Katelyn Davis, an 18-year-old college sophomore from Pasadena, Texas, died Saturday in Arnold, Maryland, from complications associated with epilepsy.
Davis is survived by her parents Kevin and Melissa Davis, sisters LeeAnn Long, Kelly Guidry and Julia Davis, all of the Houston-Pasadena area, and brother Bud Guidry of Jasper.
The San Jacinto College honor student, who graduated with her class from Deer Park High School in 2018 despite struggling for more than half her life with severe epileptic seizures, was pursuing a degree in sports broadcasting.
An enthusiastic fan of college and professional sports — the Houston Astros, Rockets and Dallas Cowboys in particular — she spent her summer reporting for The Washington Times, producing articles on, among others, Washington Redskins legend Charles Mann, Washington Nationals prospect Jackson Rutledge and Baltimore Orioles General Manager Mike Elias, a former Astros executive.
She and her medical alert dog Will, a friendly retriever, quickly became fixtures at Nationals Park, and on Monday, the team remembered the young intern with a moment of silence and noted her absence with a bouquet of roses and an empty chair in the press box.
Members of the media and sports figures in Washington joined thousands of other stunned mourners in remembering her on social media, and team officials and reporters consoled the Texan’s mother when she visited the Nationals press box Monday.
“Unspeakable tragedy,” tweeted Washington Wizards and Capitals owner Ted Leonsis. “Beyond distraught,” wrote Redskins tight end Vernon Davis, who had bonded with the intern he called his “Texas cousin” when she interviewed him for a June 19 feature.
“If you don’t believe and anticipate something happening, then it probably won’t happen. If you think you can’t, you can’t. If you think you can, you can,” he told Davis, a religious young woman who relished hearing about the role faith plays in the lives of athletes and others — and talking about the central place it occupied in her own life.
The Redskins star’s philosophy resonated with the 18 year old. In July, after a long day at Nationals Park, she wrote about the exhilaration of living her dream, working as a reporter in a stadium she called her “happy place.”
“For the first time in my life I had complete and total confidence and understanding that God has used every tragedy, disappointment, setback, illness … to bring me to this place,” she wrote.
Services for Davis will be held at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at First Baptist Church of Pasadena, 7500 Fairmont Parkway, with burial to follow Wednesday in the East Texas town of Jasper.
Visitation will be from 6-8 p.m. Monday at Pasadena’s Niday-Fairmont Funeral Home, 6777 Fairmont Parkway.
The family asks that memorial donations be directed to the Epilepsy Foundation. Those who wish to help with burial expenses can visit the family’s GoFundMe page, “Katelyn Davis Funeral Arrangements,” online.
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