Saturday, December 5, 2009

Please share your thought and memory's here

One of the wonders of the Internet is that we can easily share our thoughts with each other.  I would encourage each of you to share your experiences with Nick and Photos through this blog.  Everyone that accesses it will be able to benefit.  Just click on the New Post link or Comments to comment on an existing post.  If you are having trouble and would prefer to just email me a story or photos to post for you, please email me at steve@mmeconsulting.com.

24 comments:

  1. My family and I met Nick in 1983 when we were on a teacher exchange in Calgary. Our friend Bill Swityk showed us a fake dollar note with his face and name on it: the same family name as mine.
    On our next visit to Edmonton we met outside the St John Church and we have kept up infrequent but regular communication since.
    The news of his passing is sad indeed coming only two weeks after my own mother's passing away also from a long fight with cancer.
    Nick impressed us as a warm admirable man who will be sadly missed. Please accept our family's condolences at this sad time.
    Vichnaya Pamyat
    Lili & Yari Ochota (South Australia)

    ReplyDelete
  2. My sincere condolences go out to you and your family. My husband, Roy Pung, who passed away 5 years ago and I have known Nick for a long time through the PMA and have been on many trips with him. Nick loved a good time. I also have one of his paintings that he did for us for our 25th wedding anniversary which was 27 years ago. I feel honored to have it. Nick was a great person to be around and his friendship will not be forgotten.

    ReplyDelete
  3. OMG i will miss you so much UNCLE NICK the only family outside the royals who had our own family photographer MEMORIES JUST SO MANY GOOD MEMORIES but you are in a better place now no more suffering YOU WERE THE GLUE FOR OUR FAMILY you made sure we all were together at one time or another MAY GOD GIVE YOU THE REST YOU DESERVE FOR ALL YOU HAVE GIVEN ON EARTH REST IN PEACE WITH ALL MY LOVE YOUR NEICE
    JEANETTE

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dear David, Peter, Emil and extended family,

    I am so sorry for your loss, Nick was a delightful man. I will never forget having dinner with him, ( more years ago than I care to mention), along with Emil and Steve, at his cabin. There were green peppers in the dish, and I was choosing not to eat them. Nick said to me, "Go on, eat the peppers, they'll help put hair on your chest." After a very slight pause he added, "Although, I guess you wouldn't want that would you?" Still makes me smile. He will be missed.
    All my love,
    Lorna Fisher

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dear David, Peter & Emil
    Thank you for letting me know about Nick. I was very saddened to hear the news. I had been visiting him regularly at the nursing home.
    Nick followed me as president of the Canadian Club of Edmonton and I always considered him to be a real gentleman with a great sense of humour. He will be sadly missed.
    Regards
    Mike Smith

    ReplyDelete
  6. We are all saddened by Nick's passing.

    Besides being a gentleman, he was always willing to share his knowledge of the industry with anyone who wanted to learn.

    John

    ReplyDelete
  7. I have known Nick for over 40 years. We enjoyed two buck meetings and
    one PMA every year for about 28 years. He was a quiet but happy
    person who was always helpful and sharing. He was a great artist with
    stained glass and I looked forward every year to his Christmas Card
    which featured his latest work. It is wonderful that we can have the
    memories of the good times with our friends.

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is sad. Nick was a gentleman.
    Kirk

    ReplyDelete
  9. Ruth and Derrick Alderton.December 8, 2009 at 2:49 PM

    Pleas accept our deepest sympathies in the passing of a good friend and a fine gentleman. His sense of humour was his signature and his wit was its equal.

    He will be greatly missed.

    Ruth and Derrick Alderton.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Our deepest condolences to all of the family.

    Regards
    Nejolla Korris
    Honorary Consul for Lithuania

    ReplyDelete
  11. David, Peter, and Emil:

    I am so sad that your father is gone. He was a great friend, and I shall sorely miss him.

    I enjoyed a visit with him in mid November.

    My deepest condolences to all of you, and to Helen.

    Paddy Johnson.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Please accept my most sincere sympathy . I was in to see him only last week.
    He was my friend and colleague in both Rotary and the Canadian Club and I know his presence in both will be greatly missed. I will look out for funeral arrangements. I have lost a valued friend and colleague.....

    Don Milne

    ReplyDelete
  13. Dearest David, Peter and Emil,

    I am in shock and in mourning. I am so sad to hear of your Dad's illness and passing but so thankful he isn't suffering. My aching heart goes out to each of you. He loved you so very much and was so proud of each of you, his sons. I am blessed to have had a meaningful relationship with my Great Uncle. I'll be-in-touch, soon. Thank you so much for keeping me in the loop.

    With love, sorrow and heart-felt sympathy, Kathy

    ReplyDelete
  14. I share with Nick the honour of being Past President of both the Rotary Club of Edmonton and the Canadian Club of Edmonton. I don't know how I rated, but I can say with certainty that Nick excelled in both posts, bringing great warmth, charm, and undoubted humour to all the meetings he conducted. A sad loss to all who knew Nick in those capacities - but warm and happy memories will remain. And yes - members of the Canadian Club did finally learn how to pronounce his name !

    ReplyDelete
  15. To David, Peter and Emil,

    I'm so sorry to hear of Nick's passing. I have had the honour of knowing Nick for almost 50 years. My husband and I were in Edmonton the first week in August and had the prividege of visiting with Nick. As a friend of Nick, we shared the passion of Photograhy. In my home I have a cabinet with Nick's stained glass. He was a Master of anything he aspired to do. What I absolutely loved about Nick, was that every time you asked him how he was, it was always 110 %. I will never in my life meet anyone who possessed Nick's qualities.
    Nick was so proud of his Son's. Thank-you for sharing with me. My husband and I have just returned to Calgary. We are hoping to make Edmonton on Monday.

    With Love and Sympathy,
    Hilda (Onions) Reiner
    Calgary, Alberta

    ReplyDelete
  16. I first met Nick in 1969, when I first came to Canada, from the Netherlands as an experienced photo-finish-lab-technician. Shared many of the photo secrets with Nick during the 4 years I worked with him. Although I couldn't really afford to work at North West Color.
    Have kept contact over the years, either by e-mail or else and had the privilege of his visit to my home in Kelowna, BC.
    Talked to him last about the passing of our friend Peter Cruickshank.
    It was good to be your friend Nick !

    ReplyDelete
  17. I have known Nick for over 40 years and he became a close friend who will always have a special place among my treasured memories.
    Nick constantly showed his generosity. He shared his time and amazing talents to those whom he thought would enjoy or benefit from them.
    Over the past few weeks, I spoke with Nick frequently during his time at Norwood. We reminisced at length over our travels, associations and Industry experiences that we shared and enjoyed over the years.
    I must now say, "Goodbye", DEAR FRIEND.
    I shall miss you.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Nestor Letawsky & FamilyDecember 13, 2009 at 11:03 AM

    It was with great sadness we received word of Uncle Nick's illness earlier this year and then of his passing last week.

    We realize the same words will be felt and repeated many times by many people as to what an exceptional person Nicholas Ochotta was, but we still feel it is necessary to say these words spoken straight from our hearts.

    Uncle Nick was a pleasure to know and to speak with throughout our lives. He graciously bestowed many visits upon us on his trips to California. He never missed a family wedding, no matter how far he needed to travel. Being the man that he was, Nick was a continued pleasure to spend time with right up until our last visits with him during his hospital stay.

    I have many fond memories of Uncle Nick. He was always a great man and a great mentor and someone who had a character to emulate.

    He was a very committed little brother to his big sister Katherine (Kate) and has always taken care to ensure she was well taken care of and always made time for trips to Wetaskiwin to visit with her.

    I'm sure Uncle Nick would appreciate this old saying, which in Ukrainian sounds like, "Ukrainchi do naba, bo yeeh tam traba," and translates in English to, "Ukrainians go to heaven because they're needed there."

    May God bless Nick Ochotta's soul.

    With Love from his sister Kate and nephew Nestor Letawsky & Family

    ReplyDelete
  19. Dear Cousins David, Peter and Emil,

    I am so sad to have to say good-bye to your father. A man who offered nothing but unconditional love to everyone. He showed all of us how to treat each other. I enjoyed the many visits with him. He always made time for family. About 10 years ago, when we was attending a glass convention near Seattle, he contacted me and I was delighted to pick him up and bring him home for a fun visit! And yes, there were pictures in the mail soon after that documented the reunion! I always looked forward to the pictures! I enjoyed hearing him and my dad speak of Boyle, and I will never forget your grandmother's funeral there. Again, the pictures he sent helped cement that memory. My sympathies to each of you and your families. I will miss Uncle Nick.

    2nd Cousin, Sherry Shavoley Hyde

    ReplyDelete
  20. I have known Nick ever since his "bathroom darkroom days" in his mother's house, and valued him as my closest friend for most of those years. I remember the wonderful trip we made in my car to the Monterey Peninsula and to visit Ansel Adams at his home. I worked with him, and for him for many years in the Lab. Even after I moved to Toronto, then to Washington DC over 30 years ago we kept in touch. I treasure the visits we had in Chicago,Toronto,Las Vegas, Washington DC, and his Glass Workshop in Edmonton. I have collected the photos he took, and his Xmas Cards and Stained glass windows. Nick was always close to my thoughts until we lost contact this year and I had no replies!
    Let me please say this to him.
    "God Bless you dear friend, a large part of my life has gone with you, and I feel suddenly lonely!"
    Ever, Andy

    ReplyDelete
  21. I met Nick years ago when he was the President of the Heart & Stroke Foundation and I was a new board member.

    He always had a smile on his face.

    I'm very sorry to hear of his passing and offer my condolences to the family.

    Sandra Thornton

    ReplyDelete
  22. Jim and Beverly BrownJanuary 1, 2010 at 3:29 PM

    Dear Peter, David and Emil,

    We have had the pleasure of spending many interesting and enjoyable times with Nick and family in your home when you were children. Nick's career was just at its beginning and even then it was obvious he was a man of great talent and creativity.

    I ran into him at the airport as we were both returning from Toronto in 1969. I from my father's funeral. It was comforting to have his company on that flight and even more so as the pilot had difficulty landing that evening in January and being a pilot Nick could relate why we needed two tries at the runway!

    We are saddened by your loss of a dear father and the loss Nick will be to the community.

    With fond memories...Jim and Beverly Brown

    ReplyDelete
  23. It is rare to find someone like Uncle Nick Ochotta; he was a true a renaissance man.
    Whatever he touched, he developed its beauty; whether it was photography, painting, stained glass, carpentry, the human heart. One need only look at his sons to appreciate his talent.
    Uncle Nick had the capacity to bring joy into everyone’s life. He loved and cared for his fellow man (woman) more than anyone I knew. He was the force that bound us all together as friends and family. He will be dearly missed.

    God Bless you Uncle Nick.

    With love,

    Myron Humeny

    ReplyDelete
  24. I'm Абрам Александр a businessman who was able to revive his dying lumbering business through the help of a God sent lender known as Benjamin Lee the Loan Consultant. Am resident at Yekaterinburg Екатеринбург. Well are you trying to start a business, settle your debt, expand your existing one, need money to purchase supplies. Have you been having problem trying to secure a Good Credit Facility, I want you to know that Mr Benjamin will see you through. Is the right place for you to resolve all your financial problem because am a living testimony and i can't just keep this to myself when others are looking for a way to be financially lifted.. I want you all to contact this God sent lender using the details as stated in other to be a partaker of this great opportunity Email: lfdsloans@outlook.com  Or  WhatsApp/Text +1-989-394-3740.

    ReplyDelete