Fund Started by Friend Helps Hazlet Widow Pay Funeral Expenses

After William "Billy" Carver II of Hazlet died suddenly from a brain aneurysm on October 15 at age 31, leaving behind a young wife and three small daughters, a family friend started a GoFundMe campaign to help pay for funeral expenses.

In a single day, $3,000 was contributed by the many people who knew and loved Billy Carver and his family. The fund eventually attracted $595 more, and a check was written to the funeral home to cover some of the expenses. He did not have life insurance.

In the weeks since then, Dominika Carver is trying to do the best she can to be a strong mother for their three girls together: Lexie, a 4-year old student at Sycamore Drive School; Lillie, who is 3; and Laine, a four-month old baby. She is a working too, running a house cleaning business with 10 employees, and volunteering with the school PTO.  

Her in-laws, Louise and William Carver of Hazlet, have been "a blessing" she said, as have his sisters and many friends. During this crisis, she received warm support and help from the people of Sycamore Drive, St. John's Methodist Church, the RAINE Foundation and others. 

She says she "tries to keep busy 24/7" to not be reminded of her great heartache. "Everybody is still numb," she said in a phone interview. "But the love and support we've gotten, I would have never, ever expected. It has changed me and his family too, and brought us closer together." 

When asked about the GoFundMe campaign opened by her friend Aubrey Conway, Dominika thought that it had been closed. She had not thought of it recently.

We asked her what she would do with any new contributions to the fund now, if someone were to make them. She said she would put donations towards the purchase of basic headstone, which she learned will cost several thousand dollars. 

"We were looking to put his daughters on there," she said. "Those girls were his world."

When her daughters visit their dad at St. Joseph's Cemetery in Keyport, she wants them to see their names near his, and know they were dearly loved. "I want to make sure that know what they meant to him."