In Loving Memory

Known to some as “the Great”, known to others as “the Kid” and to all as a great guy, Nicholas leaves behind a tremendous legacy. As a grandfather, he had a nickname for each grandkid as well as a story or memory to share. Here are some of the great memories that his family will forever cherish:

Brian (the Brizer): My nickname from Gramp was "the Brizer" and I've found myself sometimes doing the same thing for Eliza's middle name (Eliza Brynzer). It's something of him that looks like it will carry on with my children.

Tiffany (wife of Nick the Ghinger): The first time Gramp came to my school's Veteran's Day Assembly he didn't know what to expect. At the end of the program my principal asked all vets to come to the front of the auditorium for a special flower ceremony. He went up, but was quickly concerned when he saw little kids walking out to hand flowers to their guests. He didn't know any little kids there so how would he get a flower? Fortunately he did have a little kid there--a 28-year old me walking up with a white carnation for my Gramp--"The Kid". He spent the rest of the morning having breakfast with other veterans followed by a surprise lunch with Nick, Larry, and Mike. It was the best day!

Kristin (wife of Larry the Dude): When I first met Gramp, I had super dark almost jet black hair and intense bangs. Despite being introduced as Kristin by Larry, Gramp said, no, no way, you look exactly like Cleopatra. From day one and even on our last day together Gramp only referred to me as “Cle” or “Cleo.” It felt really special, like our own little inside joke, and I will always hear him saying that to me when I think of him.

Bill (husband of Larz the Darz): As a person who loves to feel the bare earth between his toes, I would often take my shoes off during warm weather get-togethers. Nick would always look at me and shake his head. Ever after, he would always ask me where my shoes were.

Also, since Nick (the Ghinger), Tiffany, Laura (Larz the Darz) and I started keeping bees, he would ask us how are the bees doing?

Nikki (Nick Wick): He would buy me candy and then afterwards, call me every day to tell me he was eating it all.

Joanna (Jo Wo): Gramp and I almost had the same birthday. I always called him on his birthday and he’d call me two days later. He always acted like I was older than him.

Michael (#30): When playing midget football, I always wore #44. After Grandmom passed away I decided to change my number to the number Gramp wore when he played, #30. The first game he saw me playing in his number I could see how proud he was! He would always call me “#30” after that.

Samantha (Manth or Doc): Gramp would come stay with us and i had a his old queen size bed in my room so naturally that’s where he wanted to sleep. The night before he was staying he would call me and say “I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is I’m coming. The bad news is you’re outta there . And. Make sure those drawers are shut “

Mark (the Shark): His nickname for me stuck so much that at one point I got a hat with a shark going through it.

Larry (Dude): I was so nervous to tell Gramp about my first tattoo.  Once I showed him, he told me that he almost got one in the Army.  He was in line to get it done and when he saw his buddy getting his tattoo, he said “Hell no” and left!

Nick (the Ghinger): Back in my midget football days, my team was looking for a punter on 4th down so I volunteered to kick the ball. The wind was at my back and I kicked the ball about 60 yards. Gramp always jokes that he and Grandmom were holding onto a pole in the stands because of the hurricane winds that day.

Laura (Larz the Darz): One time at his house I was looking at his calendar and when I got to October I noticed my birthday was not there. When I brought this to his attention, he wrote it in & circled it in black marker and then joked every birthday that the day was burned into his brain & in every birthday card he would write a big number eight and circle it with a black sharpie marker.

Jill (Jiller Willer): Back when I was student teaching, I was reading the play “Twelve Angry Men” with them. I had never seen the movie, and he recommended it. So, we watched it together, and it became a little inside joke. When I would see him, he would say, “Want to watch 12 Angry Men”?

Also, I could also always count on watching a Phillies game with him when I visited if it was baseball season.

Kate (the Great): I was nervous to tell him that Sam was Jewish, but he told me that if I loved him then it did not matter, & if he were on his deathbed that he didn’t care if a priest, rabbi or who was praying for him as long as they were connected to “upstairs.”

Also, one basketball game when I was sitting the bench the whole time, the ball went out of bounds and he picked it up and threw it back in. He always gave me a hard time that he touched the basketball more then I did!

Got a memory to share? Just comment below!