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From:
Ray Neisewander
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Monday, September 24, 2018
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Hi Lorri, Ben, Tommy and Andrea.
First, our heartfelt condolences for the loss of your Dad. I was glad to hear that you got to spend some time with him at the very end of his life. While losing a parent is never easy, being able to be there to express your love and say goodbye is one more special grace and blessing. You can’t script it any better than that!
Looking back, I feel pretty lucky that I got to meet Nick at a young age when we were all students at Pepperdine. It's easy to see now what an impression he made because the memories are so vivid. Working those early Super Biwl games was a blast, in large part because Nick made it fun. I’ll never forget the party and reception he threw for all of us for the game . . . Free foood and beer!! Yea !!
I’m not sure if you remember this, but a year or two after we graduated I was living in central Florida with my first job in the family business. The Super Bowl was hosted in Tampa Bay so I contacted Nick to see if he needed any help. Needless to say, we had a blast once again . . . of course he remembered me from the event in LA, and as a friend of yours. We worked those long crazy hours and laughed the whole time. We would sneek away and grab dinner . . . Once again, free food (I see a theme developing here)!! I remember feeling sort of lucky that I had Nick all to my self, and felt strangely honored to just get to hang with him. The other thing was that he totally trusted me. It really made an impression.
Then, there was the occasion of Ben and Lorri’s wedding back in Malibu. He was so proud and happy. After he made a toast, he gave both of you a big hug and then came back in his exuberance and announced “aren’t they’re going to make some beautiful grand babies!?!” ( I’m paraphrasing here, but I do remember the applaus and laughter!!).
I also remember that Nick had a vacation home somewhere in the Pocono’s in Pennsylvania. At least on one occasion, he let Cindy and I and collegues use it when we travelled out there on the Indy Car circuit. We had some wild times out there (I hope we cleaned up well!!!).
After that, I would get to see Nick occasionally at Suoer Bowl games or at Erps family functions. His easy nature made it natural just to pick up where we left off, and hear about his motor home travel adventures. As I recall, he loved American history and especially Revolutionary and Civil war history . . .
If I were to pick three words to describe Nick from my memory of him, I would choose Kind, Generous, and Joyful. It was a pleasure knowing him just a little bit, Thank you for sharing him with us!!!
With Love and Affection,
Ray & Cindy
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