It was the only thing that got us through that week " a bunch of 20 and 30-year-olds playing wiffle ball all day. Zoe Nemeth
When 25-year-old Nick Nemeth suddenly took his own life last year, the Bainbridge man left behind a stunned, grieving family and a multitude of friends who had a lot of questions, but no answers.
“He was the happiest, silliest kid; a total goofball,” recalled his sister, Zoe. “He had tons of energy and was good at everything. He was also very handsome.”
Why, then, would a young man, who was a talented landscape designer with a large circle of family and friends, choose to end his life without warning or a word to anyone?
His family will probably never know any answers.
“We all knew he was really struggling and was stressed at work,” Zoe said. “He had almost gotten married in June of last year, but decided the night before the wedding that he couldn’t go through with it. That was a good decision because she wasn’t right for him.
“He was facing a lot of deadlines at work and wasn’t sleeping,” she said. “The night before he died, he texted me and called me ‘Dood.’ He hadn’t done that in forever.”
In college, Nick had a habit of intentionally cutting himself when stressed. Zoe thinks he was doing it again the night he died and it went too far.
His death stunned his grieving family — his father, Garry, mother, Teri, brothers Mike and Brian, and Zoe.
“For the first week after he died, we were in a daze and just didn’t know what to do,” Zoe recalled. “Twenty-five of his friends, one by one, took off work and came to stay with us. Somehow we all decided to play wiffle ball to let off steam.
“We made a slip-and-slide into home plate. It was the only thing that got us through that week — a bunch of 20 and 30-year-olds playing wiffle ball all day,” she said.
It’s been a year since Nick’s death and Zoe said the family wanted to do something to memorialize it in a positive way, in a way that Nick would have approved.
“We wanted to do something in Nick’s memory that would do some good, because we don’t want anyone else to go through this,” Zoe said. “We decided to have a party and raise money for suicide prevention — for those afflicted by the same demons Nick faced.”
The family will hold the first annual Nick Nemeth Memorial Wiffleball Tournament July 23 at River Road Park in Bainbridge.
The all-day event will begin at noon and will pit Wiffleball teams against each other. There will be a Chinese auction, 50/50 raffle, and food and non-alcoholic beverages will be available. All proceeds will go to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
Cost is $10 for general admission and $160 for a team.
Zoe, Mike and their friend, Matt Maistros, asked Bainbridge Township Trustees Monday to waive the rental fee for the park, which could run more than $1,000.
“A lot of people in the community were impacted by our brother’s death,” Zoe told trustees. “We all grew up here and are Kenston grads.”
Nick graduated from Kenston High School in 2008. In 2013, he graduated from the Knowlton School of Architecture at The Ohio State University, with a degree in landscape architecture and design. He worked as a landscape designer for the Pattie Group of Russell Township.
Trustees said they were not sure about waiving the rental fee, which they often do for community groups and service organizations.
“We haven’t done waivers for fundraisers,” Trustee Jeff Markley said. “That could be precedent setting.”
Trustee Lorrie Sass Benza said it might be possible to rent the park at a reduced rate, since the proceeds will go to a charity.
“It’s a phenomenal cause,” Benza said. “We’re in general agreement to do something.”
Benza said trustees will address the issue further at their next meeting June 13.
“With us, it’s a policy thing,” Markley said. “We get these requests a lot and we’ve said no a lot more than we’ve said yes.”
Zoe said the event will be held whether or not the township will waive the rental fee.
“We hope to do this every year and create a foundation eventually,” she said later. “Hopefully this is something we can do every summer to keep Nick’s memory alive and help prevent this from happening to other families. There used to be four of us (siblings). Now there are three. It really sucks.”
