Gone but not forgotten: Leeman teenager to be remembered with memorial seat

A memorial seat will be placed on the Leeman foreshore to honour the life of a Mid West teenager who died suddenly last year. Ethan Nunn was only 18 when he went to bed with a headache and never woke up. The cause of his death last April is still unknown, with his family waiting for a report from the WA Coroner. Ethan’s mother, Naomi Shipway, said it was incredibly difficult waiting for an answer. “I’m not sure how I feel about it,” she said. “I want to know, but I don’t want to know, if that makes any sense.” Ethan lived in Leeman his whole life and was a third-generation worker with the Geraldton Fisherman’s Co-op. A community-minded individual, Ethan volunteered with the Leeman Bush Fire Brigade and was a school captain at Jurien Bay High School. Ms Shipway said her son was a bright spirit. “Very shy but once you got to know him or he was comfortable around you he was a bit of a prankster and you couldn’t shut him up,” she said. “Ethan was always knows for eating his chilly sauces. Everyone, including friends of ours, would buy the hottest chilli sauces just to see if he could handle it.” Seeking permission from the Coorow Shire Council to install a memorial bench by the Leeman foreshore, the motion was passed unanimously. Ms Shipway said the bench — which will be built by Ethan’s step-dad and step grandfather using jarrah slabs — meant a lot to the family as a place of quiet reflection. “We have noticed there are quite a few around Leeman and Greenhead and we thought it was a nice idea,” she said. “Ethan used to play at the park there. We used to have little family picnics and go fishing at the jetty. “(It’s) somewhere family and friends can watch the sunset and reminisce.”