Mr. Nicholas "Nick" Szautner

Nick “the can man” “wild driver” Szautner

This is a tribute to Nick’s life and also a way to thank the many people who helped him and included him in their lives- strangers, acquaintances, friends and also some special family members. Nick, in spite of his many challenges lived a relatively long and exciting life. When he first got his apartment in 1986 his special niece, Karen and her family spent many a time getting him out of a sticky situation. For that thank you. Also a thank you to his late sister, Mary, who when she came in from Humboldt would stop over with a favorite dessert and would play a few games of crib. In his younger years he spent a week every summer at camp Easter Seal. He loved to swim in the lake and ride the horses. In 1998 we went to British Columbia. It was a lot of driving but he got to see the mountains. We went on three gondolas and two boat cruises and yes I did push him up Johnston Canyon in Banff. It was work and scary as parts of it had no guard rail. At those times he did speak very kindly to me! But he did enjoy it. For years Nick went to the Ex. He loved the rides especially the Zipper,Ring of Fire and the Dragon Boat. On the Dragon Boat he insisted on being right on the end of the boat so he could go as high as possible. He also loved the fireworks. He was a member of the Cerebral Palsy Adult Support Group. They played bocce ball, went to movies, had pizza nights etc. In his younger years he drove a three wheel trike collecting cans and wheeling all over the city. His first trike was stolen but his insurance covered the cost of a new one. He got his first high powered wheel chair in 1998 and then he became Nick “the wild driver” No such word as “slow”. He went through a few chairs and I thank the people at the Abilities Council for keeping them working and enduring his wrath if they were not fixed quickly enough. Nick’s most cherished friend John Marckoski, was the man who was instrumental in getting Nick out of Valley View and on his way to getting his own apartment in 1986 where finally he was his own boss. For many years he went to Telemiracle staying the whole time from start to finish. The person responsible for Nick becoming “the can man” was Don at the Holiday Park Golf Course in about 1995. He allowed Nick to collect the cans with the help of Barrie “the bear” and Les. Sadly when Don left Nick was told by management he had to leave too. But it started him on a new path -collecting cans full time at the ball diamonds. Many people were very kind throwing their cans into the bag on the back of his chair and even giving him big bags to take home. Many strangers pushed him part way home because he had run out of power. During the summer having supper at 11 P.M. was not unusual. For many years Hans came and did his book keeping making sure everything was in order. Thank you, Hans. Nick loved everything “Simpsons” and his friends John and Betty Lou would often bring him Simpsons ornaments. He took these with him when he went to the care home.

The last few years Nick was finding it difficult to do the cans so he would wheel around the city often ending up at the farmer’s market where again he met many kind people especially Jerome. There were many kind people in the apartment too - Charlie, who often helped Nick out and played cards with him in the evenings and in later years Walter did much to help him. In the early 90’s Nick spent many days at the acreage driving the riding mower, watering and weeding the 100’s of baby trees and enjoying the dogs, cats, horses and one year a batch of baby skunks until they left. He loved watching and helping the carpenters build and fix things. He made a good gopher while pushing himself backwards in his manual wheel chair.

When he was younger he did a lot of macrame-plant holders, wall hangings and 2 table runners. This he did only in the winter when he was house bound. Although Nick could not read or write he was an excellent card player and loved crib, black jack, canasta and also trionimos which he spent many hours playing with my mom. They also played a lot of crib and if she made a mistake with the count he certainly told her! For many years he went to Folk Fest, going all three days and seeing all the pavilions that were wheel chair accessible. For a few years he enjoyed going to the Dakota Dunes to play black jack. Some people would leave the table when he came but most of the patrons and all of the staff were very kind to him. He had not gone for a few years but this past June his care giver, Justin took him and he won! Many of his care givers went above and beyond for him especially Jacquie from Home Care and Justin who advocated for him in the hospital and the care home since most people could not understand him. Justin certainly did go the extra mile. Although Nick was very hard to understand he had a very good command of language. I would like to thank Dr. Hosain who did his best to keep Nick going and even made house calls. And Gary you added so much to Nick's life especially in the cold months talking to him and helping him on the computer. Nick started making calendars for Christmas gifts in 1998. He did them himself learning to draw on the computer given to him by Telemiracle in 1993. At first he did not like the special keyboard but it was perfect for him and even though he eventually had to get a new computer he kept his trusty keyboard. Many thanks must go to Shawn and Ed for fixing booboos we had done and finding games and songs for him. But most of all to Rod who spent many, many hours keeping the keyboard in working shape as it was no longer being made. Nick had a large collection of albums (which he started collecting in Valley View) cassettes, cd’s and many songs on his computer. Even when he was in Valley View he went to many concerts. His favorite singer was Gordon Lightfoot. He had all his albums and went to all his concerts.

Nick had a very short temper and a very sharp tongue but in the 31 years I knew him I never heard him speak an unkind word to my mom - to me, well, not so much! For the few people who were cruel to him - robbing him, beating him up, terrorizing him and taking advantage of him- you know who you are. Until this last year when Nick knew he could not go back to his apartment he did not know the word “can’t”. And so to everyone- the next time you say or think “I can’t” - think of Nick. When I was going through Nick’s diary looking for a specific date I found something that he had dictated probably in the 90’s “I know one day, like everyone I will probably end up in a nursing home but I will have many memories, some happy and some not, some exciting and some maybe even a little frightening but is that not what life is all about?” So Nick wherever you are-up or down or hot or cold I hope you have strong legs on which to run, a very fast car to drive and are with your favorite cats, Tiny, Tiger and Hey You and your favorite dogs Bailey, Dweezil and Wonder. Donations in memory of Nick may be made to the Abilities Council or an animal charity.