I am so sorry to have to let everyone know that our dear friend and long-time automaticwasher.org member Terry Lattz (tlee618) passed away last night. I'm am too distraught right now to say much more than this as Terry was one of Fred and my closest friends.
Fred Nelson and Charlie Watrous composed this post for Vacuumland and I'm going to share it here:
It is with a sad and broken hearts that we have news regarding one of our most beloved members. Terry Lattz passed away Wednesday at about 7:15 PM at Fred Nelson's house, known as Tarantula Arms. It is believed he had an embolism. His death was instantaneous without any pain or suffering, he was with his vacuum family and in his home state.
Terry arrived in Chicago after flying up from Tampa. He then took the train to downtown to meet with Fred. Together, they rode on the train to Geneva, IL, so Fred could retrieve his car. Charlie was already at Tarantula Arms. He had arrived early from Charlotte and was awaiting the boys. Fred said Terry was perfectly fine on the train trip and the way home in the car. When he was coming into the house, Fred and Charlie both noticed right away that something was terribly wrong. Terry was having moderate to severe mobility problems with some confusion.
We helped him into the house, (literally carried him by his arms), got him seated and let him rest with a glass of Sprite. After some time, he rallied and seemed a bit better. He was totally lucid during this time and kept saying, "I'm fine, I'm fine." To keep life simple at this point we decided to order some dinner in rather than going out. While awaiting the delivery, we all had fun, "chat", and Charlie started a fire that Terry enjoyed.
When it came time to sit down, Terry lapsed into a second, "episode", of lack of motor skills and co-ordination with his legs and arms. Fred and Charlie immediately, without any question, loaded Terry into the car to go to the Emergency Room. Long story short, he was there about 2 hours and treated for, "Labrythinitis". (Google it.) He was given medicine and we returned back to Tarantula Arms after a trip to the all night drug store. Fred and Charlie carried Terry, (a mere 143 lbs., that seemed very heavy as he was out like a light from the medication), inside and put him to bed on the couch. Fred and Charlie made mental notes and finally ate dinner at 11 P.M.
Wednesday, Fred was up early as usual to go to his office and Terry seemed markedly improved but still not, "our Terry", as he usually was scurrying about the kitchen and totally in charge of that area. He was coherent and said he felt much better. Then Charlie came down around 7:30 A.M. and he and Terry enjoyed an hour or more of fun gossip and planning for the rest of the week. Charlie left at 9 A.M. to go to Milwaukee to meet with Tania and Duane to finalize hotel plans for convention 2013. They had a wonderful time together and got the business taken care of.
Later, at Tania's house, they spoke with Terry on the phone to check in. Charlie and Tania were planning to return to Fred's on Thursday. About an hour later, Fred called Charlie to say Terry had collapsed after eating dinner. All had been fine and Terry had done some of his favorite house chores so Fred thought things were getting better. Fred said the paramedics were there and taking him to the hospital and asked Charlie to return to Tarantula Arms a.s.a.p.
Charlie packed up Tania and his stuff and they arrived at about 10 P.M. to find Fred home and he did in fact confirm that Terry was gone and had never been revived. A period of sadness for Fred, Charlie and Tania followed. Then Charlie and Tania went to the hospital to say good bye to Terry. A lot had changed in just about 24 hours.
Now our club has changed and will never be the same without Terry's gentle love, kindness, generosity, volunteerism, positive input and the list goes on and on. Terry has touched the lives of hundreds and we hope he knows this. A hole has been created in the hearts of many by his passing. We will miss his fun, encouraging posts, welcoming of new members and endless energy at the conventions that he was so much a part of. Our regular gatherings at Tarantula Arms will never be the same. We will always miss Terry and keep him alive in our hearts and club gatherings.
In closing, we share this line from, "The Wizard Of Oz", when the Wizard speaks to the Tin Woodman toward the end: "Remember my sentimental friend, the size of person's heart is not measured by how much he loves but by how much he is LOVED by others." Terry was loved by all--a very fitting legacy.
PS-Please refrain from calls to Tarantula Arms as there is a lot going on. We thank you for respecting this. As soon as funeral information is available, it will be posted here as well as any other pertinent information. We do know that a funeral will be held next week in Momence, IL, as of this writing. Please read the forum for further details.
Thank you and our best to all,
Fred Nelson and Charlie Watrous
I know I'm breaking my own rules by posting this kind of message in the Imperial Forum, but I thought it would be the right thing to do in Terry's honor considering how much he loved vintage washing machines. Please post any pictures you have of Terry in this thread. Tears were running down my face as I picked out these pictures from the archives and as I now write this post. More later, for now here are some pictures of our beloved friend...
Fred Nelson and Charlie Watrous composed this post for Vacuumland and I'm going to share it here:
It is with a sad and broken hearts that we have news regarding one of our most beloved members. Terry Lattz passed away Wednesday at about 7:15 PM at Fred Nelson's house, known as Tarantula Arms. It is believed he had an embolism. His death was instantaneous without any pain or suffering, he was with his vacuum family and in his home state.
Terry arrived in Chicago after flying up from Tampa. He then took the train to downtown to meet with Fred. Together, they rode on the train to Geneva, IL, so Fred could retrieve his car. Charlie was already at Tarantula Arms. He had arrived early from Charlotte and was awaiting the boys. Fred said Terry was perfectly fine on the train trip and the way home in the car. When he was coming into the house, Fred and Charlie both noticed right away that something was terribly wrong. Terry was having moderate to severe mobility problems with some confusion.
We helped him into the house, (literally carried him by his arms), got him seated and let him rest with a glass of Sprite. After some time, he rallied and seemed a bit better. He was totally lucid during this time and kept saying, "I'm fine, I'm fine." To keep life simple at this point we decided to order some dinner in rather than going out. While awaiting the delivery, we all had fun, "chat", and Charlie started a fire that Terry enjoyed.
When it came time to sit down, Terry lapsed into a second, "episode", of lack of motor skills and co-ordination with his legs and arms. Fred and Charlie immediately, without any question, loaded Terry into the car to go to the Emergency Room. Long story short, he was there about 2 hours and treated for, "Labrythinitis". (Google it.) He was given medicine and we returned back to Tarantula Arms after a trip to the all night drug store. Fred and Charlie carried Terry, (a mere 143 lbs., that seemed very heavy as he was out like a light from the medication), inside and put him to bed on the couch. Fred and Charlie made mental notes and finally ate dinner at 11 P.M.
Wednesday, Fred was up early as usual to go to his office and Terry seemed markedly improved but still not, "our Terry", as he usually was scurrying about the kitchen and totally in charge of that area. He was coherent and said he felt much better. Then Charlie came down around 7:30 A.M. and he and Terry enjoyed an hour or more of fun gossip and planning for the rest of the week. Charlie left at 9 A.M. to go to Milwaukee to meet with Tania and Duane to finalize hotel plans for convention 2013. They had a wonderful time together and got the business taken care of.
Later, at Tania's house, they spoke with Terry on the phone to check in. Charlie and Tania were planning to return to Fred's on Thursday. About an hour later, Fred called Charlie to say Terry had collapsed after eating dinner. All had been fine and Terry had done some of his favorite house chores so Fred thought things were getting better. Fred said the paramedics were there and taking him to the hospital and asked Charlie to return to Tarantula Arms a.s.a.p.
Charlie packed up Tania and his stuff and they arrived at about 10 P.M. to find Fred home and he did in fact confirm that Terry was gone and had never been revived. A period of sadness for Fred, Charlie and Tania followed. Then Charlie and Tania went to the hospital to say good bye to Terry. A lot had changed in just about 24 hours.
Now our club has changed and will never be the same without Terry's gentle love, kindness, generosity, volunteerism, positive input and the list goes on and on. Terry has touched the lives of hundreds and we hope he knows this. A hole has been created in the hearts of many by his passing. We will miss his fun, encouraging posts, welcoming of new members and endless energy at the conventions that he was so much a part of. Our regular gatherings at Tarantula Arms will never be the same. We will always miss Terry and keep him alive in our hearts and club gatherings.
In closing, we share this line from, "The Wizard Of Oz", when the Wizard speaks to the Tin Woodman toward the end: "Remember my sentimental friend, the size of person's heart is not measured by how much he loves but by how much he is LOVED by others." Terry was loved by all--a very fitting legacy.
PS-Please refrain from calls to Tarantula Arms as there is a lot going on. We thank you for respecting this. As soon as funeral information is available, it will be posted here as well as any other pertinent information. We do know that a funeral will be held next week in Momence, IL, as of this writing. Please read the forum for further details.
Thank you and our best to all,
Fred Nelson and Charlie Watrous
I know I'm breaking my own rules by posting this kind of message in the Imperial Forum, but I thought it would be the right thing to do in Terry's honor considering how much he loved vintage washing machines. Please post any pictures you have of Terry in this thread. Tears were running down my face as I picked out these pictures from the archives and as I now write this post. More later, for now here are some pictures of our beloved friend...
