Steven David Berecz

1. Christopher Moreau

   April 9, 2023 at 10:17 am

   I am very sad to learn of Steve’s passing. He was a close friend from my school days. My brother Paul and I grew up in Garden City in Winnipeg and went to an elementary school called RF Morrison …Steve’s family moved into the neighbourhood in the early 1970’s. Those were different days then…bike riding…playing marbles, flying kites….walking around at the Garden City mall on Saturday afternoons…going to Sam the Record Man weekly to buy the latest 45 hit records. For a short time, as young boys, the three of us worked cutting lawns together. My brother Paul produced a small flyer to distribute in the neighbourhood showing our great prices for cutting grass. It was an avant-garde marketing piece for the times….complete with our photocopied pictures and business titles underneath. Paul was President, I was the VP of Operations and we appointed Steve as General Manager.

   Steve lived close to our elementary school and would invite us over sometimes to play. We were amazed when he proudly showed us his new drum set displayed in the basement, which of course was incredibly loud when he played. We couldn’t get over that his parents had bought him the drums since his dad, who I remember being a very quiet man, had his small tailor shop in the rec-room downstairs. He must have worn ear plugs often…. It was also very cool to hear Steve speaking to his mom and dad in Hungarian when we came to his home.

   As we got older, Steve became a huge fan of the Band KISS and drummer Peter Criss….often showing off a Winnipeg stop Kiss tour backstage pass he once got. In junior high and high school, Steve was a good athlete playing volleyball and then basketball…we had many countless hours of fun at games, tournaments and practicing shooting hoops.

   As with many early school friendships, graduation sends most of us on different paths in life and I’m disappointed to say that we didn’t stay in touch. My condolences to his family, Steve was a good person and a good friend, and I will be thinking about of all of our school chum days and good times together.

   Christopher Moreau
   Winnipeg

   Reply
   1. Kristina

      May 6, 2023 at 8:59 pm

      Thank you so much for your kind words. Steven was my uncle and my mom (his sister) said she remembers you and your brother being a big part of his childhood. She laughed and then cried at a few of the stories. Take care.

      Reply
2. Robert and Susan Knodel

   April 9, 2023 at 3:51 pm

   One hell of a baseball player. It’s been years since we last saw Steve, playing ball in the media league, but we have thought about him and the team often. As the old saying goes “those were they days…”. Wish we could have had a chance to reunite.

   Reply
   1. Kristina

      May 6, 2023 at 9:00 pm

      Thank you for your condolences.

      Reply
3. Paul Moreau

   April 10, 2023 at 12:55 am

   I was deeply saddened to learn of Steve’s passing. Although we had not seen each other in many, many years he was a big part of my life and my brother Chris’s life when we were all young boys. Growing up in Garden City and West Kildonan, we experienced all the things that boys do as they go through elementary school, and then through their early to late teens and emerging twenties… and we did all those things together.

   Life in those early days was a great adventure and our neighborhood was a safe, idyllic and perfect world in our eyes as we studied our way through school, played sports, hung out daily, rode our bikes, explored our community streets and beyond, eventually taking the buses downtown on Saturdays to play pinball at Circus Circus Amusements, grabbing some Grubee’s burgers, playing pick up basketball games at the old YMCA, going down to the International Peace Gardens for summer basketball camp, heading out to rock concerts at the old arena, getting our first retail service jobs, learning about girls, being amazed by the freedoms of driving, having our first drinks, and just plain old growing up.

   Steve was a very charismatic guy with a tremendous energy, and an engaging laugh and mischievous smile that made him fun to be around and helped fuel our hijinks and good times. I have to say that there was a bit of an early macho element to him as well, as he started shaving well before any of us, lol, and his five-o-clock shadow made him look a little older with a more mature face. This just added to his charm and magnetism and made him come across as a little more worldly.

   My brother Chris, Steve and I were really great pals in those days… and in fact, we considered him another brother in a way as we spent so much time together. I have fond memories of playing air band in his parent’s basement while blasting the rock and roll hits of the mid-70’s (one of Steve’s favorite bands back then was The Scorpions), and then watching him thunder through a KISS drum solo later when he got a drum kit, which he loved to play. His mom and dad were quiet, kind, hard-working folks from the old country and I am not sure how Steve talked them into a drum kit, but they loved him and wanted him to have things and advantages that they perhaps didn’t when they were his age, I guess. Chris and I were always welcome in the Berecz home, as he was always welcome in ours.

   Of course, none of us had any idea then of life’s road ahead and how complicated and challenging it could and would get as we all grew up and took on the responsibilities that were our destinies. It was a joyful and simpler life in the old neighborhood full of excitement, promise, wonder, awe and possibilities through the eyes of young boys. Sadly, many early friendships seem to drift as we go down the roads of our adult lives, and I deeply regret not staying in touch with Steve over the ensuing years. If I could go back now and change all that, I would, and I am going to be reaching out to many old friends now as a result of Steve’s sudden passing to try and close the gap of years and rekindle a stronger connection. Life’s lessons continue.

   I convey my deepest condolences to Steve’s family and all his contemporary friends, and will hold the memory of the many wonderful years we spent together as young boys growing into young men as golden, and cherish them in my heart for the rest of my days.

   I am struck to tears recalling a quote that the narrator makes at the end of the well-known, coming-of-age 80’s movie called “Stand By Me”. Played by the actor Richard Dreyfus, the narrator – who has been recalling his youth and adolescent friendships in 1950’s small town America and reconciling this with the recent passing of his best boyhood friend – concludes the emotionally moving film by saying, “I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?”

   Thanks for being such a good friend and buddy in those early days Steve and going through all those fun experiences and adventures with Chris and I together, as we journeyed through our youths. I won’t forget you or all those simpler and wonderful times, the endless carefree summers, and the special bond we all shared as young best friends exploring Garden City, West Kildonan, and the edges of the wild, mysterious frontiers of the big world beyond.

   Rest in peace and love brother…

   Paul Moreau
   Winnipeg

   Reply
   1. christopher mckellar

      April 25, 2023 at 3:05 pm

      Hi Paul
      Id like to chat with you .Steve was a great friend.I just found out.

      Reply
   2. Kristina

      May 6, 2023 at 9:03 pm

      Thanks so much for your heartfelt words. My mom (Steven’s sister) appreciated you taking the time to write your stories, she had a few chuckles and a few cries too. Take care.

      Reply
      1. christopher mckellar

         November 29, 2023 at 4:26 pm

         Hi Kristina.

         Myself and a few other friends knew Steve very well.
         All started with GCC in 1980. Not only are we shocked but sadened.Ive been trying to get answers but no luck.
         Here is my email. cbagencies@gmail.com

         Reply
      2. Christopher

         April 4, 2024 at 5:21 pm

         Hi Kristina

         Do you remember Warren Harder? Warren and myself are puzzled as to what happend.We are trying to get answers.If you could be of assistance it would be greatly
         appreciated.

         Reply

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