March 3rd, 1992
I remember coming home from school, my father was already home from work. I walked into the house and heard the horrible news that my cousin, Steve Shatz was killed in an car accident. Steve lived in Rhode Island, in an apartment somewhere near Warwick as far as I remember. He was driving himself and a co-worker from Xerox, and they were on their way to either a conference or a sales meeting. While driving the car hit some black ice, lost control and hit a van that was coming in the other direction. Steve was only 27.
I remember sitting in my room on the edge of my bed, bawling, and looking out the window. I didn’t understand it. By all accounts Steve was one of the nicest guys ever. He had spent time over in Japan and had even cooked dinner for Stevie Wonder. How he got that gig I have never known. He had organized a drive to find a woman a marrow transplant. He never knew this woman. He was a devout Jew and a man.
The time I remember best with Steve was when he took me into Boston. What I recall was that we got up early on a Sunday and made it into Boston by 8:30 AM. He took me to a store to buy a Shofar. I still have the Shofar at my parents house. At one point we grabbed some lunch at a delicatessen, which was the first time I can remember being at that type of establishment. Seeing a store that has mostly Jewish cuisine was something very new for me, growing up in central Massachusetts these stores were easy to find. That is the most I can recall from that day now.
I think I see a lot of what he resembled physically in myself. He was a barrel chested and that was covered in hair. I think he was about 6 feet tall, and had a killer cowlick. My best guess is that Steve weighed somewhere in the 200 lbs range, and the same holds true for me (when in shape).
When I was 27 I thought often of Steve and how he didn’t know that when he was 27 that would be the last time he was able to spend with us here. I’m a very morbid and superstitious person so the thought that Steve was only 27 was on my mind whenever we traveled. I wish he were still here today because I think we would have had a lot in common. Looking back I was just about to turn 13 when he was killed. When you are 13 as a boy you are supposed to have your Bar Mitzvah to become a man in the eyes of the Jewish faith. I never had my Bar Mitzvah.
I was saddened today when I went to do a search on his name and no results were returned that pointed to him. I’m hoping that this post changes that. If you knew Steve please leave a comment and share what you remember about him.
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14 Comments
very well said Dave,
Stevie had a big heart got involved in anything he could do to help people, you were pretty young when the two of you went to Boston. I remember you both had a good time and spent the full day together. When he was born, I was a sr in high school (wow long time ago) and everyone was so happy. It was a special time for the family and especially his mother and father. I of course was the proud uncle. There were a lot of people that came to his memorial service which showed how much he had touched a lot of lives. He is missed by all of us.
oh yes and one of my stories was when Stevie was very young and talking was still new to him, he mispronounced the word truck. with and F in front. so me being me kept getting him to repeat it, much to his mother’s chagrin.  well one time I took him to howard johnson’s for ice cream and while waiting in line for a seat I asked him what he wanted for his birthday. and he promptly stated a "F ruck". As you can imagine I got a lot of stares.
That story fits our family so well, thanks for sharing dad!
i remember the first time i had a cousin overnight, he let me stay up all night and color my tasmanian devil toy with his cool pastels and watch saturday night live. pretty damn cool guy, and i couldnt agree more with your thoughts on growing up with him around.
he knew the little trouble stuff was worth all the world to us, and was happy to give some well earned "mischief" to us kids in good fun. i think we probably ate ice cream really really late too, and i got to sleep on a cool futon. i was pretty young, and don’t remember much detail from growing up….but that sticks out in my mind vividly.
i remember the first time i had a cousin overnight, he let me stay up all night and color my tasmanian devil toy with his cool pastels and watch saturday night live. pretty damn cool guy, and i couldnt agree more with your thoughts on growing up with him around.
he knew the little trouble stuff was worth all the world to us, and was happy to give some well earned "mischief" to us kids in good fun. i think we probably ate ice cream really really late too, and i got to sleep on a cool futon. i was pretty young, and don’t remember much detail from growing up….but that sticks out in my mind vividly.
i remember the first time i had a cousin overnight, he let me stay up all night and color my tasmanian devil toy with his cool pastels and watch saturday night live. pretty damn cool guy, and i couldnt agree more with your thoughts on growing up with him around.
he knew the little trouble stuff was worth all the world to us, and was happy to give some well earned "mischief" to us kids in good fun. i think we probably ate ice cream really really late too, and i got to sleep on a cool futon. i was pretty young, and don’t remember much detail from growing up….but that sticks out in my mind vividly.
I grew up with steve I lived two houses from him We rode bikes together played baseball manhunt snow ball fights sledding i was thinking of him the other day and stumble on to this site. I think about black ice more then i ever did before i am very sorry for steve’s family. I liked him very much and he was a huge part of my childhood. Sincerely, Stephen McManus
I grew up with steve I lived two houses from him We rode bikes together played baseball manhunt snow ball fights sledding i was thinking of him the other day and stumble on to this site. I think about black ice more then i ever did before i am very sorry for steve’s family. I liked him very much and he was a huge part of my childhood. Sincerely, Stephen McManus
I grew up with steve I lived two houses from him We rode bikes together played baseball manhunt snow ball fights sledding i was thinking of him the other day and stumble on to this site. I think about black ice more then i ever did before i am very sorry for steve’s family. I liked him very much and he was a huge part of my childhood. Sincerely, Stephen McManus
I grew up with steve I lived two houses from him We rode bikes together played baseball manhunt snow ball fights sledding i was thinking of him the other day and stumble on to this site. I think about black ice more then i ever did before i am very sorry for steve’s family. I liked him very much and he was a huge part of my childhood. Sincerely, Stephen McManus
Stephen thanks for dropping by and keeping Stevie in your thoughts! Let me know if you would like to get in touch with Elaine or Laurie.
Every so often I think about Steven. I went to elementary school with him and, I believe, junior high (Gorton Junior High School). My memories of Steven have faded but I always remember him as a good and kind person. I think he may have been in my cub scout troop from way back when.
My mom told me about his death quite a few years ago and I remember being shocked. It's always said when people die before "their time."
Thanks for sharing Bob
I sit here while my children sleep thinking how much they have missed out not having their Uncle Steve around. I look into Seans eyes and see him often, its scarey how manerisms are passed in the genes. I just try to tell them stories of our childhood. It was just after the winter Olympics that his accident occured. We practiced our brother/sister ice skating act. I remember laughing so hard it hurt. I miss those days especially tonight.