When Ethan Linnon was a Butler High School senior, he became friends with two sophomores after deciding to sit with them at lunch.

Ethan also comforted and offered words of encouragement to a girl he didn't know who was crying in the school hallway.

These gestures of kindness are things his parents Erin and Brion Linnon learned after Ethan died in an October 2015 car accident.

The plaque the unknown girl made to honor Ethan that sits in their home is a reminder of his life.

“As a parent, you're very happy ... Those are the little pockets of your kid's life you don't know about,” Brion said. “Through the scholarship, we're blessed to learn about these stories.”

The Linnons of Butler have given a total of $75,000 over four years through the “Ethan Alexander Linnon Scholarship” to Butler students. This year for the final time, they awarded 23 scholarships of $1,000 each.

“Things aren't awesome because they last forever,” Brion said. “There's a beauty in ending when you're supposed to end.”

In 2016, the Linnons awarded 20 $1,000 scholarships. In lieu of flowers, the donations people offered in memory of Ethan were moved into an account for the scholarships.

In 2017, Ethan's parents awarded 15 scholarships and in 2018, they awarded 17 scholarships through funds they raised through their annual superhero theme run and walk called Live Like E because Ethan ran cross country. Almost 800 participants registered during the run's first year, and many small family-owned businesses continued to donate for years after, the Linnons said.

“When we designed the scholarship, we didn't want it to be based on grades or financial need because so many kids fall between the two,” he said. Instead, the family came up with the idea to award the scholarship based on an essay that encouraged applicants to write about how they are choosing to live life like Ethan, to make them think about doing good and having fun in life.

In the submissions, the applicants would reference memories they had of Ethan and recall him as a role model and someone who spread happiness, she said.

In school, Ethan was a student section leader at sporting events during his senior year, he said. The cheerleaders, football players and fellow students wrote in their essays that Ethan would be in the stands revving up the kids to cheer. One game, Ethan even wore a hotdog costume for a theme night and a Captain America costume because he loved superheroes.

Brion and Erin learned the band wore Ethan stickers because as a student section leader, he started cheering for the band during halftime, she said.

“They referenced his smile,” he said. “He was famous for his smile.”

What made Ethan unique was that he strove to be kind to everyone, he said.

“Ethan was a person that lived every day like it was the last,” he said. “He was undoubtably put on this Earth to teach others how to enjoy life.”

Their son would now be 21, Brion said, adding they built relationships with Ethan's friends, who are now young adults.

With the scholarship, Erin said she gives a card with Ethan's life motto he made in class months before he died: “Take time, rest your head. Focus on keeping a positive mental attitude. The problems won't change but you can change the way you see them.”

“We were able to read in these essays things we didn't know about Ethan — moments in school where he made a difference or a memory a child might have of Ethan,” Brion said. “It's one of the silver linings because most parents don't get to know those stories and shouldn't have a need to know. But, because of our tragedy, we have the honor to read these stories and the impression your son left on people.”

This year, Brion and Erin's younger son graduates, which was the perfect time to end the scholarship, they said.

“As he graduates, Brion and I, our family, will be able to graduate as well,” Erin Linnon said.

As time passes, younger students entering high school would not have known Ethan so the scholarship would not have the same meaning, they said.

Another reason to conclude the scholarship was the chance for the community to give to other families who experience tragedy or give to another cause, Brion said.

The four years the scholarship ran shows resilience, hope, love and support from the community, they said.

“We were blessed at a really horrific time in our lives,” Brion said. “It was how you want life to be when horrible things happen.”

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