Stephen McDannell Hillenburg died on Monday, November 26, 2018. He was 56 years old. He died from a disease called Lou Gehrig’s disease. Hillenburg was an American animator, cartoonist, and a marine biologist. Hillenburg created, directed, and wrote the series of SpongeBob Squarepants from 1999 to April 8, 2000. SpongeBob Squarepants series has gone on to become the fifth-longest running American animated series.

Hillenburg was mostly known for the cartoon series SpongeBob Squarepants. Hillenburg’s first SpongeBob Squarepants season has 20 episodes. According to the Post Gazette, over 56.1 million people watch Spongebob Squarepants.

Students at San Pasqual believe that the series won’t be the same without its creator. “They’re going to try too hard to make SpongeBob funny, but they’re not going to be able to because it’s Spongebob,” Makell Edwards said. “I feel like my childhood’s over because I watch SpongeBob a lot,” Edwards stated.

Since she enjoys SpongeBob and is a big fan of it, it’s hard to let go of something that has been with you since a young age.

Even though Hillenburg passed away, students can still look back at the memories that he left.

Hillenburg’s funeral was on December 4, 2018. Hillenburg’s friends at Nickelodeon said that he was a creative friend to all of them and that he had a unique sense of humor. Both Hillenburg’s wife Karen and son Clay are devastated about the whole situation and they say that they appreciate everything he has done for them when he was present.