Isaiah Parks was too good of a person to go unnoticed.

“He was honestly the sweetest, kindest soul ever,” said Jenelle Cole, a life skills teacher at Valley High School in New Kensington, who had been Isaiah’s teacher for four years. “He could be grumpy, but he just always made you laugh — he’d cut jokes, he did Fortnite dances, he dabbed.

“Every adult in the building absolutely loved him. He fist bumped them walking down the hall.”

Isaiah died in his sleep at his New Kensington home Tuesday morning, a little more than two weeks after his 16th birthday.

He was given only two years to live after he was born on Oct. 9, 2005; tests confirmed he had DiGeorge Syndrome, a rare birth defect.

Born with a hole in his heart, Isaiah underwent open heart surgery when he was a year old. During the operation, his heart stopped twice, according to his mother, Devon Schulz.

Because of a deformed foot, he also had several foot surgeries.

“Despite everything he went through, all of the problems, he was kind-hearted, loving, caring, always happy,” said Schulz, 43. “I tried to teach him to be caring and loving to people — there are a lot of people out there who are not so caring and loving.”

DiGeorge Syndrome affects 1 in 4,000 to 6,000 live births. An inherited condition, the defect happens at conception, when a small part of a chromosome, No. 22, is missing, according to Dr. Brian Lamb, an internal medicine physician with Allegheny Health Network.

“We don’t know what causes it — why, for some reason, when the cells are lining up for that first division for some reason that little piece of the chromosome just disappears,” Lamb said. “When it’s lost, there’s no way to get it back.”

Its severity depends on how many genes are lost, he said. Those with the worst cases die before their first birthdays, while other people can live into adulthood.

Common issues are cleft palates, underdeveloped thymus glands, developmental delays, and heart abnormalities. Those afflicted can suffer recurring infections and have trouble with their immune response, Lamb said.

Isaiah’s death appears to be natural, but the cause of his death won’t be known for eight to 12 weeks, according to the Westmoreland County Coroner’s Office.

That Isaiah made it to 16 shows he had good care through both doctors and his family’s support, Lamb said.

“It’s kind of an amazing success story. Unfortunately, it has a sad ending,” he said. “It doesn’t diminish what he was able to accomplish in his 16 years.”

Schulz said her son loved monster trucks and dreamed of building and driving one. Having just turned 16, he was wanting to learn how to drive, something she says he probably wasn’t going to be able to do.

He liked to listen to music, and wanted to be a rapper, too.

“He had such passions,” Schulz said. “He had so many dreams.”

When he was 7, Isaiah had a dream fulfilled through Make-A-Wish. He got to go to Cars Land at Disney California Adventure Park. He wanted to go back, but never had the chance, Schulz said.

Isaiah didn’t care about his condition.

“If you believe in yourself and you believe you can do it, you can do anything. That’s the most powerful thing,” Schulz said. ”He was going to build that monster truck. He was going to be a rapper. Never give up. It may seem like you’re fighting forever, but as long as you don’t give up, you can fulfill your life.”

Isaiah was in 10th grade at Valley High School. Cole, his life skills teacher, said she should have had him as a student for only three years, but convinced Schulz to let Isaiah stay with her another year before going to another teacher.

Cole said she plans to leave Isaiah’s desk in her classroom for another five years, when he would have turned 21. His picture is on it, and classmates are writing messages.

Grief counselors were in the class Wednesday, when Cole said there was a lot of crying, a couple meltdowns and one girl went home.

“This is an eye-opener for me. Life’s too short. Make sure people know how you feel about them,” she said. “We all loved him to pieces and he knew it. Let people know how you feel about them because you never know.”

Donation sites set up

Cole started a GoFundMe to raise money to help Schulz, a stay-home mom on disability, pay for Isaiah’s funeral expenses. It had nearly met its $5,000 goal as of Thursday. She also put together a Meal Train to help Schulz and Isaiah’s little brother, Elijah, 7.

“The efforts are greatly appreciated. They don’t know how much it means to us,” Schulz said. “I’m just overwhelmed with all the love and support in the community. I’m not used to all this love.”

Isaiah was looking forward to Halloween this year; he, his mom and brother had matching “Venom” costumes, with Isaiah planning to dress as Venom, his brother as a “venomized” Captain America and his mom as a venomized Wonder Woman.

Because of that, those attending his services at the Joseph J. Cardaro Funeral Home on Friday are welcome to wear Halloween costumes.

“It’s going to make Isaiah so happy if everyone is dressed up,” Schulz said. “I’m going to do that and I know Isaiah is going to be happy. That’s all I wanted was for him to be happy and at peace.”

Schulz said she and Elijah will wear their costumes again when they go trick-or-treating on Saturday.

“I want every day to be normal for Elijah,” she said.

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