It was with heavy hearts that we learned about the passing of John William McKenzie “Mack” Brady, the 8 year old son of Schreyer Honors College Dean Christian Brady and his wife Elizabeth Brady. Mack was an avid soccer player with aspirations to someday play soccer professionally.

To ensure that Mack’s legacy will live on, a scholarship has been established in his honor to benefit a member of Penn State’s men’s soccer team. In announcing the scholarship, Dean Brady said that through an annual award to a player his son “will, in some sense, ‘be on the field’ that he had hoped to play on someday.”

Donations can be made online at http://givenow.psu.edu or by sending a check, payable to Penn State with “In memory of Mack Brady” in the memo line, to: Penn State University, One Old Main, University Park, PA 16802.

Dean Brady revealed the tragic news with the following statement, later posted on the Schreyer Honors College website:

Words cannot begin to express the deep, wrenching sorrow that our family feels at the sudden and unexpected death of our boy. He contracted a blood infection on Sunday and by last night had returned to God. He was a special treasure, a true blessing sent from God.

Mack was passionate about soccer and his dream was to be the starting keeper for the US National team. He had wonderful friends at school, at church, and on his team The SC Celtics. He has the best sister one could imagine.

There are not words that can comfort or theology that can accommodate such loss. Thank you all, however, for your prayers and support of our family in this time. It wasn’t what God said to Job that mattered, it was that he spoke. We wait to hear his voice.

“May light perpetual shine upon him who puts his trust in the Lord.”

Our condolences go out to the entire Brady family. Words can not express the hurt we all feel, but we know that through this scholarship, Mack’s legacy will forever shine upon someone who shares the same love of the beautiful game.