Eulogy for Greg Miklaszewicz

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.

 

If you have some time, please enjoy this Tribute Video.