Iowa couple who who named Baby Gabriel help grieving parents

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Travis and Jessica Remme’s daughter, Oaklyn, was born on January 4th, 2018.

“What we didn’t know is that she was born with an extremely rare hemangioma on her liver that ruptured due to the pressure of being born,” said Jessica. Oaklyn struggled to live. At one point it looked like she might survive, but after ten hours on this earth her little heart stopped beating.

“She was beautiful, she had a full head of dark hair and our kids got to meet her which was a really tough decision but the right decision at the end of the day,” said Travis.

With two older brothers, to this day when people ask how many kids the Remmes have they say three. Along with the pain of losing a child the Remmes felt alone. Jessica remembers leaving the hospital without Oaklyn.

“I had to stay in the same waiting area, next to a mom who was in a wheelchair, carrying a carrier on her lap, she was taking her baby home, and here I was waiting for my husband to pick me up, with an empty car seat, a diaper bag that you know we had to take home and empty out. We had to go home to a house, I mean I had everything ready. I had burp rags hung over the rocker, we had everything ready to go, and that’s hard,” said Jessica.

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They found little to no support for grieving families like theirs. But that experience, that painful journey, led them down a path. They discovered talking about Oaklyn helped.

They started the Oaklyn Foundation six years ago. The non profit offers help to parents who have lost a child. They started off with care packages catered to each mom and her loss.

“And that evolved, we did more of the weighted bears. So our bears weigh the same weight as the child who passed anywhere from a half pound to ten pounds in weight and we partner with local hospitals to make sure families can leave with those in hand,” said Jessica.

They also fulfill prayer requests. A service that comes naturally to Travis.”A 130-year old building, beautiful stained glass windows the pipe organ there aren’t too may of those left anymore.”The Rock Community Church is his church.”I never thought I would be a pastor. I still have a hard time believing it some days,” said Travis. “It’s not always fun and games, said Travis. “It’s not always a dream profession. I want people to hear that, but I have to pinch myself that I’m a pastor.” “Oh me too,” said Jessica “And you are a pastor’s wife,” said Travis.”And I said I would never be one of those either,” said Jessica. “But on a scale, if you look at all the things you could have been in life.Pretty low, said Travis, “Pastor would have been pretty low.” The congregation at the Rock Community Church has grown, just like the Oaklyn Foundation’s new program, helping families pay for the funerals of kids. In August, the foundation teamed up with Miller Funeral Home to honor baby Gabriel. The infant’s body was found at a Sioux Falls Recycling Center in early August.”She is like talking to me while she has tears running down her face. She said Miller Funeral Home called this morning and they want us to help name that baby, and they want you to maybe be part of the service,” said Travis. “Jessica and I thought about the fact that Gabriel was alone. He had nobody and Gabriel means angel of God, and we knew God had a plan for him, even if it wasn’t fair. The time he had here on earth wasn’t fair, it was cruel, it was mean it was alone and all that. We don’t know all the circumstances there but it just wasn’t fair for him,” said Travis.

To this day the Remme’s are in awe of the response. It was standing room only at the service, people from all walks of life attended, and the procession was 50 cars long. The circumstances of Gabriel’s death are still a mystery, and that might be why his story continues to draw interest from all over the world.

“We saw news stories that had broke in the U.K. said Jessica.

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“Oh yeah the news was crazy, Gabriel’s story was all over, said Travis.

He’s touching the lives of many people and what an honor it is for us that we get to continue to pass on his legacy and talk about him. He’s a part of our family and we are not going to forget him,” said Jessica. “I say often I can’t wait for the day that I get to meet Oaklyn and she runs into my arms again and and now I will get to meet him too, I just think that is a pretty incredible thing.”

The foundation is filling a void, and Jessica now gets requests from all over the country. They are also working with hospitals to set up bereavement support programs for moms and dads who lose children.

If you would like to learn more, here is a link to the Oaklyn Foundation.

https://www.oaklynfoundation.com

https://therockchurchrr.org