Our pizmo

[56Parkies]

It's with a heavy heart I share the news that our friend and fellow Esksfans member Ernie aka pizmo passed away on Saturday, December 14, 2019.

All of us who have spent any amount of time on here know of Ernie's wicked sense of humor, his passion for life and his undying love of this team, this site, and the friends he made here.

Please use this thread to share condolences, stories of interactions with Ernie, and anything you would like shared with his family. I will print off the thread and send it to his family back in New Brunswick so they understand just how important he was to our lives and enjoyment of this team.

[glenvb]

Re: Our pizmo

Oh...

That hurts... He was one of the special ones. Whenever I saw a post coming from pizmo, I knew that there'd be something funny, or light, or insightful, or just making us better friends with each other.

He was irreverent, had a biting wit, but you always knew he would say the right thing.

I'm going to miss him. A lot. To his family: you had a real special guy, and we were really lucky to share a small part of him here. You're in our prayers.

[56Parkies]

Re: Our pizmo

For myself, Ernie and I started talking 12-14 years ago via messages here, emails and the like. Always loved the way he loved life, his sense of humour and the stories he would tell about the team, from gathering around the radio to listen to Jackie Parker's triumphant fumble return to help win the 1954 Grey Cup, through the turbulent 1960s and the Dynasty era of the 70s and 80s. Ernie once sent me a scrapbook of the team that he put together as a child from 1952-53, and it's been one of my most treasured items of all the Esks items I own, and I even featured it in a segment of our Podcast early this year.

Ernie was one of the great ones, and our site and the Eskimo Empire are poorer for his absence. Godspeed, pizmo. I hope you're keeping them all rolling up there.

[turftoe27]

Re: Our pizmo

A very sad time for all of us E fans. piz always had a way of making me laugh with his endless amount of jokes. An Edmonton Eskimo fan with so much knowledge and memories of his team. Loved when he posted tidbits of stories about players like Roger Nelson and Jackie Parker . As with me, his favorite NFL team was the Packers.

We shared a few private messages over the years. When he started the " I have cancer thread" and I informed him I was going through a prostrate cancer treatment he asked for me share that on E fans and changed the thread to, " we have cancer." Reading his posts he sure fought a brave and hard fight.

I wish to convey my sincere condolences to Ernie's family. Tough to find the right words just now.

[Esks4ever]

Re: Our pizmo




Ernies sense of humor was what this board needed for a change of pace with all the bickering between fans and other teams fans..


I still remember the thread title I changed , when I was a mod, to have "pizmo's thread" added to it.



He'll be sorely missed


RIP Pizzy

[eskfan152]

Re: Our pizmo

Oh man. Sure didn’t want to read this tonight. I don’t know how many times I would read one of his posts and snort out loud laughing. I didn’t know him, but he seemed like a great one. Condolences to his family.

[tigerdar]

Re: Our pizmo

Good man funny man and wouldn't put up with rudeness I'll miss his posts. RIP and best wishes to his family.

[boydo]

Re: Our pizmo

Words can’t even express how much he affected all of us here over the years and while we all suspected this was the case we all hoped it too would pass.
Godspeed Ernie...

[esklover]

Re: Our pizmo

Much like Mike - I started recognizing Ernie on the board about 15 years ago...

Here was a man decades older than me, thousands of kilometers away from me - someone with whom you might assume would not befriend someone like me, but he did. Ernie was someone who I enjoyed exchanging banter with on the site, someone who added a viewpoint and a humour that became something I looked forward to. In 2010 I was fortunate enough to get to share a day with Ernie. The Eskimos went to Moncton to play and Ernie joined me and my group for the game. We became fast friends and spoke in lengths about the Eskimos, family and life. He was a down-to-earth man with a cutting sense of humour, a passion for CFL and the Eskimos but even moreso a love and repect for his family that I could appreciate. He actually reminded me a lot of my Dad...

We have only shared messages here or there over the past decade, but I have often shared or re-told his jokes - whenever I needed a chuckle, I would go to his Facebook page and hope that he had posted something. Even if there wasn't something recent I could scroll back and find a gem, inappropriate, crude, somewhat twisted - but I would laugh. It was his gift. To make light of any situation and make people laugh.

Ernie - you have impacted more lives than you know and I will miss you. Thank you for being a part of my story. I know how emotional I am thinking about not having your messages anymore, I can't imagine what your family feels. Much love to the Rasko family during this horrible time, it was very kind of you to have shared Ernie with us all of here on Esksfans. For those of us who got to know him beyond this board we are especially grateful - he was a pretty special character! Ernie2.jpgErnie1.jpg

[Hugoagogo]

Re: Our pizmo

Ernie made me laugh... every single day. If I was having a tough day, I'd turn to this site and find another one of his crazy jokes. It always gave me perspective and reminded me not to take things too seriously.

Over the years, I found that we shared similar perspectives on all the things that matter. Whether it was politics, football or a mutual respect for all things ABBA, I could always relate to his opinions and hopefully likewise. I remember one time when I was in a very frustrated mood, I made a very selfish, disrespectful statement on this forum. Ernie was quick to respond, saying that he always appreciated my opinions, but that this time I had really disappointed him. That moment. That one moment, I felt like I had let down somebody who mattered... and I came to realize that he truly did matter... not just to me, but to everyone here on esksfans.com.

People come and people go on this site; some you remember and others not so much. Ernie defined what this site is all about... People getting together, having some fun, talking football and everything in our world. Ernie always made a connection. I will truly miss his energy coming across from the other side of the country. I hope his energy will always shine on this site. The world needs more people like pizmo. And a little more ABBA.

My sincere condolences to all of Ernie's family. God bless him.

[OK14]

Re: Our pizmo

"Thank you for the music, for giving into me..."

[gizmo fan 2]

Re: Our pizmo

RIP Pizmo. I wasn’t as close to him as some, but I do remember meeting him briefly at TD Atlantic.

Wherever he is now is better off with him there - keep the jokes coming, piz.

[Deathsdoorstep]

Re: Our pizmo

I don't even know what to say. I've been on this site for 16 years. It's just not going to be the same without pizmo.
Dammit.

[Looner]

Re: Our pizmo

Sad day for all of us here. In my eyes Piz was like a father figure on this forum. If any of us started to get out of line, it only took a quick couple of words from Ernie and we would straighten ourselves out.

Like many of us here, I leaned on his jokes to get me through some bad days, he could ALWAYS make me smile!!!!

Wherever you are now, they are extremely lucky to have you as you'll be sorely missed here for sure.

[Uncle Bobby]

Re: Our pizmo

Oh my. So sad. He was an enjoyable contributor to this board. His absence hurts.

Thanks for making us all better, Piz. Godspeed!