Nathan Cavolt was a sophomore at Bear River High School who was dearly loved by his friends, teammates and teachers.
Cavolt passed away from an ATV accident on May 11. Since then, close friends of the family have set up a GoFundMe page, to help support medical expenses and funeral costs for the family.
A memorial for Nathan is June 1 at Crossroads Church.
His association with Bear River predates him actually becoming a Bruin.
“I coached Nathan in rec basketball several years ago,” Principal Chris Roberts said. “Nathan is the same age as my son Ryan, and the two ended up on the same team. (Bear River teacher Trent) Duffey also coached that team with me as his son Taven was also on the team.
“Nathan is a coach’s dream player. A player that is passionate about the sport, cares about his teammates, works hard to improve every day, and is extremely coachable. I thoroughly enjoyed coaching that team and coaching Nathan. As I’ve watched him since then, from year to year, I’ve only seen those wonderful attributes, that I saw in him as a kid, grow and strengthen. It’s been an honor to be his principal and to see him through a different lens than that of a coach. He’s been a Bruin in every sense of the word and a wonderful student athlete on our campus. He will be dearly missed.”
“He is truly a really great kid,” Bear River special ed aide Tanner Roberts said. “My fondest memories of him have come from the time he and my little brother, Ryan, spent together on the same basketball team.
“It was always so fun to go see them play and Nathan was a seriously gifted player. From the time I’ve known him it was obvious the kind of person he was, kindhearted to those around him and a total hard-worker. He’s an amazing example to so many people and he made such a positive impact on this community, including my family.”
On May 16, Nathan was taken through the honor walk to donate his organs to save nine lives. In this ceremony there were many who came to show their support for Nathan, his family and his friends.
Nathan was an inspiration to all around him — his ability to lead and give to others always showed through.
“My first impression of Nathan came when I was able to have the honor to coach him when he was in 2nd grade,” said Duffey.
“I remember his hard work ethic —especially at such a young age. He was one of the first to learn to do a layup and soon he developed his patented move of dribbling along the baseline and popping up behind the backboard doing a reverse layup that was beyond his years, consistently surprising everyone!
“Nathan’s endurance, respect and kindness is such an excellent example for all. I never heard him complain. He always had a great attitude. He’s the type of kid that coaches dream about. It’s been an honor to coach him over the years, be his advisory teacher at school and get to know him and his wonderful family as friends. Nathan is a natural leader, a giver and an inspiration to all.”
The community is in deep grieving over the loss of Nathan. He had a deep passion for sports — especially basketball and baseball. He would consistently show a deep passion for the team and the sport itself, always committing 100% and nothing less.
He was known by his peers to be the smart and funny person in the room, always knowing how to crack a joke, but also always having an interesting question.
Nathan was a big part of this community, and to lose one of our own hits deep for Bear River.
But his memory will never be forgotten and everyone in the Bear River community wishes that he is now resting in peace and that the family is supported consistently through this difficult time.