Thank you for visiting this page to read a little more about my brother's life. Writing this brought on many tears and laughs and I hope it does the same for you. I apologize in advance for the length, but I didn't want to stop telling his story. Hopefully in the future, we can talk more about him in person and you can share some stories that I may have forgotten, couldn't recall, or never heard. James Stachewicz, Jr. Born January 27, 1981. Died unexpectedly while recovering from surgery on May 22, 2020 at the age of 39. Beloved son of James and Carol, cherished brother of Joe (Courtney), adored uncle of Levi and Clark. Also survived by aunts, uncles, and many cousins. James loved spending time with his nephews and with his close-knit group of friends, with whom he shared many hours of shenanigans. He was initially very shy and quiet but those who grew to know him well were apt to have friend for life. He is best known for his quick-witted sense of humor, intelligence, compassion towards animals, and generosity. There was nothing he wouldn't do to help a friend in need. He was a man of many nicknames and I will try to use as many as I can without repeating. As a child Jimmers was one of the beloved little cousins out of a group of (34) which made for large birthday parties and no shortage of babysitters. On top of that, his paternal grandparents lived across the street which opened up endless spoiling! Jimmy attended the local Catholic K-8 school (St. Veronica's…now St. Thomas Aquinas Academy) in an effort to redeem the family name 20+ years after his father graduated. He accomplished this through academic excellence, engaging in Scouting (Pack/Troop 208), and developing lasting relationships with close friends that would follow him into adulthood. In Scouts he was part of the Pack's only undefeated softball team in 4th grade and threw out the all-star from the rival Pack (St. Paul's) with his canon arm completing a 3rd to 1st base precision throw. Celebrations rang throughout the park as the team doused each other in Black Bear and Wildwood soda. Scouting also provided James with great opportunities to bond with friends, his younger brother (author of this rant), and parents whom were both Den leaders and never missed a chance to go camping. His parents continued to be engaged as he earned his arrow of life and progressed to Boy Scouts. This advancement opened up many opportunities for multi-night camping trips to destination like IMR, Devil's Lake, and the crown jewel LeFeber Northwoods. Outside of these trips, the family travelled to destinations via Minivan including; Chattanooga TN, Gettysburg PA, Washington D.C., "Up Nort" WI, Disney World, Fort Myers, Niagara Falls, and so many other places in state. These provided great educational opportunities, fun experiences, and threats from our parents that the Royal Mounted Police would not let us into Canada if we did not clean up the backseats before entering the country. On completing his 8th grade graduation, Stack continued his education at St. Thomas More where he participated in Football and Track & Field all 4 years. In football, his team is the reigning Freshman champions of the Metro conference completing an undefeated season and trouncing division rival Marquette High. Track & Field provided a great venue for him to lift weights and enjoy companionship as a shot and discus thrower. Some of his accomplishments include shattering an indoor shotput (although he had manually been working cracks into prior to see what was inside), having his glasses fly further than the discus at a meet, and being part of the prestigious throwers 4 x 100m relay team that won multiple events his senior year. High School also further manifested his love of video games, professional wrestling, card games, board games, and Legos with likeminded individuals. The first two started for him with Nintendo and the WWF WrestleMania game. Growing up we were very fortunate to have parents to foster all these passions and usually had the latest and greatest toys and gadgets making for amazing birthdays! When we were both young, my brother would always read whatever was on the screen, card, or board aloud helping me learn to read and recognize words. This turned into a habit and probably explains my love for audiobooks which he always provided to me as presents based on books he had read. Over the course of his life he has read hundreds of books and graphic novels of which all he kept! You could always count on my big bro for a good book recommendation. Along with books, he was very passionate about music and amassed a CD collection spanning well over 500 albums and a massive collection of songs on iTunes once he went digital. Not one to miss out on a musical experience, he became an avid concert goer as an adult and saw such bands as; Muse, DMB (at which he fell asleep), Queens of the Stone Age, Rush, Kiss, Metallica, Stone Sour, Poison, Winger, Faster Pussycat, The Darkness, Def Leppard, Zelda Symphony, Chicago, Vince Neil, and Guns N' Roses. There are many others not mentioned here including his favorite to see live, the Foo Fighters. He saw them multiple times and even saw them by himself (very uncharacteristic) when he couldn't find anyone available to go with him. They were also the last group he ever saw live and took my mom to show how great they are. Naturally, she is now a fan too. The majority of the friends he had in high school transitioned into adulthood with him at Marquette University where independence, hijinks, and hilarity ensued…studying and schoolwork also took place to a degree. Of these tales none will be written here but I'd be happy to share some in person over a beer in the future 😊. Just know that I followed my big brother to Marquette University and he had a lasting impact on me during this time which has set me up for who I am today. After college Big Stack kept in touch with his close friends through gaming, concert going, live comedy shows, and travel. The comedians he saw reflected his sense of humor, if you recognize one and chuckle you will know his sense of humor; Penn and Teller, Mystery Science Theater 3000 Live, Louis C.K., Tim and Eric, David Cross, Mitch Hedburg, Dave Atell, Lewis Black, Jim Gaffigan, The Impractical Jokers, and The Book of Mormon. I know the last one is technically Broadway Theater, but he was also a huge fan of the creators and introduced many of his friends to their earlier work as well. For a living, Jim worked at Walgreens Photo for several years after college where he formed many relationships and friendships with coworkers. So much that he arranged for several of them to travel together to a large outdoor music festival known as Bonnaroo multiple times and would always come back with stories and learnings for next year. After Walgreens he followed in our grandfather's and father's footsteps starting an apprenticeship at Falk (now Rexnord) as a machinist but eventually broke off to do his own thing as a quality inspector. This career was a great fit as Stack Jr. was very meticulous and precise in his work and was also very proud of what he made…likely stemmed from his love of Legos. He would frequently boast about how few scrap pieces he made throughout his 15-year career with the company to anyone that would listen, kind of like Al Bundy's 4 touchdowns in a single game. As an Inspector he was able to develop a close relationship with his co-workers in the office and would often tell me of the tear-jerking conversations they would have together. In September 2006, I had the honor of him serving as my Best Man as I wed the love of my life, Courtney, who became a little sister (by a few weeks) to him. As a little sister she was entitled and treated to all the spoiling, affections, and confections he could find. I am glad she has a fantastic metabolism as he supplied her with an endless supply of Haribo gummy bears. He even accompanied us on our first date to see the movie "Team America, World Police" …at least she knew what she was getting into from day 1. On December 28, 2013 there was a major change in his life. He became an uncle. From here on out he had a goal to be the coolest, kindest, most generous uncle he could be. My broheim was very pleased when his second nephew was born as he told me that there is now another generation of Stachewicz brothers to carry on our legacy. Just like his friends, there is nothing he wouldn't do to make them smile and feel appreciated. Already they are each developing similar habits as we had growing up including never fighting and doing everything together. Once they started talking, they called him Uncle Bimmy which is the nickname he was most proud to hear. There hasn't been a birthday or holiday that he missed since they were born and he always made sure to get them the best presents which earned him endless cuddles, hugs, and silly conversations. He would even bring gifts for no reason just because and already has them passionate on gaming but making sure that the big brother continues to read everything for his little brother. He was an avid sports fan and enjoyed attending Packers and Brewers games with friends. These were always great opportunities to show off his esteemed collection of sports jerseys including AJ Hawk and Bill Hall. Annually the Stachewicz Family would have an outing to Miller Park and he passed on a new tradition to his little buddies Levi and Clark called baseball tummy. This was a sensation that occurred after eating virtually any food item that they pointed at while attending the game. As evidence of this, he amassed a stack of plastic souvenir baseball caps and had more pictures than he did of himself of the most extravagant concessions offered at Miller Park before consumption. He also became a "Brah" when he travelled with us to Maui, HI, in 2017 and had his last tattoo drawn on him as a Hawaiian fishhook (like in the movie Moana) with his nephews' initials in the details. This was a special place for him and he often mentioned packing up and moving there in the future, he even said he could learn to love eating fish! As a fixture in our travel, he also flew with us in 2019 to be there for the boys' first trip to Disney World and Universal Studios. The joy on his face as he interacted with his nephews will be etched in my memory for the rest of my life. These last two places mentioned now hold a special place in my heart unrelated to the attractions and scenery. They will always be a place I can go to be with my brother again. My brother struggled with type 2 diabetes for nearly 13 years which added many complications to his life and ultimately his death. After he had been treating an infection on his left foot with prescribed medications some tissue became necrotic and he went into the hospital on Monday, May 18th. Evaluating his foot, the doctors needed to amputate his little toe on the 19th. The surgery was successful, but this was his second amputation on that foot (big toe many years ago) and the likelihood of losing the remaining toes in the future was very high. He agreed to have the remaining toes removed as it would be a quicker healing process and drastically decrease the chances for future infections caused by wear from walking. The second surgery took place at 1pm on the 21st and was also successful. He was able to talk to friends and family that night and was in high spirits with the possibility to be discharged on Monday the 25th. The next day he got up to use the bathroom with the help of the CNA and expressed concern with his breathing when he sat down in his bed. Shortly after that his heart stopped and the attending nurses and physicians were unable to resuscitate. It was later determined that he had a pulmonary embolism that led to his death. Due to COVID-19 my family was unable to visit him while he was in the hospital, but we were able to stay in contact with text messages and phone calls. As he was passing my mom was at the hospital to deliver a change of clothes for him and they pulled her into a conference room to give her the bad news. Since she was there, they let her in to be with her son and she called both my dad and me. (Un)Fortunately my father was in he same hospital being treated for pneumonia and the staff was able to bring his bed in the room to be with his son. After several discussions with my mom and the hospital staff, I was also allowed to come into the hospital to be with my big brother and we were able to mourn as a family. On Saturday, May 30, we held a private cremation service, but hope to have several smaller memorials to remember his life in the future. Ironically, this is just the way he would have wanted it to happen even without the pandemic restrictions in place. As you read this (hopefully all of it) you will realize how kind, caring, intelligent, funny, and generous he was and the impact he had on the lives of those which he had interacted. In his name, my family will be setting up a fund to support his nephews' education as they meant the world to him. Any monetary gifts we receive in his name will also go to support this cause. I just hope as their father and his little brother that I can preserve his memory throughout their lives.   Please click here to contribute