Toby Wells

Tuesday, May 30, 2023

Tobey Lynn Wells, age 12, formerly of Poplar Bluff, Missouri, the son of Jacqueline Carole Wells and Robert Samuel Wells, and Roy Mays, died Saturday, May 20, 2023, in Tallahassee, Florida.

Tobey was born June 10, 2010, in Poplar Bluff, where he lived until recently moving to Florida with his family.

Surviving in addition to his parents are his brothers, Hunter Wells and Remington Wells; sisters, Piper Mays; stepsisters, Brooke Wells, Destinee Wells; grandparents, Robin Mesey, Wayne Salvo, Tessie Wells; great-grandparents, Ethel Mays and Charlie Mays; aunts, Barbara Buck and Nikki (James) Strange; uncles, Christopher Salvo, Brandon Salvo, Mark Jacoby, Samuel Mesey, Timothy Nelson and Robbie Mesey; two nephews, Bryson Rodgers and Daxton Wells; as well as several cousins and other relatives.

In the words of Tobey’s mother-

“Tobey was a mama’s boy for sure. This boy loved his mama as much as any boy could. He was the one who first made me a mother. He took the first piece of my heart the second I knew I was pregnant. He was my first true love. No matter how old he was, he would always be my baby.

He loved Jesus and gave his life to Christ on Nov. 15, 2020. It was my proudest mom moment of my life. He was a young God-fearing little man who spread the love and name of Jesus to everyone he met. He studied the Bible to truly understand it and even the meaning of believing there is a God versus believing IN God. As he said, even the demons know God is real, they shudder at his name, they just chose not to follow him or worship him. We prayed together as a family and he was growing up to be a great leader in Christ.

He was the absolute BEST big brother any brother could ask for. His brothers loved him so much and looked up to everything he did. If Tobey said it, it must be right! They wanted to be just like Tobey and wanted to do everything he did even if they were too little to do so. Tobey was an inspirational to all he met, but Superman to his brothers. He loved them with his entire heart and was a great protector of them.

He was so smart and loving. He loved other people more than himself. If he saw someone holding a sign, he would give them money and if he didn’t have any, he would ask me for some to give to them. His passion was learning tricks on his BMX bike and wanted to be as good as his uncles, Chris and Brandon on it. He practiced all of the time. He looked up to all of his uncles and aunts but he really looked up to Uncle Chris, Uncle Brandon and Uncle Mark. He wanted to grow up and be like them. He wanted to be an engineer and build big things and make a whole bunch of money like uncle Mark to retire his mama one day.

Every time Bobby had something to build, Tobey was right there with him helping, that was their thing. He loved to go fishing with Bobby on their “boy days” which were dedicated to just Tobey and Bobby. He loved Bobby so much he asked to have his last name and Bobby was thrilled to tell him yes and told him he has always been his son and always will be.

He loved to draw and was learning how to draw people. He was getting really good at it. One of the last pieces of art he drew me was a picture of himself that said I love you. He got a guitar for Christmas and learned his first song the day he picked it up. He was so smart! Like so smart! He was a member of the Beta club which he was accepted to the first year he was eligible to be a part of it. He was always laughing. I mean always laughing. He would make fart jokes or actually fart just to see how loud it would be and then just laugh super hard. He was a full-on boy. He liked video games and going to see new and beautiful places. He loved going on planes and going on boats. The ocean was a part of him. He was so excited when he was getting his first stamp on his passport. He has done a lot of things in his short life but he had so much more life to live. I will miss you more than you will ever know my son, and that piece of my heart that belonged to you when I first found out about you, has went to be with you. Give grandma Patty and Jesus a hug for me. I love you so much.

I will forever be an incomplete mom until we meet again.”

Visitation will be from 1-3 p.m., Thursday, June 1, at the First United Methodist Church, 500 N. Main St., Poplar Bluff. The funeral service will follow at 3 p.m.