Missing you today uncle. I have your photo up where I take my daily supplements and get to see you every morning. Love you. 

Uncle Ernie, I don't even know how to start this so I'll just tell a few memories. I'm still trying to deal with the fact that I can't get just call him and we can talk for hours about the latest drama we're watching, or the newest Marvel thing, or share our opinions on everything Star Wars, or how the Cubs are playing.

Right before he passed, he was calling me crazy telling me how lucky I was to see the Cubs win the World Series because it won't happen again in our lifetime, this was after I was talking about the Cubs going to the playoff this year. We were also just talking about the new Mandalorian movie coming out.

It's small things like that, that I'm sad I won't get to do anymore. I'm more sad that I wasn't home to get to say goodbye but I'm glad that his memory will still live on through our kids. My kids share the same love of Star Wars and Marvel as we do and we talked about that all the time.

I'm sad that he didn't get to see the tattoo he helped me design, paying homage to our Mexican ancestors. He was my go-to for all things Mexican history and culture.

The knowledge he had about all things was astounding. Definitely a terrible person to play scattagories with because he could have made up a word and I would thought it was real. I taught my kids how to play mancala because it was a right of passage growing up in our family to be cheated out of your first few games, lol.

I love remembering when we all used to stayover at grandma's house and we used to walk to 7/11 or Wally's. Or how he used to scare us all the time with ghost stories and we couldn't sleep.

I miss all of our talks about all the family dogs we all owned and how they all have their our personalities. I like to think that the Lobos, Sal, and Rocky where there to greet him, with Grandpa.

I know you never had kids of your own but I hope you know that we all felt like your kids too. Like you borrowed us from our moms from time to time. I miss you uncle.

One of my first memories of uncle Ernie was at an extended family outing, talking to me about when he worked at Barnes and Noble;  he would talk to me about all the great books he read. As an avid reader and politics and history buff, I was always excited to see him during our extended family outings. I’m so glad we got to see you at my grandma’s birthday party. Uncle Ernie, you will live forever in our hearts ❤️. 

I never forget the pain in my wife’s voice hearing that you had just passed.  It truly is tragic anytime someone dies so young when there is so much life yet to live.  You always held a special spot in Cristina’s heart and I know that she will miss you tremendously.  We used to talk about how brilliant you were and how I always thought you should have been a college professor with all of your knowledge and desire to learn more.  You had a kind heart and were always welcoming to me and I will always appreciate that.  But that is who you were.  You were interested in others and wanted to learn about them.  Thank you for welcoming me into your family and always being interested in what was going on with us.  I wish you could have made it out to AZ to experience all it has to offer.  I truly believe you would have loved it here and had so much fun experiencing the culture and history.  -Dave

It’s only been a couple of weeks since my brother, Ernie, left this earth and I miss him so much! 

I miss our phone calls,  talking about silly TV shows or laughing over the funny things the dogs were doing. We often reminisced about the nieces and nephews when they were little and how much the kids loved being with their Uncle Ernie. 

I ALSO loved spending time with him growing up! We used to build spaceships under the dining room table and pretend we were on Star Trek adventures. Those were the best times… when our imaginations ran wild and we could be anywhere our minds took us - even a cardboard dashboard, blanket-over-the-table Starship Enterprise. 

He was never one to shy away from a question about how things worked or why the world was the way it was. I always used to say he got the brains in the family, and it’s true! He had an incredible, almost photographic memory, and the way he retained information was remarkable and enviable.  He truly was the smartest guy in the room.

I will forever miss being able to pick up the phone and be the only person I can say a sentence about something to and we both just start busting out laughing. I even looked past the fact that he preferred Parks & Rec over The Office.

I love you, Net. Always and forever, Crissy 

I don’t even know where to start, but I know if he were here with me, he would’ve helped me get started with the first sentence or two, just like he always did with my second grade writing assignments. I always got an A on those because of his help and guidance. His influence throughout my life is a big part of what made me who I am today.

He was the one who got me into sports from as far back as I can remember. I still laugh thinking about when I first started dating my soon to be wife, Daisy. She’s a huge White Sox fan, and whenever I wore a Sox hat around the family, he’d tease me and say, “Remember where you came from, the North Side!” meaning the Cubs. Then he’d laugh and say he was joking, reminding me to always support any Chicago team.

We often had deep conversations about astronomy, history, science, politics, and religion, and I swear I learned so much from him. We talked about everything from new discoveries in the universe to the latest books I’d read, the history based video games I played, his obsession with Viking tv shows, Star Wars/Marvel shows or any horror movies he had recommended.

I’m forever grateful for having such a caring, forgiving, and thoughtful person in my life. He took care of me and my sisters when my parents were working at the time, and he was basically like a father to me. I loved him deeply and looked up to him more than he probably ever knew. I have so many memories with him that I could write a whole book about it.

A few that stand out: I remember when he took me to Riis Park with my bike. There was a big hill I wanted to go down but was too scared. He encouraged me to be brave, and when I finally did it, I hit a bump, flew off my bike, and crashed on the pavement. He told me to get up and not to cry, but I couldn’t help it. We laughed about that moment even years later.

Another memory was those writing assignments I mentioned earlier. I used to hate doing homework, and he’d make me sit at the table until I finished. Most times, he’d come back later only to find me asleep on my books.

These are just a few of many memories I’ll never forget. He was supposed to be by my side at my wedding as my best man, to see me finally happy in life. It hurts deeply that he won’t be there, but I know he’ll be with me in spirit.

I’m sure once I finish writing this, I’ll think of a hundred more things I wish I’d said, but that alone shows how much he truly meant to me and to everyone who knew him. He was a genuine person, my uncle, my best friend, and he will forever be missed.

Miss you every day uncle! I keep remembering our walks to 7/11 weekly, getting slurpies, snowballs, and anything else that looked good to us that day. I also keep remembering all of the books you’d bring me home from working at Borders. My favorite were the princess fairy puzzle books. I think Gabi had a couple too. I think this likely started my love for fantasy novels to this day. I’ll forever miss being able to simply sit at the kitchen table and have hours long conversation discussing endless topics. And as weird as it may sound to others, and I know you’d say “Mandi, what the heck!”, I miss your smell. You had such a distinct smell to me, that when I think about it, it brings me so much peace and reminds me of growing up with you and being at grandma’s. But I don’t miss how you’d smell after your runs. Also, I’m not sure if you would have remembered this, but thank you for putting peanut butter in my hair the one time I got gum stuck in it after we went to the park, and not cutting it off. You have left a huge mark on my heart and I’ll be thankful and grateful for the rest of my life to have been your niece. I love you so much. 

First and foremost, I send my heartfelt condolences to the family, friends, and loved ones of Ernie. 

I met Ernie as a young man in my 20s not quite sure of who I was or where I was going. We were coworkers at Barbara's Bookstore. We got along fine. We shared a mutual interest in sports and our hatred of the TV show Friends. It was when I became a manager that we transitioned from coworkers to friends. He had a love for books and pride in the store (T2) that he effectively ran but was sadly neglected by management which hindered his success. That's when I stepped in. Over time, the motivation to go to Ernie's store was less about anything work related (though we still worked) and more about where our conversation would take us that day. We started getting into deeper conversations about politics, race, relationships, and all things that should be taboo to speak about at work. More often than not, our thoughts aligned. I was fascinated by his knowledge of history and politics. I was intrigued by his stories of his travels to other countries. He introduced me to Mexican and Latino culture. Each day I looked forward to hearing his perspective on what was happening in the world of O'Hare and the world at large. At some point, I'm not quite sure when (probably from the beginning), Ernie became someone that I viewed as a mentor. He taught me how valuable information is. He gave information away freely to all that were interested in hearing it. He had a passion for his culture, justice, and social reform which was often reflected in the books he put on display. We commiserated over the ineptitude of the Bears and laughed at the new predator that was caught by Chris Hansen that week. He introduced me to the revolutionary works of Galeano, Guevara, and Fanon and I reintroduced the world of lucha libre to him. He's someone that left an indelible mark on myself and my family and he will never be forgotten.