ABOUT Sean

 SPB are the initials of an amazing young man, and a bright young student, born in Pennsylvania, but raised here in Wesley Chapel, Florida. SPB: Sincere, Passionate, and Beyond any expectations we could have ever had for him. SPB: Selfless, Persistent, and a Blessing to any and everyone who knew him. SPB: Strong, Proud, and Brilliant beyond his years. SPB: Sean Patrick Bartell, my little brother, and friend to anyone he met. Although, his life ended before it could begin, he touched more lives than you could imagine.

Sean wanted to be the best he could be.  Education was his focus.  When he began his freshman year he knew exactly what he was going to do his four years of high school.  He had it all planned.  He said, "Mom I want to do better than everyone else".  Any and every class he could take he was going take it.  He was enrolled in FL Virtual School, as well as Wesley Chapel High School.  He was fifth in his class and was planning to attend Vanderbilt University to study biology.  When he passed away we were devastated, he had all these plans and promise that he wasn't going to be able to live out.  Our church, Atonement Lutheran, came to us wanting to start a scholarship fund in Sean's name.  This is how the ideas started.  Sean's teachers came to us and said "So do you know that in his free time he helped his fellow classmates with their studies?"  We didn't know he helped others, we didn't know he was so well-liked.  His friends told us he would never give them the answers, but he always helped them figure out how to get to the answer.  His friend Gabby hand-wrote us a four-page letter, in which she wrote how he helped her understand pre-calculus.  She scored an 81 on her midterm and wasn't going to be able to share that with him, since he had passed.   He was such a quiet kid and never wanted to be the center of attention.  With this information, it became evident that the way to honor him was by helping other students to fulfill their goals.

A note from Sean's best friend:

I remember on each of our birthdays we would always be there for one another whether that meant we hung out in person or played Xbox together for hours. Usually both! Not a single day goes by that I don't think about how much I miss Sean and the times we spent with one another. Those were some of the greatest moments in my life. Happy 19th birthday to Sean! I'm sure he's looking down on us smiling at all the birthday wishes he's getting.

I haven't mentioned this to many people, but over the last 4-5 months I've founded a company. At the very beginning, I remember being extremely stressed out because there was just too much work to be done. Even in high school I never really did the best work I could've done, but I was always looking at Sean make even the most difficult assignments look effortless. I almost didn't start the company because of the copious amounts of work to be done, but I remembered Sean's work ethic towards school. I started to dream that maybe one day I can work as well as him. The ENTIRE time I've been working on this company, up until today, while I work I always think about if he was looking down on me and if he's impressed with how much I have changed my attitude towards working. Sean is one of the biggest inspirations to me. He was the main reason I changed my attitude about my work ethic. Without his inspiration to me, I don't think I would be close to where I am today. Thank you for giving me such an inspirational friend. It changed my life, and I really mean that.