If you were in the same room as Dyshon Garner, you might not have even noticed. He had a quiet presence in crowds, but blossomed with a different persona when he was making music or around his closest friends.
“He was quiet and he would be observing everybody,” Sharon Smith, Dyshon’s mother, said. “When he was rapping, he was totally different. He was more outgoing and vibrant. It seemed like he let go and enjoyed himself.”
In his mid-20s, Dyshon was finally embracing the advice his mother had given him over the years: “Enjoy this, you only get this one life.” Dyshon had turned 25 on Aug. 21, 2017. Just nine days later, on Aug. 30, he was killed in the Crescentville section of Northeast Philadelphia.
“He grew up in South Philadelphia but we moved to the Northeast because I wanted to move to a better neighborhood to get away from the gun violence.”
For about half a year prior to his passing, Dyshon had been working as a housekeeper. He truly “enjoyed that job, [and] would talk about the elderly people who would tell him all of these stories.” Dyshon worked to support his family, including his two children: Saiir and Saniyah.
“They were his pride and joy,” Sharon said. “Whatever Saniyah wanted, he just did. I looked through a lot of his pictures [after his passing] and it was mainly pictures of his kids.”
Dyshon adored his family and always would tell his mother about his plans to take care of her when she got older. He also cared deeply for his children and looked forward to seeing them grow. Instead of seeing his entire family progress through different stages of life, his own was taken from him even before he could see Saiir turn 5 and Saniyah turn 1.
“I’d be like, ‘Dyshon, I love you,’ and he’d say, ‘I love you more,” Sharon remembered. “I’d say, ‘that’s not possible,’ and he’d say, ‘it’s not possible for you to love me more than I love you.’”
Memories of Dyshon ranged from his goofy dancing that his family would always laugh at, to his decision to keep his gap tooth, making it his endearing signature. As his mom explains, it was “sometimes the way he’d perceive things was what would be funny.”
One of Sharon’s favorite stories is from a time Dyshon drove her to work. He was playing music while she was getting ready and putting on her perfume for the day. He saw her tapping on her perfume and asked her, “what’s this, your song?” thinking she was “over there dancing.”
“All day I couldn’t stop thinking about it and laughing,” she recalled. “Even now, if I put on perfume, I still think about that day in the car when he was like, ‘what’s this, your song.’”
Dyshon loved music, and when his family started singing a song from one of his mixtapes, he was incredibly proud.
“He did a mixtape, and me and my sister liked this one song and we started singing it. He told me, ‘I never thought I would ever see this, you know you all singing to my music,’” Sharon said. “He just was smiling so big.”
Sharon had so many fun moments with her son throughout his life, and never expected to be the one looking back on these experiences while Dyshon is no longer here.
“I used to tell him that he would remember these moments when I’m gone, but I didn’t know that these would be memories that I would be thinking about.”
Date: 2017-08-30
Location: 5100 Pennway St, Philadelphia, PA
Funeral Information
It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Dyshon Samir Garner, passed away on August 30 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, leaving to mourn family and friends. All are welcome to attend and celebrate Dyshon Samir Garner’s life. Flowers and condolences may be sent in memory of the loved one. Funeral Service will be September 9th 2017 at 8:30 AM.
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