🎥 Parents announce Joey Weber Endowment to benefit DSNWK

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

Development Services of Northwest Kansas announced Tuesday the creation of an endowment in honor of Joey Weber.

Joseph “Joey” Weber, 36, was fatally shot by a Hays police officer Aug. 18, 2016, after grabbing the officer’s gun as the officer tried to take him into custody after a traffic stop. Weber was autistic and had been served by DSNWK since he was in high school.

Joey’s father, John, said he wanted Joey to be remembered as an honest and hard-working young man. Joey was John and his wife, Nancy’s, only son.

“We loved him with all of our heart. He meant the world to us,” John said.

Joey’s parents started intervention with a doctor in Hays when he was 3. He was speech delayed and frightened of loud noises and crowds. Joey, however, was very intelligent. John smiled as he recalled Joey’s ability to recall everyone’s birthdays, especially their ages.

He had a passion for tractors, combines and birds. He learned to spell by writing dinosaur names. He could rattle off all the specs on tractors and combines and could name any bird. Joey grew up in Oakley, but moved to Hays and lived independently in an apartment and worked at Pizza Hut.

“Joey was a cautious, but a very good driver, maybe too cautious at times,” his father said.

“Joey did not have a mean bone in his body,” John continued. “He was a very good worker and very contentious. We want Joey to be remembered for the honest man he was and the justice he stands for.”

“This is the greatest holiday gift that our family could receive,” John said of the endowment.

The Joey Weber Endowment is a permanent fund that will continuously support services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and their families in northwest Kansas.

“This is very close to them,” Jerry Michaud, president of DSNWK, said of the Webers. “Joey, as mentioned, impacted their lives clearly, and he is impacting lives today as we move forward. We are honored that you would work with DSNWK to establish this that carries on Joey’s impact and his desire for independence and having a full life. That goal and legacy can now carry on into the future. What a wonderful thing.”

The Weber family worked with State Sen. Rick Billinger, R-Goodland, to get a law passed dubbed “Joey’s Law,” which allows people with autism to have noted on their driver’s licenses and state ID cards that they have a cognitive disorder. There are also placards available similar to those for handicap individuals and a multi-color puzzle piece decal that can be placed on the lower left corner of a license plate.

Joey’s parents said they think had the police who stopped Joey known that he was autistic, the tragedy might have been averted.

John Weber said Tuesday he hoped through the endowment and Joey’s Law other families could be helped through Joey’s death.

Billinger was on hand in Hays for the endowment announcement Tuesday.

“The Joey Weber Endowment will give back to DSNWK every year in perpetuity to impact persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families in northwest Kansas,” Billinger said. “I thank and congratulate those with the foresight to establish this endowment and the legacy it establishes to serve others in Joey’s memory.”

Billinger read a statement from Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer that said Joey’s Law will not only protect Kansans with autism but police officers.

“If officers know they are dealing with someone on the spectrum, they will be more adequately prepared to handle the situation in a manner that takes the needs of that individual into their consideration,” Colyer’s statement said.

Billinger said he did not know the exact number of people who have taken advantage of the new license designation, but he said he knows there has been significant interest in the new law.

DSNWK hopes to raise $100,000 for the endowment in 2018.

“Each of us aspire to a life that matters. Joey’s life mattered,” Michaud said. “And moving this forward is worthy of support.”

For more information about the Joey Weber Endowment and how to make a charitable estate gift, contact Allen Schmidt at 785-621-5327 or [email protected] You may also mail donations to DSNWK Attn: Director of Development, 2703 Hall St., Suite 10, Hays, KS 67601. Note the Joey Weber Endowment in the memo line. You may also give to DSNWK online at www.dsnwk.org.

DSNWK serves more than 500 individuals with intellectual disabilities in 18 northwest counties. Those include Ellis, Cheyenne, Decatur, Gove, Graham, Logan, Norton, Osborne, Phillips, Rawlins, Rooks, Russell, Sheridan, Sherman, Smith, Thomas, Trego and Wallace counties. There are service centers in Hays, Atwood, Hill City, Hoxie, Norton, Russell and Stockton.

DSNWK celebrated its 50th anniversary this year.