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By Cody's mom, Rhonda
Cody Shumway
Hemet, California
My first born son, Cody, was a loving, caring, brilliant, gifted and funny person. He was a joy to be around and had many friends. Cody began experimenting with drugs and alcohol at the age of 14 and very quickly we realized that he had a serious problem. After two stints of rehab during his Junior year of highschool, Cody stayed off of hard drugs for 15 years.
Cody was a musical and math genius and after college he moved to Hawaii to become a High School Math teacher. He was living his dream of surfing big waves and working a job that he loved. His students loved him as well.
Cody got injured surfing and was prescribed Vicodin. After 15 years sober from hard drugs, he fell back into his disease of addiction almost immediately. He finally agreed to go to rehab and while he was there he helped many others with their issues. He was such a likeable guy that people enjoyed his company no matter where he was. After 10 months of hard-won sobriety, Cody lost his battle to the disease of addiction on July 26, 2012, just two days after completing his Master’s Degree. He died of an overdose of heroin and alcohol.
I think of my son every single day. Cody is missed by his two brothers and many, many friends.
His new nephew is named in his honor.
