Life of W.D. Feeney, who ‘was known to do good,’ remembered by friends and family

Several hundred people gathered Tuesday afternoon at CrossPointe Church to celebrate the life of 30-year-old W.D. Feeney, a Columbus man who was killed in a tragic accident April 4 in downtown.

Feeney was a student at Columbus State University and worked as an IT support specialist at the RiverPark campus.

The life celebration ceremony was officiated by Brad Evangelista, the pastor at CrossPointe Church. Evangelista said he had the privilege of being Feeney’s pastor for the past few years.

“W.D. was a well-loved man,” Evangelista said during the service. “We are coming now, yes, to mourn, but we are coming to celebrate and to give thanks to God for this beautiful life.”

Feeney’s grandfather, Jerry Cavitt, described Feeney as very generous and kind.

“He was blessed with the capacity to love his fellow man unlike anyone I’ve ever known or met,” Cavitt said. “He did so without regard to skin color, age, gender, or economic status. He simply loved people.”

Despite a being born with cerebral palsy, Cavitt said Feeney never complained.

“W.D. had the courage of a warrior, he had the determination of an Olympic athlete,” Cavitt said. “Some of you know he was born with cerebral palsy, which restricted the full use of his legs. His entire life he was forced to use devices to move from one location to another. His younger days it was a walker, crutches for short distances, and especially a wheelchair. Never did he emit ‘Why me?’”

Cavitt said he once asked Feeney’s mother why she did not get a handicap parking permit for him.

“She looked at me and said ‘If I get a handicap parking permit, that will tell W.D. that he is handicapped, and I can’t do that,’” Cavitt said.

Feeney’s close friend Logan Copley also spoke about the legacy he left behind. He said W.D. was an example for everyone on how to live with kindness and compassion.

“A common refrain about W.D. over the past few days has been that he was a joyful and friendly man,” Copley said. “Friends and acquaintances alike remarked how he regularly went out of his way for them; even strangers shared the same sentiments. This recognition and appreciation of his personality, however, should move forward.”

Copley said W.D.’s greatest treasure, and the spring of his joy and selflessness, was Jesus Christ.

“Kindness and compassion in W.D.’s life were not the fruits merely of his friendly temperament but of God: W.D’s life emphasizes the kindness and compassion of God,” Copley said. “He reminds us to look beyond ourselves, our circumstances, our limitations, to others. In so doing we are becoming more like Christ, who W.D. followed so well.”

He read a line of scripture that he said Feeney underlined in a Bible, which he gave to Copley the day before Copley got married.

The line came from Psalm 31:14: “Turn away from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it.”

“This is something that characterized his life,” Copley said. “He was a person who was known to do good all the way up to the very end.”

This story was originally published April 10, 2019 at 1:26 PM.