For anyone that wasn't able to attend Aaron's funeral, I thought I would post his Eulogy here. Pastor Jim Hendrickson did an amazing job reading his eulogy and performing the rest of the service. The Eulogy is rather long, but Aaron had an amazing life, even though it was cut short.
AARON MIKLASZEWICZ
EULOGY
Aaron
was born on April 12, 1991 to Julie and Greg Miklaszewicz, the first of three
children and the only boy. He graduated
from Abbotsford High School in 2009, met Rachel, the love of his life in 2012
and married her on October 7, 2019. For 12
years, they were always by each other’s side, loving, laughing, teasing, growing
and just trying to get through this thing called life together, like any other
young couple.
Aaron
was a delightful and incredibly bright little boy. He loved sports and played T-ball, baseball,
soccer and football. When he was 12 to
13 years old, he played baseball for the Sturtevant Reds where he earned the
nickname A-Train. It should come as no
surprise that Aaron was one of their star pitchers, although he did manage to
bean a batter in the head every once in a while! It was always an accident though – or at
least that’s what he told everyone!
In
May, 1994, Aaron met his first little sister, Erica. He was totally enamored of her and loved to
hold her and feed her her bottle. He
loved being a big brother! Three years
later, in August, 1997, he got to be a big brother again when Abby was
born. Once again, he loved holding her,
giving her her bottle and just being a good big brother. Some of the girls’ favorite memories of
childhood with Aaron were playing air hockey and pool in the basement,
especially at Christmas-time when their cousins would come over and play with
them as well.
When
Aaron was in grade school, he would often sit on one of the stools in the
kitchen while his mom was making dinner and tell her about his day. Whether it was good or bad, Aaron always told
her everything. Aaron knew if he told
his mom when he got in trouble at school that he would be in way less trouble
at home if he fessed up to it before a teacher had a chance to call home – and
he was right! Those chats while making
dinner are some of his mom’s most treasured memories.
When
Aaron’s parents bought a camper and began camping twice a year in Eagle River
with their dear friends, Aaron couldn’t wait to get out on the water. Many of the fishing photos on the picture
boards when Aaron was young are from those happy times in Eagle River. If he couldn’t go out on a boat with a motor,
he took a boat with paddles. If there
wasn’t a boat with paddles available, he fished from the dock. He didn’t care. All he wanted to do was fish.
When
Aaron was in middle school in Racine, he was placed in honors classes. The family moved “up north” near Abbotsford,
WI when Aaron was to start 8th grade. Unfortunately, the school did not offer
honors classes at that time. When Aaron
was in 8th grade, the math teacher was explaining a new concept and
asked if anyone knew how to solve the equation.
Aaron raised his hand and correctly explained how to solve it. The shocked teacher asked him how he knew
that. Aaron’s response was “I learned
that two years ago at my old school.” Which of course caused the other kids in the class
to start snickering. Needless to say,
that particular math teacher was not a fan of Aaron’s after that!
For
quite a few years, Aaron would spend a week with his Nana and Papa at a cottage
they would rent in Chetek, WI and they’d spend the entire week fishing. He looked forward to those trips so much and
absolutely loved being out on the water with his Papa. He also went deer hunting with his Papa,
usually on public land, so the hunting was not easy and they rarely got a
deer. Aaron could have gone hunting with
friends, but he wanted to spend time with his beloved Papa. He knew that Papa’s time was limited and that
he would have time to go hunting with his friends when Papa was no longer able
to go. After that, he would go to “Deer
Camp” with Pat and other friends. Once
Aaron met Rachel, they often went deer hunting together with Rachel’s dad,
Roger.
In
high school, once again, Aaron excelled at anything he put his hand to, which
was quite annoying to not only his friends, but also his sisters! In his Freshman year, the assignment was to video
a recreation of a battle. They chose the
Battle of Gettysburg. Aaron, Zach, Matt and Robby used fireworks as bombs. At one point, Zach put one of the lit
fireworks next to the propane tank as a pretend bomb. In the video, you can hear Aaron’s Mom
screaming “get that firework away from the propane tank!” The boys used paintball guns as their weapons and during the video they had
Abby swear saying “you son of a bitch!” as they were allowed one swear word in
the video. The entire class and teacher
were just roaring at their video and how funny it was and earned them all an A
for the project. Unfortunately, to this
day, no one can find the video but no one has ever forgotten it.
While
in high school, Aaron would take Abby with him when he’d go shopping and would
almost always give her a budget of around $25 to spend on whatever she
wanted. Aaron would also often drive
Abby home after school and they would stop at McDonald’s. Abby said Aaron always made her order for
them because he thought people wouldn’t look twice at a little girl ordering four
McDoubles. He never wanted to ask for no
pickles, so when he’d sit down to eat, he’d pick them off and Abby would eat
them. Rachel managed to finally convince
him to just order his burger without pickles.
When
Aaron was a senior in high school, he told his parents he wanted to join the
Army. This was at a time when the middle
east was still in major conflict. He had
his plan all set though. He was going to
give up his sign on bonus, which would defer him for two years. While in college, he would join ROTC, which
would defer him for a few more years. He
figured that the world would be a different place by that time and hopefully
the wars will be over and he’d come out of college as a commissioned officer. Knowing how much Aaron wanted to join, his
parents consented. No one was surprised
that Aaron joined the Army. One of the
girls at daycare, Melissa, stated she was not surprised that Aaron joined the
Army, because whenever they would go outside to play, Aaron always wanted to
play “Army.” His sisters also recall
Aaron always wanting to play Army or War, and he’d always have an air soft gun
and would shoot them as they were the enemy and had to run away. The girls were not thrilled with that
game!
While
in basic training, Aaron earned the nickname “Milkshake.” That name was hilariously bestowed upon him
by one of the drill sergeants who, when calling out his name, could not say
Miklaszewicz and was sputtering over the name and finally blurted out
“Milkshake” and that’s how Aaron became Milkshake to all his Army buddies.
Aaron
was in college at UW Stevens Point when his Unit was called up to go to
Afghanistan. Not surprisingly, Aaron gave
up his deferment, saying simply “I can’t leave my buddies behind.” And therein began ten months in
Afghanistan. Much to his mother’s
horror, Aaron’s Military Occupational Specialty, or MOS was Combat Engineer. That meant he was going to spend his time in
Afghanistan searching for and blowing up Improvised Explosive Devices. It was the job of the Combat Engineers to
travel down the roads first and make them safe for the rest of the troops. They always “led the way.” Every one of Aaron’s Army buddies was every
bit as crazy as Aaron, in that they all loved to blow things up. During his time in the military, Aaron made
lifelong friends, who meant the world to him.
Through some major life events, and some hard times, Aaron was always there
with them.
One of Aaron’s Army
buddies had this to say:
When I came to the
428th, I was placed in 3rd platoon, where I met Aaron. We were both 19, and not scared of
anything. He always worked hard,
volunteering for tasks most people shied away from. You could tell he was truly proud to be in
the Army. Aaron and I would swap staying
at his apartment in Stevens Point, or staying at my hotel room in Wausau for
drill. If the nights got rowdy, we would
stay in the hotels. Our time training at
Fort Leonard Wood was always a blast.
When we deployed, we
were placed in the same squad. We had a
sergeant that was not a great leader, so we relied on each other to generate
morale. When we arrived overseas, we shared
the same tent and we decided to take some “bad-ass” pictures of ourselves. They are to this day some of the funniest
photos I own.
Milkshake was generally
quiet if you didn't know him, and very electric if you did. He always kept a neat and tidy space,
reflective of his personality, as he was always prepared and organized. He loved music. My iconic Milkshake songs he
loved are: Flexin’ by the Shop Boys, The
Show Goes On by Lupe Fiasco, Gangnam Style by PSY, LMFAO, most comedy music like Lonely Island,
and anything “POP goes Rock”.
Aaron’s talent,
dedication, and focus shined in everything that interested him. He loved gaming, and outmatched everyone who
played against him. When we gamed
overseas and had the systems linked between the tents, everyone knew that
Milkshake was the top player, and would talk about it at the after-match
cigarette in the bunker.
Aaron was fierce and
prepared to face anything the war threw at him, yet his heart was gentle and
calm. On Halloween, Aaron and I dressed
up as an elephant and Saddam Hussein and trick-or-treated the “Explosive Ordnance
Disposal” tent. We received one 9mm
round each from their Captain. During
Christmas, Aaron and I made a cookie Christmas tree kit that came from a care
package. Some nights we would gather
around a bench in a smoking area and smoke shisha tobacco out of the hookah
while drinking NA beers and laughing.
When we had some downtime, ping pong was played to pass the time. Aaron again was a top competitor.
After we got back from
deployment, Aaron started to really get into fishing. He took me out a couple of times on his boat,
and tried teaching me how to use a bait caster rod. Though I never got the hang of it, we would
laugh, smoke cigarettes and enjoy a few beers as he would set another hook and
bring in another largemouth. I painted
his portrait in my art class, a 4ft by 6ft oil on canvas piece. I painted him because he was one of my
closest friends in the army and he was more than deserving of it. I later helped create the current logo for
his YouTube fishing channel, and was truly excited to work with Aaron in
helping make his dream a reality.
Last year I put together
an army cookout so the guys from the unit could come together again after years
of separation. Only 6 people showed
up. Aaron arrived after his work shift
was done, showing his relentless compassion towards his comrades.
Some memories I can't
discuss, some are just too personal. I
can say for those memories that I am lucky to have shared with the men I served
directly with.
While
Aaron was in Afghanistan, his mind was never far from fishing. One day, he messaged his mom and asked what
she was doing. She told him that they
were in Milwaukee for his great-uncle’s funeral. Aaron’s response was “Hmmmmmmmmm.” He then asked when they were leaving and what
route they were going home because he had found a boat on Craig’s List that he
wanted to buy. We couldn’t believe he
was in Afghanistan, looking for a boat in Wisconsin! The reason for the “Hmmmmmmmm” response to
his mom was that Aaron knew that the family would have taken his mom’s truck
and that she would be able to tow anything he could possibly want to buy! So, the family drove to Madison on the way
home and ended up towing home his Nitro, Aaron’s first boat.
Aaron
was so excited about that boat! He sent
a long message to his mom telling her exactly where to stand for each picture
he wanted, which was at least 25! A few
weeks later, Aaron’s mom found a truck for Aaron so he could safely tow his first
boat. When Aaron returned from
Afghanistan, the very first thing he did was inspect that boat from bow to
stern and top to bottom. Aaron took that
boat out fishing within a day of returning home. Abby went with Aaron on that first fishing
trip and remembers how Aaron couldn’t get it to start. Aaron thought he knew how to choke it, but
obviously did not. Aaron and Abby took
it to a local boat shop on Lake DuBay and they showed him how to do it. All Aaron had to do was push the key in and
then turn. Abby thought this was very
funny because Aaron always knew just about everything. Aaron kept that Nitro until it was on its
last legs and loved every minute with it.
He would park it at his Nana’s house, not far from Steven’s Point and
was able to hitch up and leave before anyone even knew he had been there. In 2017, he bought a Crestliner that kept him
busy until he bought his beloved Skeeter in 2021.
Aaron
returned to UW Stevens Point after Afghanistan, which is where he met Rachel,
who would eventually become his wife.
While Aaron was in Stevens Point, he began working for Shopko. His boss loved to tell the story of how Aaron
began his career there. Aaron was hired
by “Big John” for one single day. Black
Friday. He was hired to be a “cart boy.” All he had to do was gather carts from the
parking lot and bring them into the store.
All day long, that’s what he did.
But, Aaron, being Aaron, did so much more. He helped shoppers, would help load their
purchases, and look for additional things he could help with. The store was never empty of carts for
shoppers. He so impressed his boss that
for the first time in the history of Shopko, the “cart boy” was hired and thus
began his career at Shopko. He worked
his way up to store manager and worked for Shopko until they closed their doors
for good and he transitioned to the Farm and Automotive Manager at Fleet Farm
in Green Bay.
While
at UW- Stevens Point, Rachel and Aaron met through some mutual friends. They started out as friends, but after only a
few months, they knew their relationship was something special. One of their first official dates was spent
fishing from shore on the Wisconsin River.
Many late nights were spent catfishing by the DuBay Dam with Rachel,
Pat, Zach and Robby. Aaron and Robby
would often drive around Stevens Point in Aaron’s truck to go fishing and Aaron
would have the music so loud it was insane.
Just like his dad!
There
was never a lack of things to do or friends to spend time with, and Aaron and
Rachel frequently reflected on how much they missed some of those college
days. Whether it was date night,
spending time along the river, or hanging out with friends, Aaron and Rachel
spent a lot of time together. Even the
quiet days, spent together at their apartment were filled with laughter and
fun. They made each other so happy and
their personalities fit together so well, anyone who saw them together knew
this relationship was meant to be.
As
they approached Rachel’s graduation date, they knew it was time to talk about
next steps and it was easily decided this was forever and were engaged in
2016. When job opportunities arose, they
said they would support each other and continue to grow together. It worked out that they both had job
opportunities that brought them to the Green Bay area, much to Aaron’s
excitement, as he had new water to explore for fishing.
In
2018, shortly after their wedding, Aaron and Rachel bought their home in Oconto
and settled into married life. They were
there for each other through it all—stressful days, new jobs, fun things like
adding a puppy or new boat to the family.
While 12 years does not seem like enough time, the time they did have
together was filled with much love and joy.
Aaron
started a YouTube Channel named Aaron Mik Fishing. He began making short videos in the fall of
2020 with nothing more than his phone and a mount for the windshield of his
boat. That passion grew to a much larger
scale system, with a GoPro and a desktop computer, to make editing easier. Aaron was self-taught on the editing program
and was getting better and better with every video. He enjoyed working on the videos and would
often get started right after he got in from fishing that day. He would say “I’m off to work!” and head
downstairs to edit, but it often did not feel like another job.
Aaron’s
videos always started and ended with the tagline “No Trolling Allowed” which
was a bit of a double entendre as it was meant for others not to troll him
on-line but also revealed the fact that he didn’t like to troll when
fishing. He had over 100 YouTube videos
and shorts and over 2,500 followers. He
was an up and coming YouTube sensation and was closely followed by the fishing
community. His videos were not only informative,
but also comical, which is what made them so great to watch. You could see his love of fishing in his eyes
and in his laugh whenever he hooked a walleye.
He often said that he would never tire of catching walleyes and just
wanted to “bend the rod and catch whatever bites.” He made it look so easy. Not only did Aaron have his own YouTube
channel, but he participated in podcasts put on by other fishermen around the
country, together with videos for Fleet Farm and interviews with other YouTube
fishermen.
The
comments from Aaron’s last YouTube video are indicative of how loved he truly was.
Aaron was the absolute best, I never passed up
a chance to watch his fishing videos. I always got a big laugh outta him joking
around. Fishing is supposed to be fun not a job, and he made it fun. Dog gone
it, Who is going to fill those shoes. I'm already missing the dude. Rest in
Peace.
It was a pleasure serving this country with
you. I will miss our weekly
conversations at Fleet Farm of fishing stories and you giving me crap about how
much time and money I would spend in there! LOL You will be missed Milkshake
more than you know my friend. Rest In Peace brother.
Rest in peace my dude. Many hours spent
watching your videos. I feel like I lost a fishing buddy. Tight lines up there.
You are going to be missed Aaron! You were one
of a kind. Now you can catch a few fish with your dad. Rest in peace.
Aaron’s
almost constant side-kick on the water was his father-in-law, Roger. Aaron always gave credit where credit was
due, and when Roger out-fished him in the Duck Creek Walleye Series Tournament #3
on August 5, 2023, one of Aaron’s followers called him “Roger the Hammer. Aaron jokingly confirmed he definitely was
not “Roger the Dodger” and he was forever known in Aaron’s videos as Roger the
Hammer and didn’t seem to mind when Aaron took full advantage of mishaps, like
a lure hitting Roger in the head.
In
preparation for the tournaments, Aaron and Roger would practice where they were
going to fish for days beforehand, scoping out where the fish were depending on
the weather. That way, they had a head’s
up on where the fish may be hiding if it was windy, calm, warm or cold. Their first tournament together in 2023, they
came in 17th place. They
managed to improve that just a little bit, by winning the second
tournament, and coming in fifth place in the third and final tournament of the
year.
Like
most fishermen, Aaron was a bit superstitious.
As Aaron and Roger both loved peanut butter, Aaron’s mother-in-law Ann
made some Scotcharoos for them to take fishing.
Apparently, they were good luck, as Aaron started calling them
“fishbait” and they were then a requirement for every tournament. So, while Aaron and Roger were out “practice”
fishing, Ann was busy making Scotcharoos for them to take to the
tournament.
Aaron
thoroughly enjoyed technology and used it to his fullest advantage when it came
to fishing. While his videos spent a lot
of time showcasing his catching walleyes, he also took the time to teach how he
was fishing, where he was fishing, what technology he was using and how to use
that technology. Many other anglers
watched his videos just to learn about all the technology available, as it
seemed that Aaron had all of it.
Aaron
also enjoyed catching Sheephead. There
seemed to be some conflicting stories as to whether they were good to eat or
not, so Aaron, in typical Aaron fashion, made a YouTube video of him catching a
nice size eater, fileted it, battered some and breaded some, deep fried it and
compared it to a walleye he also deep fried.
Upon tasting, he said it was just like alligator and was nice and soft and
actually pretty good.
Aaron’s
last boat, his Skeeter was his dream boat and was purchased in March, 2021. It was a 20-1/2 footer and was simply
everything he wanted. He said “I fish by
myself a lot and it’s perfect.” He often
said he’d rather spend gas on the boat than on the truck. This boat allowed him to spend many more days
on the water, as it could handle most of what Green Bay could throw at it.
Aaron
thoroughly enjoyed being an Uncle when his first nephew and Godchild, Dean was
born in 2022. Dean was able to take his
first boat ride with Uncle Aaron last summer.
Aaron was so concerned about taking him on the boat and the second he
saw Erica, Robby and Dean coming, he kept saying “he has to have a life jacket
on.” “Does he have a life jacket? He can’t get on the boat without one.” After the boat ride, as they were docking, Dean started crying. Uncle Aaron told him that if he didn’t stop
crying, he’d throw him in the lake. And Uncle
Aaron did just that! And by throw, we
mean he walked back to the boat launch and held Dean while putting his bare
feet in the water. Dean was so
exhausted, he proceeded to fall asleep while Aaron was holding him!
Aaron
loved taking friends and family out on Green Bay fishing. In the spring of 2021, he took his mom and
dad out for the first time. Of course,
Aaron was the first to get a fish on, and quickly handed his rod over to his
mom to reel it in. Turns out it wasn’t a
walleye, but a big ole catfish! He even
made her hold it properly so he could take a picture of her with it, much to
her chagrin. What fun that was! Abby always made a point to go fishing with Aaron
in the springtime, just to try and get on the wall of fame. Abby was always freezing cold when she went,
and even had to borrow Ann’s boots because her feet would get so cold. Abby never did get on that wall because she
was frozen before the fishing even began, but she always stayed on the boat
just to watch Aaron fish and spend time with him.
Abby
recalls Aaron would always be watching either fishing videos, cooking videos on
how to smoke or cook food on the Traeger, or Fail Army, where it’s just a bunch
of random people making major fails.
That was always fun to watch with him.
One
of Aaron’s friends’ stated that Aaron
was one of the best humans he’s ever known.
He said I'm honored to have known him and will never forget him. He
always treated everyone like a brother.
He was a master at everything he did. We'd play Runescape for hours together in
school and he was a master at that. In
one class we participated in a simulated stock exchange and Aaron was able to
turn his investment into a crazy amount of money.
One
of his co-workers’ stated that Aaron
was by far the best manager I've ever had.
He was kind, but firm. He was
respected, and also respectful. He was a
great soul, with good taste in music, and quirky weird trivia knowledge. He made people feel safe, and heard.
Aaron
was a wonderful boy, who grew into a wonderful man. He was never afraid to say “I love you” to
his mom on the phone, whether he was at work or at home. If he loved you, he loved you with all his
heart. He was kind, thoughtful and
caring and made everyone feel welcome. He
was always willing to jump in and help, whether it was a friend or
co-worker. He was a loving son, husband,
brother, uncle and friend. There is not
a person who met Aaron that didn’t like him, even if they only met him through
his YouTube videos. Aaron was the kind
of man that others aspired to be.
Aaron
was a beautiful, bright light, shining in a world full of darkness and will
forever be missed and remembered that way.
