end.  Pauline & Ethan were watching Jingle All the Way, and Milo was watching over Ethan....Milo was so protective of Ethan near the end.

A summer afternoon at Cooks Dairy Farm.  Ice cream wasn’t Ethan’s favorite (and I don’t think the stinky cows helped) Ethan opted for a Coke. 😊

My deepest condolences to the whole Joiner Family. Sending love and many hugs. ❤️

Dear precious Joiner Family,

We are very saddened to hear about your precious Ethan's passing.  We will add you to your prayers.  

Much Love, the Fisher Family (Stoney Creek High School)

Being Ethan’s peer mentor at Adams High School was one of my favorite high school memories. Every morning I looked forward to getting to see Ethan and he made every day better and brighter. He will be missed so much by so many🤍

So sorry for your loss. Sending love, strength, prayers, and hugs. Ethan was such an amazing and strong person! Whitney and Hillary will always remember their fun nerf gun battles with Ethan.

I did not know your son Ethan but I just want to share how sorry I am to hear about his passing. I am praying for peace and strength to all of you that knew and love him as you navigate through these difficult days ahead. I pray that your hearts overflow with many wonderful memories of his love and laughter!!
Melissa Cesal (a member of the RH community)

Jesenta and the Prior family want to offer our sympathy for your loss.  We pray that your family finds strength in the Lord and know that Ethan is in God's hands.

With Sympathy,
Sherwin and Jes Prior

Please accept my deepest condolences for your loss.  Ethan will be missed.

I saw a video clip of Ethan and other children with cancer going on a flight to the North Pole at the airport boarding a plane. And there was an interview of Pauline expressing her feelings 🥲. She is a great mom❤️ and her and Phil were great caregivers to Ethan ❤️

Dear Pauline and Phil,
We are so sorry for the loss of Ethan. What an amazingly courageous young man. He was blessed with an incredibly loving set of parents and supportive siblings. Our hearts and prayers are with you.
Love, 
Lori Ann & Dave (Christopher & Patrick too)

Ethan and I had so much fun at West. Whether it was making maps of the school, chasing the ducks, building legos, or making art we cracked jokes & had fun! I think one of my favorite things was making up silly songs with him in choir. He was my favorite "old man" & I bet he's having a ball in heaven cracking jokes with the angels and hiding from the choir. :-) I was so glad to see him again when he came to Schultz.  He will be sorely missed by everyone who knew him!

We love this pic of Phil and Ethan. Phil is such a good dad

Ethan was showing us his light sabers one night while we played games at the Joiners.

Such joy!  
My favorite memories of Ethan were watching his eyes light up and his huge smile when I would bring him big bags of returnable cans.  It was like I could see the $ in his eyes...  all the plans he would have for that money.  Those plans almost always involved buying gifts for his nephews.  <3.   Ethan's spirit is an inspiration to do and be better in this world.

I was, and forever will be inspired by Ethans courage and strength.  He faced struggles daily, but always managed to move forward, learn, grow, and be strong of spirit.   
I have great memories of playing games with him and Pauline at his home, and in the hospital during one of his visits.  His competitive spirit was fun to watch!  I loved hanging out with his family at the Brookwood pool, enjoying sun and relaxation.

We all have so many memories of Ethan. He was a really special guy. When has little, I remember giving him crazy horse rides, wrestling and throwing him around until I was totally exhausted. It was hard to stop because he wouldn’t want to stop. It didn’t matter what the get together was, he and I were pretty much always horsing around. I probably riled him up more than I was supposed too, but he was so much fun. As he and I got older one thing that brought us both back to those crazy days was my Donald Duck impression. Most visits I was welcomed with “Hi Donald Duck” and couldn’t leave without hearing “Goodbye Donald duck’’. It was fun being with Ethan even as he got older. He loved to expose something he thought was funny or embarrassing about his Dad. It was his way of joking around and we always had fun laughing together. If he saw something funny on tv, he would be laughing  as he struggled shared it. He got older, but never really grew up like the rest of us. He had such innocence about him until the end. He loved legos, Disney, coke in a bottle, slushies, hotdogs, games but mostly he loved babies and his family. He will be missed, but always remembered.

Our sweet nephew, Ethan has always been one of the strongest people I know. His medical journey started when he was just 5 years old. He’s faced multiple surgeries, chemo, radiation, MRIs, shots, time in the hyperbaric chamber, and a plethora of side effects from medications. Through it all he displayed such incredible resilience. Some may look at his life and focus on his challenges. And there were many. But there were also so many happy times. He went on amazing vacations, he beat us all at games, he built intricate Lego creations, he was an avid collector of bobble heads and Disney pins, and he loved babies! God gave Ethan the most compassionate and caring parents and siblings that loved him deeply. Though Ethan was 21, we would see him curled up next to one of his parents on the couch. He often playfully teased them, but we knew how much he loved his family. And we all loved Ethan. Life won’t be the same on earth without him. 
But now he is whole again. And we have another reason to look forward to heaven one day. ♥️

My senior year I had the privilege of being apart of the peer mentor class at Rochester Adams. Every day myself and my friend Isabella would sit with Ethan at lunch. We loved chatting with him and making witty jokes right back with him while we would go all around Adams looking for spare change. While we did several activities outside of school, I will never forget being invited to his birthday party (pictured here!). Seeing the joy he had while introducing myself and Isabella to his family and playing games in the basement is something I will never forget. I am so lucky to have known Ethan during my senior year at Adams and I am sure he would be glad to know both me and Isabella have graduated from MSU (another thing he loved to joke about with us!). I hope Ethan is collecting all the spare change, telling all the jokes, and giving us all the biggest smile. May his memory be a blessing❤

Pauline and Family- 

My heart goes out to you all during this incredibly difficult time.        You touched so many lives  here at Hugger, and I felt as if I got to know Ethan through the beautiful stories you shared.   Sending hugs and heartfelt prayers to you and your family. 

Much love,
Linsey Grupczynski

We are so very sorry for your unimaginable loss…Ethan was a wonderful person…There are no words at a difficult time like this, but may your beautiful memories bring you much comfort, and please know that many people are thinking of your whole family, and lifting you all up in prayer…

The Family of Ashley Cobble from ATPS

Grandma and Grandpa have so many memories its impossible to put
them here.   We loved him so very much. He always knew what present his mom should get me and he was always right in his choices. Grandma will always treasure her “Lady and the Tramp” jigsaw puzzel.  What will we all do without him?

My sincere condolences and prayers. A big hug for my amigo Phil and his family on this difficult time. 

Sincerely!
Sabino and his family

Love you Ethan!  I know you’re collecting everyone’s spare change in heaven! ❤️

This was the last time I got to spend with Ethan. He beat the pants off Rose, me and his mom during this fun dice game. I’m a very competitive person but how can you not be happy he won when you see this big smile.    
Ethan you will be missed

Was the last time got to spend with Ethan had a fun time playing this dice game. Ethan beat the pants off of Rose, me and his mom.  I’m a very competitive person but how can you not be happy to see him smile so big when he won 😁Ethan you will be missed

When I was a peer mentor, I wrote weekly journals about exiting things that happened. This is a portion of a journal I wrote a few years ago on the week of Ethan’s birthday. I came across this the other day, and I think it is another wonderful memory to share. Everyone around the school loved Ethan so much.
I will truly miss Ethan so much. I am beyond lucky that I got to know him for the time I did. He has sure changed my life.

Ethan has made such an impact on my life. I met Ethan when I was put in his Integrated Math class as a peer mentor. As soon as I met him, I realized how amazing he was. He was so witty, funny, and determined. Whenever I entered the classroom and saw Ethan smiling, I could not help but smile. He always had a big smile on his face. There was no way to be unhappy in his presence! I will always remember the look on his face and light in his eyes when he got a math question correct. There was never a moment he wasn’t giving his all and making everyone laugh.

One of my favorite memories of Ethan was during the Adam’s Honor Convocation. Ethan chose to graduate on this day and I was lucky enough to walk him across the stage to get his diploma. He, of course, had a huge smile on his face the entire time. When he went on stage, he was given the Highlander Exceptional Student Award and a piggy bank. Ethan loved money, and especially loved to hunt around the school’s vending machines for loose change. The piggy bank was filled of spare change gathered by the principal in competition with Ethan to see who could find the most money. I remember how excited Ethan was to show everyone his prize. I was so proud of him!

OBITUARY

Ethan Phillip Joiner

February 13, 2002 – November 18, 2023

Pixley Funeral Home

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