Devin “Seabass” Joe Sebastian was an outgoing student with an infectious laugh and strength of character that set him apart from the crowd.
Devin, a construction science senior from Franklin, was a friend to all. One of his best friends, Austin Davis, Class of 2020, said Devin had everything someone would want in a friend.
“Seabass was always the life of the party,” Davis said. “I never met one person that hung out with Seabass and didn’t want to hang out with him again. [He had] honesty and loyalty to his friends; if he said he was going to do something, by God he was going to do it. From a friend’s perspective, that’s priceless.”
On the note of his dedication to friends, long-time friend Hunter Mack said, in an email to The Battalion, when he was feeling down about missing a weekend with friends, Devin went out of his way to help and would offer to accompany him.
“Devin offered to come with me and help me and my grandfather working that weekend,” Mack said. “He didn’t have to do this … but he was such a good friend he didn’t want me to spend that weekend alone. The drive there we shared story after story of the times we spent together in high school as well as college. During this drive I thought to myself, ‘Damn, I am extremely blessed to have a friend who loves me like Seabass does.’”
Devin’s parents, Donald and Kaci Sebastian, said this commitment to the important people in his life was always a big part of his personality.
“He was very well-liked, goal-driven, well-mannered, with a strong work ethic and very loving. He was an amazing son and brother to his younger brother, Brett,” Donald said. “He was an outgoing personality and had an infectious smile. He was always loyal to those he cared about.”
Another close friend, Maxwell Viladevall, Class of 2021, said Devin’s manners and respect to those around him were always plentiful.
“Devin is well-mannered; his parents did such a good job raising him,” Viladevall said. “His parents raised him with a lot of respect. Every room he walked into, he lightened up the mood, he was always smiling and laughing … you knew his laugh from a mile away.”
Viladevall, Davis and Mack all agreed Devin treated them, and their other close friends, like family.
“When Seabass moved to my high school, my life changed in a good way,” Mack said. “He was my brother … he loved me and I loved him equally. He would tell me he looked up to me as a big brother because I was a year older than him. He pushed me to become a better person everyday because I knew he was looking up to me, and he continues to look down on me everyday and pushes me to become the best version of myself.”
One of Devin’s most important relationships was with his younger brother. Viladevall said, “Seabass took pride in being a good big brother to his little brother. He always talked about how much he loved his little brother, he loved him more than anything.”
After playing high school football together, the Davis and Sebastian families grew close through their sons, Davis said. “I started doing a lot of things with his family, and he started doing a lot of things with my family,” Davis said. “He was my best friend, and we both looked up to each other.”
Being an Aggie, and upholding the six Core Values, was something Devin lived out in his everyday life. Davis said Devin was the best example of why those values matter.
“His integrity was No. 1, if he was going to do something, he’d do it right,” Davis said. “He was going to make sure you were very much taken care of. He showed respect, to his elders and to his friends. At the end of the day, [he] had nothing but respect for everybody, and he showed that respect. If you could show a PowerPoint about a man who had Respect, Excellence, Leadership, Loyalty, Integrity and Selfless Service, he embodied every single one of them. To his core, he was a stand-up Aggie.”