Joseph Parker Vaughn

On May 24, 2022 Joseph Parker Vaughn took his life along the bank of the Rappahannock River in Fredericksburg, Virginia. He was born on January 18, 1997 at Portsmouth Naval Hospital to William and Julie Vaughn and raised in Virginia Beach.

Joe is survived by his mother, Julie (Rob Stanton); younger twin brother Ryan (Summer McClure); and older brother Nicholas; his grandparents Ty and Elaine Courte of Arundel, Quebec; the Stanton family; his girlfriend Lily; his Kappa Sigma fraternity brothers; and numerous other friends, aunts, uncles, and cousins. He was pre-deceased by his father, William Vaughn.

Like his brothers, Joe was a proud Eagle Scout (Troop 417), and a graduate of Kempsville High School, where he excelled at making friends and running track, making it to the National Championships Senior year. We will never forget his Eagle project, the rain garden at Kempsville High School, a definite troop and family event. A graduate of Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, VA, his area of focus was making friends, having a good time and getting a degree in Environmental Studies, with a minor in occasional late-night tennis court burnouts and donuts in his Subaru Impreza and Mazda Miata, definitely not the mini-van. He was an environmental planner with Stantec in Fredericksburg, with a primary focus in stream restoration.

With his model good looks, love of cars that go fast, zest for travel (passport stamps to prove it) and the outdoors, Joe would light up the room and was an authority on every subject - in his own mind. He was kind, never met a stranger, never passed up a good argument. Right or wrong, he was right. Joe will be missed by all that new him during his too brief life. There are so many stories of Joe and not enough paper to write them on. We will never be able to fill the hole in our hearts that Joe's death has left, but we will pack it full with memories of him. And while we will never understand the torment that Joe was going through, we hope that he has found peace and is driving every car that he ever dreamed to drive and hiking every trail that he never set foot on.

A celebration of life will be held in Virginia Beach by his family at a later date.