For anyone that wasn't able to make it to Greg's funeral yesterday, I thought I would post his Eulogy. I wrote this Friday morning and it was read at Greg's funeral by Jim Hendrickson.
Greg was born on March 18, 1956 to Irene and
Edwin Miklaszewicz, the first of four children.
He graduated from Bay View High School in Milwaukee in 1973 and met
Julie, the love of his life in 1984, thanks to Julie’s brother, John, and
married her on September 9, 1989. For 37
years, they were always by each other’s side, loving, laughing, fighting,
crying, praying and just trying to get through this thing called life together. Sure, there were some rough patches, as there
are in any marriage, but they worked hard through them and deeply loved each
other to the end. Greg gave his life to
Jesus in 2012 and never looked back.
Every morning when he’d wake up, the first thing he would do is go on
his computer to do his prayers. He had a
lot of emails and websites for daily prayers and he would spend at least an
hour reflecting and praying and talking to Jesus.
Greg’s children really only ever knew their dad
as being sick. He was first diagnosed
with cancer in 1992, when Aaron was just a year old. Greg and Julie weren’t sure if they would be
able to have any other children, but God blessed them with two miracles – Erica
in 1994 and Abigail, in 1997.
Unfortunately, cancer would rear its ugly head again in 1998, just after
they had built a new home in Sturtevant.
After two years of chemotherapy, Greg had a bone marrow transplant on
April 12, 2000, with his brother, Tommy, as a perfect match and his donor. In 2004, the family moved here to the Athens
area and never looked back. Greg’s
favorite thing to do was to cut the grass on his riding lawnmower. He’d be on that lawnmower just about every
day in the summer, cutting weird patterns in the grass and driving Abby
absolutely crazy! He never did explain
why he cut the grass that way, but it made him happy, so why not?
In March of 2017, he was diagnosed with
esophageal cancer and once again, Greg tackled that diagnosis head on. When it came time for radiation and
chemotherapy, Greg’s response was always “let’s do it!” He never had a doubt that he could kick
cancer’s butt and with Jesus by his side he did, every single time.
Greg was always very supportive of Julie’s
crafting and never complained about how much money she spent on craft supplies,
even when she first got her Cricut machine!
He loved shopping at Hobby Lobby every bit as much as Julie did and
would happily wander the aisles while Julie was doing her own shopping. Every time Julie made something new, a paper
flower, or a shadow box, or really anything at all, he would just be stunned
and exclaim over how beautiful it was and how amazed he was at Julie’s
talent.
Greg had not traveled much before he met Julie,
but that all changed when Julie bought a truck and told Greg that seeing as
they had a truck, they had to have a camper!
Dear friends helped convince Greg that this was a great idea, and all
new adventures began. They traveled west
to Yellowstone. They traveled east to
Washington, D.C. and the Outer Banks of North Carolina, among other
places. They camped in Wisconsin a lot,
and made lifelong friends with other campers at the rallies they would attend
twice a year. Greg’s favorite trip, by
far, was when they were able to travel to Australia to pick Abby up from her
six month internship. Greg was amazed at
everything in Australia! He was in awe
of the Great Barrier Reef and felt so blessed to be able to make such a
trip. It made him want to travel more
and he and Julie spent many hours discussing the other places in the world they
wanted to visit together.
Greg always felt that there was plenty of time
to do anything that needed to be done.
When they’d have a birthday party for the kids, or Thanksgiving or
Christmas as their house, Julie would be preparing for days and would have a
list of things for Greg to do.
Invariably, he would be doing those things at the last minute, earning
him the nick name “last minute man.” It
was always a joke that if it wasn’t for the last minute, nothing would get
done! That was just how Greg was. He always did get everything on Julie’s list
done, but it was always at the last minute.
Some of you may have noticed Greg’s pants. He’s wearing what are called Zubas. He’s been wearing those crazy pants since
they first came out in the 80’s. For a
while, they were hard to find, but we managed to find them last year and
everyone bought him a couple pairs for Christmas! He ended up with something like eight pairs
of Zubas! We still laugh about how many
pairs he got and he loved each and every one of them! If Greg wasn’t wearing Zubas, he was wearing
bibs. He loved his bib overalls. Every year, Julie would go to Erv the Working
Man’s Friend on Mitchell Street in Milwaukee and buy him two pairs for
Christmas. When they started driving up
north, they would stop at the Oshkosh B’Gosh outlet store in Oshkosh and pick
up a couple pair.
Greg was generous to a fault. Always willing to help. People he worked with through the years have
said that “he carried a special sense of calm that always made them feel
welcome.” He was a kind and caring
manager and always said good morning to each and every employee. It was rare that someone came to the house
and he was not offering them food. He
loved to cook, and it was always a battle with Julie as to who would make
something for the Church potluck. His
food was always a hit! He loved his
Thursday night pizzas that he would load up with everything imaginable, and of
course, take pictures of them and post them on Facebook for all the world to
see. Of course, he loved to grill, which
earned him the nickname “Greg Grill.” In
fact, the first meal he cooked for Julie was a beautiful sirloin steak! He prided himself on grilling the perfect medium-rare
steak. He dearly loved a big ole hunk of
meat!
For the last year, Greg spent a lot of time
with Julie’s mom, Joyce. He always
called her “Nana” just like the kids did.
He would drive her to all her appointments, whether it was in Appleton or
even Madison, or just to get a haircut.
It didn’t matter. If Nana needed
to go somewhere, Greg was always there to drive her. Greg always said it was like “Driving Miss
Daisy” and he thoroughly enjoyed the time he spent with Joyce -- the arguments
they’d have, and the laughter they shared.
He would visit her every day, and she’d turn whatever ball game was on
for him, whether it was the Brewers or the Packers, or even golf and he’d sit
there and visit with her a couple times a day.
She even lived in Greg and Julie’s house for six months while her own
home was being built and Greg never complained.
It’s hard to believe that there’s another man out there that took such
good care of his mother-in-law or loved her as much as Greg did.
If Greg had any regrets in life, it would be
not being here to walk Abby down the aisle one day, or seeing any of the
beautiful grandchildren that the future holds.
He loved his kids more than anything and would instantly drop whatever
he was doing if they called and needed something. He was the one letting Abby sit in his lap
and drive his car up and down the street in Sturtevant when she was just five
years old! He helped coach Aaron and Erica’s
baseball teams and Aaron’s football teams.
He loved sports, but especially loved watching his kids play sorts. Baseball, softball, football,
volleyball. He loved it all when his
kids were playing. He even would get the
racing sausages costume from Klement's and wear it to their games! They were his pride and joy and he was always
so proud of them and everything they’ve accomplished. He would beam with pride when he’d see the
fish Aaron caught, or the beautiful photos Erica took, or the many things that
Abby would do, like put in a new pressure tank in her own house, or installing
a new garbage disposal in Greg and Julie’s house.
He loved Julie with all his heart and always
felt bad for her when he was sick. He
always felt that it was harder on her, than on him. She worried over him and prayed over
him. She took care of him like no other,
preparing his meds for him every week, making sure he took them, giving him his
weekly infusions, making sure he ate properly and just generally fussing over
him when he’d do too much and was in pain.
Despite
the traumatic circumstances for his wife and children in the end, circumstances
that would smash anyone into countless emotional fragments, they came together
as a family. Their hearts were breaking, but they were united in love — for Greg
and each other. One of the hardest
things they had to do as a family was let Greg go.
It is a
blessing to have had such a father, friend, brother, colleague, and husband.
Greg’s legacy will be one of a courageous, compassionate man with an
exceptional life story, unparalleled integrity, countless friends, and a family
that loved him.
We will
miss him more than we have ever missed anyone or anything. And we know we are not alone in that.
