Obituary of Thomas R. Kasprzak

There should be a billboard taken out with his name on it. Everyone knew Tom, Uncle Tom, Dad. He had so many names: Mr. Party, Mr. Lawn Care, The Advanced Dresser, Mr. Car, a member of the Baters, a good friend, a great guy, a husband, a brother, an Uncle, a golfer, Dad, Grandpa, and especially GPA. Mom and Dad met many years ago at The Hideaway, located on Delevan, across from the old Chevy plant. Dad played guitar in a band, Ted Russel and the Rhythm Rockers. They even had a record! I found one of their songs on Youtube! He told me once that he smoked because it looked cool having the cigarette sticking out of the top of the guitar by the frets. He told me lots of great stories. I'm sure he shared a bunch with you too…or else you lived these moments with him. Dad said, no matter who he went on a date with, it always came back to Betty. “It was always Betty.” They got married in 1966 and I came along in 1971. I’m glad it was just me, then I didn't have to share him with anyone else. Or so I thought. I grew up with an eclectic dad. We watched Star Trek, he took me to see Star Wars, he introduced me to every kind of music out there. He had passion and so many different interests! The two movies I will never forget that I saw with him and he was so excited about were Titanic and Amadeus. I also remember before cell phones, scaring my mom half to death because we went to see Spacehunter, Adventures in the Forbidden Zone at the Amherst Theater. The first movie was sold out so we bought tickets to the next show, but instead of going home to wait, we went to McDonald’s for food and Record Theater to kill time. By the time we got home after the movie several hours later, Mom was in a panic. “Where were you?!” Dad and I didnt think about that, we just had fun. I can remember every holiday, I have pictures of Dad telling stories to all my little cousins, and more recently, their kids. Dad was the fun one. Dad and I went white water rafting. Dad and I went to the drag races in New Jersey, Tennessee, Virginia. Dad saw Mount Rainier in Washington state with his cousin Allen. Boy did he have friends. They were my extended family, more aunts and uncles for me when I was a kid. Dad allowed me to bring a kitten home from Uncle John’s Farm once. He knew a golf pro. He had fun at his friend’s cottage in Chautauqua. He even had stories about the rocket skateboard he built and was going to ride with his friends there, but Mom tossed the skateboard in the fire so Dad wouldn't get hurt. He was a great friend, fun to be around and that is why he has life-long friends! He would take us tent camping. He would have me help him start the Coleman stove. He would have me help him pitch the tent. We went to amusement parks and historical sites. He took a day trip with his brother Bill and I to Washington, DC from a campsite. He was a history buff. Loved history. He loved the sites and sounds of other countries. He had once traveled to Japan and used to bring everyone he could to the Canadian ballet. He was Mr. Dyngus Day and entered the kielbasa contest with his brother and my cousins and won best tasting 2 years in a row. Their sausage had to be better even than the professional stuff! My one and only Dyngus Day celebration so far was with Dad and my kids and we had a blast! I’m going to have to keep going to honor him! My dad was in his 80s, but he looked like he was in his 60s and he definitely was always a kid at heart. He liked to have fun, never held a grudge and could have a great conversation with anyone, at absolutely any time. At my cousin Danny’s wedding, everyone, and I mean everyone knew Uncle Tom, even my cousin’s friends. Dad was the life of the party at 4th of July parties every year. He would talk Unions with Uncle Sharpy. It would get to the point where we would all leave the room due to their passionate discussion! Dad not only loved history, he was very into politics. Every family gathering had a very heated discussion involving him and politics. Even when it was at my house with just us, politics always came up. I can remember hearing him listen to Rush Limbaugh. In the hospital, he basically watched CNN all the time. He was a grandpa, a husband, a dad, a brother, a great guy. He loved his brother and sister so much! He called his sister and got together with her every time she came to town. He went every Thanksgiving to Michigan to be with Aunt Chris and Uncle Bill and Grandma Angie. He and I made the trip there once together, just a Dad and me road trip. He loved all kinds of sports. Loved going to hockey games with Uncle Bill. We even split season tickets with him way back when. He loved cheering for the Bills on tv and rewinding and replaying plays so he could make his own call as referee. He took Mom to a LOT of Bisons baseball games. And don’t get me started on the Grandkids! He took them and Mom to Sabres games, got seat service for food and drinks for them and Mom. They got souvenirs and really made some great memories. Every summer he took the grandkids to baseball games too, and would spend from sun up to sun down with Mom and the kids at amusement parks. He never missed a soccer game, a basketball game or baseball game that either kid played in, not one!! He even traveled to Syracuse recently to see his granddaughter compete in a Woodsman Competition where she split giant logs and used a chainsaw to slice through logs like butter! Matthew and GPA had a close relationship. GPA was always there for him. GPA got Matt into golf! Thursdays were their day. Matt moved his work schedule so in the summer, on Thursdays they would golf. I heard many stories from Matt how he had fun and he and GPA had lots of laughs over lunch. In the last several years, Dad found a great group of guys he talked about all the time. These guys were great to my Dad. They golfed together during the season, they met for dinners and once a week Dad would go for a drink. My kids and I heard stories and every time he told one, it was always the first and last name he used, like he was name dropping famous people. Well, with all the fun times Dad talked about, to me, these guys are famous. The last several years he cooked at home for him and Mom. He liked to go out to dinner to all different kinds of places. Dad had the restaurant with white tablecloths kind of taste. He worked hard when he was working for Osgood Machinery and Buffalo Pumps until he retired so he could enjoy any kind of fancy restaurant he wanted. He introduced me to slime dogs at Seneca Hots. He took me to the car show every year. I will never forget him teaching me, “Daddy’s Rule of Fractions!” That got me through a lot of math classes in my life! He taught me about vehicle care and maintenance and we used to split a beer after he would let me help him cut the lawn. His way. Speaking of his way, when he went into the hospital, he told my mom not to cancel her knee replacement surgery. She didn’t. On Monday she had the surgery. We went to see him Monday in the hospital after her surgery and she was walking around his bed. His smile was so big and bright. He was so very happy for her. He waited to pass away until after he knew she was good from her surgery. He loved his family so much. He was so in love with my mom. I always saw that. I am so so very thankful for all the different, unusual, fun, sporty, eclectic, different things he introduced me and my kids to. We didn’t have to like all of them, he just wanted us to know about them. I can never thank him enough for everything he did for me, my mom and my family throughout my life. There are just so many things I will hold close to my heart.