I will never forget the day I found out about Eddie....I had recently moved to Southern Illinois after getting married...and of course you grow apart....Frank told me...word reached me after the fact...after the funeral...I still tear up thinking about it. I would roadtrip up to U of I from Eastern and hang with he and Santo....he always had time to listen......I was very blessed to have known him for a very short time...God Bless you Eddie C
"C" and I were best of friends. In fact, I promised his parents at his funeral that my first-born son would carry his name and he does. Soon after my mom was diagnosed with a brain tumor during our senior year, Eddie insisted that I spend that Thanksgiving with him and his family and wouldn't let me say no. In fact, that was the year that the Bears played on Thanksgiving Day against the Lions and they won in overtime, when the opening kick-off was returned for a touchdown; the shortest overtime in football history.
Eddie and I spent countless hours playing wiffle ball in our driveways and I can still hear his dad say "the Cubs never win on Saturday"!!! In fact, he said that year after year until the Saturday we were playing in his driveway and Ryne Sandberg hit two home runs against Bruce Sutter for what was Sandberg's best game of his Hall Of Fame career.
Eddie's time on Earth was too short and I miss him very much. In fact, a day doesn't go by that I don't think of him. He had a swagger and confidence about him and always lifted up those around him with a smile. He was a cool guy with a great heart and one of the brightest people I knew. His career at Arthur Anderson was in full gear and it was cut short by tragedy. I'll never forget being with him the last day of his life and that we grilled steak at his house before we planned to go downtown for the evening. His last meal was steak on the grill with brocolli, cauliflower and carrots in cheese sauce. Just before we were to go downtown together, I recieved a call from my girl-friend, asking me to pick her up at the airport. My plan was to pick her up and together meet Eddie and friends downtown. However, her plane was delayed and by the time she arrived, it was too late to head downtown or go home. When I heard the news the next morning that he was in critical condition and likely brain dead, I got sick to my stomach.
His grave is in All-Saints Cemetary in Des Plaines near a statue of St. Edward, but he will always be with me.
The first thing I think of when I think of Eddie C is that permanent smile he wore. I never saw him down on anything. We tried out for the basketball team together,he made it,I didnt,but he would always encourage me to keep working and i'd make it. He thought I was good enough to make it. Tried a couple more times to no avail ,but his encouragement probably kept me playing. We'd play on the same teams often at the Y. Thats the true heart I remember about Eddie. I think of him often,and wish he could have enjoyed the full life I know he would have lived.
I ran into Eddie at Beaumont's Bar (on Halsted) on what turned out to be the night he died. I was out with John Wooden, we went to Beaumont's, & just happen to run into group of Prospect grad's that included Eddie. Eddie was sober & acted his usual way - very friendly & full of class. I myself was drinking like a fish - like I aways did in those days. I made it home (thank God Woody was driving!) and Eddie didn't.
Life is not fair - as we all know.
I didn't feel I knew Eddie that well. But he would always stop & have a heartfelt conversation with me. We ran into each other often. We even liked the same girl at one point. No matter - he would just reach out and talk to me in a very geniune way that only a down-to-earth, geniune guy would be capable of doing.
At U of I, he was a Tau & I was a DChi, so we were supposed to hate each other. I did feel animosity towards that House because I was a shallow f*&%. But not Eddie, he just laughed that crap off & showed me how someone with class handled things. I admired his outlook on life, but I sure couldn't match his maturity.
I think about the guy all the time. He handled things like I wish I could have.
Kathleen Fleming (Gremer)
What a great guy Eddie C was. I got to know him well at U of I. He was a very sweet person, a gentleman even at the young age of 18. I still miss him.
Lynette Garrett
I will never forget the day I found out about Eddie....I had recently moved to Southern Illinois after getting married...and of course you grow apart....Frank told me...word reached me after the fact...after the funeral...I still tear up thinking about it. I would roadtrip up to U of I from Eastern and hang with he and Santo....he always had time to listen......I was very blessed to have known him for a very short time...God Bless you Eddie C
Bob Garms
"C" and I were best of friends. In fact, I promised his parents at his funeral that my first-born son would carry his name and he does. Soon after my mom was diagnosed with a brain tumor during our senior year, Eddie insisted that I spend that Thanksgiving with him and his family and wouldn't let me say no. In fact, that was the year that the Bears played on Thanksgiving Day against the Lions and they won in overtime, when the opening kick-off was returned for a touchdown; the shortest overtime in football history.
Eddie and I spent countless hours playing wiffle ball in our driveways and I can still hear his dad say "the Cubs never win on Saturday"!!! In fact, he said that year after year until the Saturday we were playing in his driveway and Ryne Sandberg hit two home runs against Bruce Sutter for what was Sandberg's best game of his Hall Of Fame career.
Eddie's time on Earth was too short and I miss him very much. In fact, a day doesn't go by that I don't think of him. He had a swagger and confidence about him and always lifted up those around him with a smile. He was a cool guy with a great heart and one of the brightest people I knew. His career at Arthur Anderson was in full gear and it was cut short by tragedy. I'll never forget being with him the last day of his life and that we grilled steak at his house before we planned to go downtown for the evening. His last meal was steak on the grill with brocolli, cauliflower and carrots in cheese sauce. Just before we were to go downtown together, I recieved a call from my girl-friend, asking me to pick her up at the airport. My plan was to pick her up and together meet Eddie and friends downtown. However, her plane was delayed and by the time she arrived, it was too late to head downtown or go home. When I heard the news the next morning that he was in critical condition and likely brain dead, I got sick to my stomach.
His grave is in All-Saints Cemetary in Des Plaines near a statue of St. Edward, but he will always be with me.
You are and will always be missed Eddie C!
Andy Gabbani
The first thing I think of when I think of Eddie C is that permanent smile he wore. I never saw him down on anything. We tried out for the basketball team together,he made it,I didnt,but he would always encourage me to keep working and i'd make it. He thought I was good enough to make it. Tried a couple more times to no avail ,but his encouragement probably kept me playing. We'd play on the same teams often at the Y. Thats the true heart I remember about Eddie. I think of him often,and wish he could have enjoyed the full life I know he would have lived.Scott McGrath
I ran into Eddie at Beaumont's Bar (on Halsted) on what turned out to be the night he died. I was out with John Wooden, we went to Beaumont's, & just happen to run into group of Prospect grad's that included Eddie. Eddie was sober & acted his usual way - very friendly & full of class. I myself was drinking like a fish - like I aways did in those days. I made it home (thank God Woody was driving!) and Eddie didn't.
Life is not fair - as we all know.
I didn't feel I knew Eddie that well. But he would always stop & have a heartfelt conversation with me. We ran into each other often. We even liked the same girl at one point. No matter - he would just reach out and talk to me in a very geniune way that only a down-to-earth, geniune guy would be capable of doing.
At U of I, he was a Tau & I was a DChi, so we were supposed to hate each other. I did feel animosity towards that House because I was a shallow f*&%. But not Eddie, he just laughed that crap off & showed me how someone with class handled things. I admired his outlook on life, but I sure couldn't match his maturity.
I think about the guy all the time. He handled things like I wish I could have.
RIP Eddie.