The Josias A Sterling Memorial Fund

Josias A Sterling:
July 1, 1990 - July 24, 2009

 

Little Flower Smile,
The Horizon Has Promise,
No One Can Stop You
   -- Haiku Written by Josias

 

The Josias A. Sterling Memorial Fund is a charitable foundation that honors the memory of Josias A. Sterling. Josias tragically lost his life when swept away by a riptide in July 2009. Josias was a student athlete/rugby player for both St. Joseph's Prep and Temple University.

The goals of the Josias A. Sterling Memorial Fund are twofold:

• 1) Fund the Josias A. Sterling Aquatic Education Program at the Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center of Philadelphia. This program will introduce at least 100 children yearly to swimming and water safety.
• 2) Provide a scholarship to a deserving St. Joseph’s Prep student who will attend Temple University.



In order to achieve these goals, we have launched an annual rugby tournament -- The Josias A. Sterling Memorial “Apple Pie 7s” Rugby Tournament -- which serves as the primary fundraising vehicle of the Memorial Fund.  We have also initiated various fundraisers and solicited donations from all those interested in keeping Josias' effervescent spirit alive.

The Annual Josias A. Sterling Memorial
"Apple Pie 7s" Rugby Tournament

The Friday after Thanksgiving – Every Year
12 noon
Edgely Fields at Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, PA

For Tournament information, email applepie.sevens@gmail.com


About Josias A. Sterling

Josias Anis Sterling was born to Jean Joseph Anis Sterling and Marie Chantale Auguste Sterling on July 1, 1990. He arrived in this world prematurely.  His 3 lb. 3 oz. body took up residence at the Interfaith Memorial Hospital in Brooklyn, New York for 30 days before he could be escorted home by his caring parents.  In the summer of 1995 when Josias was five the Sterling family left New York settling in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Josias was enrolled at the Lowell School for kindergarten and he continued his education at Incarnation of Our Lord School.

Very early on Josias demonstrated both academic and athletic skills.  Excelling in his school work, this honor student played basketball during his middle grade years as the starting center.  It was during his early grade school years that Josias was educated in music by the Catholic Music Education Program as well as under the direction of Brother Jolain Romelus.  He played in various recitals and his first recital at Rittenhouse Square with the Voices of Hope Choir.

He was accepted into Philadelphia’s premier Jesuit institution, St. Joseph’s Preparatory School in 2004.  During his high school career, Josias participated in the Latin and Spanish Language Clubs and the Black and Latino Culture Clubs (B.L.C.C.). While participating in the B.L.C.C., he helped to organize the Madden Tournament. This video game tournament helped the B.L.C.C. to raise a substantial amount of money for charity. He also tutored children at the Gesu School and St. Martin de Porres School.

He participated in many sports: Freshman Football, Frisbee, Indoor and Outdoor Track, and Wrestling.  But when he was a sophomore Josias joined the school Rugby Team. By his senior year, Rugby was the only sport that he played.  Josias loved Rugby! It was this game that took him to Ireland.  He played in Dublin, Galway and Limerick on a rugby football tour with St. Joseph’s Rugby Team.

A brilliant player, he started on St. Joseph’s varsity rugby squad for The Eastern Pennsylvania Rugby Union (E.P.R.U.) Championships, where his team placed first in the state.  They also placed seventh in the country during the 2008 USA Rugby National High School Championships.

Josias was accepted to Drexel University, St. John’s University, Seton Hall University and Chestnut Hill College.  Ultimately he chose Temple University and entered into their Communications Program on scholarship planning a degree in Advertising and Marketing.

While at Temple, Josias continued playing Rugby and was the “Rookie of the Year“ for the A side (or varsity) Team.  He participated in the Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union (M.A.R.F.U.) trials.  This is the equivalent of a college All-Star trial and was a steppingstone to a place on the College All-American Team.  Josias continued playing Rugby in the summer of 2009 and participated in 7’s Tournaments in Virginia as well as New Jersey. Universally his rugby mates remember two things about Josias: his tenacious, head over heels, disregard for body style of play and of course his appetite!  He would materialize a loaf of bread and peanut butter from his rugby bag just for a snack.  If you had food, you eventually going to share and if there was anywhere to stop for apple pie the Coach knew he had to make a detour.

Josias loved life!  Rugby was his passion but people were his love.  He was always laughing and loved spending time with his family and friends, sitting around joking, flashing that radiant smile and making on the spot videos.  His close-knit family and heritage were a fundamental part of his spirit. Simple pleasures like his grandmother’s “na nan bread” would light up his eyes. His mother, Marie, cherishes the memory of how he lovingly nagged her for the recipe as if the family secret nourished his heart. 

Josias was a good listener.  He listened to others with his whole heart not just his ears. Always present in the moment, he would find words of comfort and give you a warm embrace.  His loving spirit will be missed.

Josias left this world prematurely to the powerful currents of an indifferent ocean.  We cherish his memory with this memorial site and let it be known that despite the short time we had with him, he is with us even more in the present than in the past.  We have faith that he has gone on to the great reward and look forward to the day when we play and laugh again.

 

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Fund Administrator:

• Bill and Angela Gregory

 

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Donations:

All donations to the Josias A Sterling Memorial Fund (a division of CHARITYSMITH) are tax deductible in accordance with federal tax laws.Donations can be made using one of the following secure methods:

• By mail: send your donation check payable to:
  Josias A Sterling Memorial Fund
  c/o CHARITYSMITH Nonprofit Foundation
  13100 Filly Lane, Truckee, CA 96161
• At Wells Fargo Bank: donations can be deposited directly to the Josias A Sterling Memorial Fund . For account information, please contact CHARITYSMITH at 800-276-6546.
• Gift Card: Donate in honor of someone and we will mail a gift card directly to your family, friends, or business associates telling them you’ve made a donation in their honor. Make a Donation
• Online: donate with a credit card or PayPal/Google Checkout account by clicking one of the links below or by calling 800-276-6546.
Donating Online Using Paypal

Donating Online Using Google Checkout

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• Thank you for your tax-deductible donation. If you make your donation online through PayPal, you will receive an immediate electronic receipt of your donation which you can print out and keep for your records. If you mail in your donation using a personal check, you will receive in the mail a receipt of tax deductible donation to CHARITYSMITH's Josias A Sterling Memorial Fund in the first week of the month following your donation.
• (This memorial fund is established as a division of CHARITYSMITH Nonprofit Foundation EIN 87-0636433. CHARITYSMITH is dedicated to the creation and governing of memorial endeavors. All donations are tax deductible in accordance with federal tax laws.  If you have any questions regarding this donation or memorial fund, please contact CHARITYSMITH at your convenience.)