Life was hard for KC’s Jordan Harrison, dead at 33. But ‘he managed to love everyone’
As a child growing up in the projects — Kansas City’s T.B. Watkins Homes — life was tough for Jordan Harrison.
He struggled with a learning disability that hindered his academic progress. He faced continuous attacks from bullies who made fun of him for being biracial or for the way he spoke.
Through all his difficulties, his family says, he emerged as the person who was always there with a smile and a kind word for anyone going through a rough time.
“He impacted people with his smile,” says his mother, Stacey Chastain. “Those things make me cry but it fills my heart to know that he brought people who felt unseen or not valuable so much love.”
Harrison, who worked in food service management for years, died Feb. 2 from a possible drug overdose. He was 33.
His family says that in recent months Harrison was determined to turn his life around and was in a sober living facility in Arkansas for several months. He came back to Kansas City to help a friend in need, and his mother believes being back in this environment before completing treatment caused a possible relapse.
The investigation into the cause of Harrison’s death is still ongoing.
Harrison was born in Tulsa and moved to Kansas City in 1998 with his mother and five siblings. Being raised in a tough neighborhood where he didn’t fit in made him a target. His mother saw how he worked to rise above the verbal and physical attacks.
“Jordan struggled throughout school and had to endure a lot of pain in his life,” she says.
Her son also dealt with physical abuse from one of Chastain’s ex-partners, a fact she did not learn about until Harrison confided to her years later. She thinks these traumas contributed to her son’s lifelong struggle with drug addiction.
She says Harrison battled with issues of alcohol when he was younger, but a series of surgeries to correct a hernia led him to become dependent on pain medications.
Chastain and her children hope that those with loved ones struggling with addiction will continue to believe in them and their recovery. She prays that something will be done about the national epidemic of fatal overdoses from opioids.
Harrison’s younger brother, Zack Young, 29, says that Harrison stayed with him before he entered rehab and the two bonded while his older brother was detoxing.
“My brother was trying hard to better his life,” says Young, who works as a personal trainer in Lenexa. “When he was detoxing, he said he wouldn’t wish that upon his worst enemy.”
With Young’s oldest brother in prison since 2007, Harrison was the only brother he had left. Though hurt by the circumstances of his brother’s death, Young finds comfort in remembering the days of laughter and positivity his brother brought into every conversation.
“I will always remember the joy in his eyes, the way he was always animated and entertaining no matter what it was he was doing,” he says.
Harrison was working at a Taco Bell in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and was in a management training program. He had aspirations of one day owning a fast-food franchise.
Though Harrison did not have any children, his sister Chelsea Young, 31, says that he raised her two children as if they were his own. She says she and Harrison called themselves the “the middle twin flames,” born in the middle of Chastain’s six children.
“He was the best uncle,” says his sister, who works as a project administrator for an electrical contractor. “Jordan was always there for my babies, and they loved him.”
She remembers her older brother being the one who came up with family traditions like their Christmas pajama parties and had a dream of his family living together in a mansion. She thinks that family was one of Harrison’s motivations to push himself in life.
“Even though Jordan went through a lot of trauma he managed to love everyone, and it didn’t matter who you were or where you came from or what you did. He always just wanted to help people,” she says.
Chastain remembers trips out with her son where he would stop random people to compliment them. His mother believes her son had a gift for seeing the pain in people and knowing just what they needed to get through their tough times.
“I used to get embarrassed when we would go out because he would talk to everybody, I mean complete strangers,” says Chastain. “He told me once that you never know what someone is going through and maybe that compliment or smile is what gets them through the day.”
Many people who knew Harrison shared messages of condolences.
“I’ve been blessed to know Jordan since I was 3 years old and he has always shown up for me and treated my son like he was his own.”
“Man, this drug stuff is getting out of hand. Whoever ever knew Jordan Blake Harrison just absolutely knows Jordan was the person who brought fun and brightness everywhere.”
“You were always such a happy beautiful ball of light everywhere you went and always will be.”
“You stayed true to yourself, and kept a smile on your face no matter what.”
River Young, the youngest of Chastain’s children, believes that faith allows them to find solace and know he is at peace.
“My mother raised us to be very strong and my mother has an unwavering faith,” says Young, 26. “It feels like it should be more difficult, but there’s just this supernatural strength that surpasses all understanding.”
Chastain was scheduled to have a celebration of life ceremony Feb. 24 in Harrison’s memory.
“I have never gone through losing a child before,” says Chastain. “But I am comforted knowing that even though he went through all these hardships he was able to bring joy to so many people still.”
Other Remembrances
Patrick Bettis
Patrick Bettis, retired welder and father, died Jan. 18. He was 76.
Bettis was born on April 16, 1947, to Patrick and Leola Bettis in Mobile, Alabama, and was the oldest of the couple’s seven children.
The family moved to Kansas City, Kansas, and Bettis graduated from Sumner High School in 1965. Bettis went on to join the United States Army as a tank gunner stationed in Germany.
He then worked for years as a welder and retired from Colgate-Palmolive. In his free time, Bettis enjoyed reading, fishing, horseback riding and spending time with family.
He is remembered by his children, Tynisha Bettis, Kenneth Gregory, Patrick Bettis III and Lester Jackson; siblings, Roderick Bettis, Patricia Brandon, Benay Bettis, Benita Davidson, Carolyn Smith and Phyllis Moore; along with a host of nieces, nephews and grandchildren.
Evelyn Shelton
Evelyn Shelton, former medical worker and mother, died Feb. 13. She was 97.
Shelton was born Oct. 27, 1926, in Lebanon, Illinois. She graduated from Lebanon Community High School in 1946 and later moved to Kansas City.
She worked at St. Joseph Medical Center for years before retiring from Armco Steel Corp. in 1981. After an earlier marriage, she married Thomas Shelton in 1996.
Shelton will be remembered as a woman of strong faith who enjoyed being with her family.
She is remembered by her children, Yvonne Deboe, Kenneth Deboe and Jeffrey Walker; along with a host of nieces, nephews, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
