Dear Mike
There can be NO FINER commentary about a man than the one you
wrote below. I am not cutting it out for that very reason. We
are, at the end of our lives, nothing more than what others think
of us.
Ken McLeod, CEO
CSG Wireless Inc.
SRL311-01179 1968 2000
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net
[mailto:owner-datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of datsunmike
Sent: Sunday, June 27, 2004 4:17 PM
To: Mike Jennings; Dawn & Dave; Datsun Roadster List
Subject: Roadster Owner Passes
After a great weekend at the MG national I was left a voice message
that
informed me that a fellow Roadster owner and friend, Dave Ondecko of
Vestal
NY, died earlier this month. My smile was quickly wiped off my face
and
replaced by sorrow.
I met Dave at the Glen almost 4 years ago and we became Roadster
buddies.
Probably most of you who attended the Glen events will not remember
Dave as
he was a soft spoken and fairly shy guy but he had a heart as big as
could
be. He was the kinda guy who would give you the shirt off of his back
if he
thought you needed it and he was the kinda guy who made the world a
better
place, a much better place, to live in. He was generous to a fault and
he
was the type of person I aspire to be.
The last 3 times I went to the Glen I stopped off at his place in
Vestal to
shoot the breeze and talk about Roadsters and life. I remember that
the
first year I went to visit him he wouldn't allow me to leave his
garage w/o
a new extra distributor cap when I told him I didn't carry a spare and
he
refused to take any money for it. He also gave me wax and a bunch of
other
stuff he insisted I have including a pair of NOS 2L SU carbs when he
thought
that my recently rebuilt carbs weren't rebuilt good enough.
Fortunately I
was able to convince him to take some money for the carbs.
Last year when I went to visit he showed me the house he was
rebuilding and
his plans for his dream garage complete with radiant heat. When I
asked his
fiancie about the garage she told me he died while working on it as
the
floor and foundation were poured only a week before. It was his dream
to
have the perfect garage and he was on his way to his dream after
numerous
problems and delays in getting permits to put it up.
Dave had several Roadsters that his fiancie, Lisa, would like to sell
as
well as a slew of various parts, but Lisa will keep his stock 1600 and
I
hope I can convince Lisa to attend the Glen event this year. Dave was
in the
middle of building a supercharged V6 roadster but I don't know how far
his
project came along since I saw it last September and I promised Lisa
that I
would come up in September before the Glen to help her out in
cataloging
what Dave had in his garage. I will post the info to the list when I
receive
it.
One more thing - Dave was the kinda guy we would all be proud to have
as a
friend, as you couldn't find a better friend. It's just too bad for me
that
he lived so far away although we did keep in touch by phone.
I will miss him.
Mike
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