East Bay News

Walnut Creek basketball game held for Loving family

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

At an East Bay high school an alumni basketball game will take place tonight that has very special meaning.

Jeff Loving, who lost his wife to cancer shortly after they adopted four children, is being honored and helped this evening. The game at Los Lomas High is raising money on his behalf.

The response to the Loving Family's tragedy has just been incredible. Jeff taught varsity basketball at Los Lomas High

Jeff and his wife put themselves in financial debt to bring four orphaned kids home from Ethiopia. Shortly after they adopted the last two kids, his wife, Brenda, was diagnosed with terminal cancer. She died earlier this month, leaving Jeff alone to raise kids between the ages of 3-5. They've had incredible support from the community and the church, but Jeff says the toughest part is when the kids are asleep in bed at night and he's alone.

The interview was extremely emotional, especially when Jeff's youngest son interrupted to check on his dad.

Jeff: "We miss Brenda& incredibly. Her absence is painful. It's hard. It's been hard on all of us."
Landon: "Are you sad Daddy?"
Jeff: "Yeah, I'm sad. I'm sad to lose Mommy."

The redeeming part of this story comes when the community puts on this fundraiser tonight. It's a traditional game featuring varsity players versus the alumni players. Loving played in it as a varsity player, as an alumni player, and is now coaching it.

A fundraising page has been set up by two of Jeff's former students who wanted to help out: GoFundMe page.

You can watch the full story on ABC7 News at 11 p.m. or check back here after 11 p.m.

(Copyright ©2013 KGO-TV. All Rights Reserved.)

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Tags:
walnut creek, children, fundraiser, cancer, east bay news, alan wang
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