This front page article appeared in the Citrus County Chronicle on August 14th, 2009
Jason Posluszny: He lived for others
By Nancy Kennedy
Jason Posluszny died keeping a promise to a friend.
“That was the kind of person he was,” said his brother Matt. “It sounds so cliché, but he was the nicest person you could ever meet. He revolved his life around making other people happy and putting other people before himself. He lived and breathed to do nice things for people.
This nicest of nice guys, who always had a smile on his face, died in a car wreck July 25. He was 21.
Born at Citrus Memorial, Jason spent his whole life in Citrus County, attending Citrus Springs Elementary School, Citrus Springs Middle School and graduating from Lecanto High School in 2007.
He did all the things Citrus County kids did — birthday parties at the Roller Barn, going to the county fair.
The second-youngest of five siblings, Jason enjoyed the annual Posluszny family tradition of visiting Disney World every summer. He loved Splash Mountain and Space Mountain, loved roller coasters and thrill rides.
“Our thing was wrestling — we loved wrestling and playing video games,” Matt said. “Among our siblings we’re the closest in age, and we hung out together a lot. As kids we watched a lot of Nickelodeon — Nicktoons, especially ‘Invader Zim.’”
Jason loved Hulk Hogan and Matt liked the Ultimate Warrior, and they used their mom’s living room as their wrestling ring to wrestle each other.
“When Wrestlemania came to Orlando, I had just had my son and was flat broke,” Matt said. “Wrestlemania is the ‘Super Bowl’ of wrestling, and I couldn’t afford to go. Jason called and gave me his debit card number over the phone and told me to buy us both tickets.
“It was the most fun we’d ever had in our lives,” Matt said. “We achieved that amazing dream together, and I’ll never forget it, because without his kind, generous nature, it would have never happened.”
As a video gamer, Jason was a master at “Call of Duty,” “Skate 2,” “Guitar Hero” and “Rock Band 2.”
“He was legendary at those games,” Matt said. Gail Posluszny, Jason’s mother, recalled listening to Jason and his friends playing games on Jason’s XBox. “I’d listen to them banter back and forth. It was my greatest joy lately to just listen to them,” she said.
For her birthday, Jason gave her a foot massager, because working at her computer all day made her legs sore. The first time he ever gave her flowers was this past Mother’s Day.
“He was a good-hearted kid and the only one of my children who never went through a wild teenage stage,” she said.
As a son, he was kind and thoughtful. As a brother, he was playful and fun. To his nephews and nieces, Nero, Isaac, Allison and Maya, Jason was a proud uncle, always a ready babysitter. Inside one of his most prized possessions, his iPhone, Jason kept hundreds of photos of his nieces and nephews.
As a friend, Jason had the shoulder everyone cried on, the smile that brightened everyone’s mood. He would come to your side at midnight, walk with you around Wal-Mart, talking you through your problems.
“He was my best friend,” said Heather Kelly. “Jason was loved by a lot of people, more than he knew. He died as a hero; he tried to protect his friend. Jason always will be loved and never forgotten. He left a lot of footprints on people’s hearts, really big ones. If I didn’t know how to be a friend before, I do now.”
Jason worked as a customer service lead at Winn Dixie in Beverly Hills for about three and a half years, having recently transferred to the Dunnellon store. John Simonetti, grocery manager at the Beverly Hills store, described him as “bubbly,” with great empathy. “He could diffuse any tense situation,” he said.
“Jason was the guy that everyone could turn to if they wanted a good laugh, a great hug or anything,” wrote Amanda Clements on Jason’s MySpace memorial tribute page. “I worked with him at Winn Dixie and I always LOVED going in when I knew I was going to get to work with Jason.” She added, “With Jason, it’s impossible not to cheer up when (he) ordered you to … Jason was … the friend that you could always count on no matter what. The dependable one. The caring one. And the only one that could (always) make me laugh or smile when I didn’t want to. He brought out the best in everyone.”
On his lunch break from work he’d go to Hungry Howies and order a large pepperoni pizza with butter cheese crust and parmesan cheese all over it.
He loved cheese fries at Outback Steakhouse, the triple Whopper at Burger King, the Kobe beef burger and decadent chocolate cheesecake at The Cheesecake Factory.
He always wore his hair short, that same Jason haircut. He especially loved the Super Mario Brothers ringtone that his brother Mike recorded for him from an actual game.
The day Jason died, Mike wrote and recorded a song for his little brother, “The Simple Things,” about Jason’s zest for what mattered in life — friends, family, caring for others. “Some of my best memories are of times spent with him at Disney,” Mike said.
“He loved dragons, and he had just gotten a dragon tattoo a few months ago on the back of his leg,” Matt said. “A lot of his friends and all of his family, even our mom and dad, got the same tattoo.”
His mom has hers over her heart.
The night of the car accident that took Jason’s life he was with his friend Angela. They had gone to another person’s house, someone Jason didn’t know. Jason had sent text messages to a friend saying he didn’t want to be there, but he had promised Angela he would stay with her.
She died in the car wreck, too, along with the driver.
“I miss him, but I’m proud of him for staying by her side,” Gail Posluszny said. “He wanted to be the hero. He wanted to protect. He was honorable. He was a good kid. I miss him, but I’m proud of him.”
Contact Nancy Kennedy at 564-2927 or nkennedy@chronicleonline.com
