The news of Gregg’s death, three years ago has left me heartbroken and reflective. While I don’t know the struggles he faced, it has reminded me of the importance of connection and reaching out. Gregg and I lost touch after he moved to San Diego and then life became full and busy with careers and family. I looked for Gregg over the years, but nothing ever came up. Now this and I’m devastated to learn he’s no longer with us.
Here are my fondest memories of Gregg:
🌟We met while working at Der Wienerschnitzel in West Covina. We were 18 or 19 years old.
🌟One time while we were closing at Der Wienerschitzel, he put a cone filter on his head and said, “Look Sandy. I’m a conehood.” He loved Saturday Night Live. We started calling him Coney.
🌟Gregg always joined us for trips to Bolsa Chica Beach after work in the summer and occasional night skiing at Snow Valley in the winter. We could always count on him to go with us on every adventure.
🌟Gregg loved working on cars. He took an old, beat up car, souped it up into a beautiful hot rod, and had it painted a unique blue color. It was an amazing car. I wish I had a picture.
🌟Gregg loved The Who as much as I did. When a group of us decided to go to their concert and found out you had to write a letter to get tickets and the selection process was strict, Gregg and I wrote the letter and included that we were their biggest fans and deserved the tickets, because we were “deaf, dumb, and blind,” (obviously referencing one of their biggest hits.) We got the tickets! Gregg drove us all to the concert and he joined the mosh pit on the floor of the LA Coliseum. We could see Gregg, because he was tall and stood out!
🌟One time Gregg and a few of us co-workers decided we were going to the Rose Parade. Gregg drove us out to Pasadena the night before, and the parade route was packed with drunk and sleeping people. I’m not sure where we thought we were staying, and we certainly weren’t going back home. Gregg parked in a safe place and we all fell asleep in the car. We woke up early the next morning to the sound of people walking passed us. We walked back to the parade route where we had the perfect spot to watch the parade. Gregg was always like a protective brother to us.
🌟When my old Firebird wasn’t working too well, he came over and picked it up leaving me his souped up car to drive to school for the next couple of days, so that he could fix my car. I felt very cool driving that car! The fact that he trusted me with his prized possession was a testament to our friendship.
Gregg was kind, thoughtful, smart, loyal, adventurous, generous…a very sweet man. He will be missed.❤️
My deepest condolences to Gregg’s family.