Communities in Maine, New Jersey grieve tragic loss of Levi Caverly of Union

UNION, Maine (WABI) - Hurt and shock are very real. Those are the words of a Union father grieving with his family over the loss of their son, 18-year-old Levi Caverly.We’re learning more about the tragic accident earlier this week when he died on a beach in New Jersey from some of the community members who live there.

Two communities -- one in Maine and one in New Jersey -- grieving a tragedy that has touched countless hearts around the world. ”I started hearing all the first day emergency vehicles going past my condominium. And I knew something bad was happening because there were so many of them. ”Jacquelin Len and her sister, Susan, are longtime residents of Toms River Township, a barrier island known as the jersey shore. They live across the street from where the accident happened. ”So I actually text my sister and I said something’s going on up toward you. It actually happened between her and I so we wind up going up to the beach to look to see what was going on and what you knew something bad was happening because there was so many first responders and there was so many people at the beach even though there had to be like 200 people at the beach. It was silence because everybody was in shock.” That’s where 18-year-old Levi Caverly of Union was spending the day while on vacation with his family. He became trapped in the deep hole in the sand he and his sister had been digging .”And it just your heart broke for those parents. Then we actually know some of the volunteer firefighters that were actually participating in. So it made it even tougher to watch them work, you know? And then I wind up talking to the parents, and that was heartbreaking more. It was crazy.”

“I’m just so sorry for their loss. My heart goes out to the family.”

Here’s the message Levi’s father, Todd Caverly, shared with us:

“We are Christians, and we take God at His Word. That does not mean that we understand everything, but that we trust His nature for the things that do not make sense. We noted that each one of us has a certain number of days, and we do not know how many that is, but we are powerless to change that. Consider this: Tuesday was Levi’s day. There was nothing we could do to alter that. If he had died any other way, our loss would have been the same. Hurt and shock are very real. The difference is that if he had had a heart attack or was hit by a car, probably the local paper there, and maybe our local paper would have said something brief. Because of the way that God chose to take him, something has happened. Seemingly around the world (I cannot comprehend how far this has gone), people are hearing about the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, our family can say with certainty that through this God has been so merciful to us. Mercy in ways to numerous to list. It literally seems that everyone knows what happened, and so many discussions have arisen (I am sure that I don’t know 1% of them) regarding life, death, and eternity. We are here for a very short time. Eternity is forever. We need to think about that now. Our lives changed in a literal second. If Levi had not known Jesus Christ as his Savior, he had no time in the last moments, as some hold out for.”

“Levi was Levi. Unique, lovable, and a beautiful butterfly who could “frog”. Levi was born 6-18-2003. He was smart, geeky, lovable, and so much of me, but better. Levi was Homeschooled for his entire education, and augmented that with computer classes at Midcoast School of Technology. Levi loved computers, coding, meme’s, and humor. He was on the worship team at West Rockport Baptist Church, and a drummer in a teen multi church worship band that just had their first performance a month ago. Levi loved to make people laugh, even, or maybe especially, at his expense. If you knew Levi, then you know that he loved his friends, and was willing to help anyone. He worked as a delivery driver for the local Dominoes, but money meant nothing to him. He had logic, and that would often lead to frustration looking around at the world. He was king of random facts. Levi had a fascination with VR, and dreamed of being able to make Bible stories come alive through VR. He was setting up a dedicated computer room for coding and eventually streaming”

Levi is survived by his parents Todd and Angela Caverly. His siblings Helen Caverly, John Munroe, Carl Caverly and his wife Sophie Caverly, as well as his uncle Shawn Levasseur, and paternal grandparents Jim and Mary Caverly. His maternal grandparents Thomas and Beryl Levasseur predeceased Levi.

Funeral services will be held at West Rockport Baptist Church at 10am on June 4th. Reception to follow. The internment will be held privately at a later date.

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