This is the 2nd of 4 part tribute to my dear friend Terry Venezia, who passed away on Sunday, October 25th. I was given the honor of presenting an eulogy for Terry. 
I will share the eulogy, as I want people to know what a special person Terry Venezia was—and I hope it helps people live their lives the way Terry lived his. Terry is survived by his lovely wife Renee and his three beautiful children Jason, Jillian, and Ali.
Terry had this effect on a whole lot of people in our group. To illustrate, I will do this by telling some stories, and these stories will be organized by the strong character traits that were at the core of who Terry was.
First and foremost, Terry was responsible. A group of us guys go on a “fishing trip” each year—a trip which involves a bunch of things but not fishing. Most of us in the fishing trip gang like to “partake”. There is a favorite joint we go to, called the Minturn Saloon, about 15 minutes from my place in Beaver Creek. At the Saloon, they serve margaritas by the pitcher, and we put down lots of those pitchers. As we have gotten older, designated drivers were part of our routine. Given that Terry is responsible, we’d know he wouldn’t partake in the margs as much as the rest of us. That’s good news—we’d have a logical designated driver. However, here’s the bad news. Whereas others would drive with a couple of drinks in us, Terry the responsible one wouldn’t. So Terry be the most sober but the least likely to be a designated driver. Always responsible.
Well, not always responsible. Ron, Terry, a third guy, I went camping in Lake Geneva. This was maybe after our first year of college, when the drinking age was 19 up there. One night, we left our camp sight and went to a bar.
The third guy and I met a couple of lady friends and Terry and Ron returned back to the camp site. At 2am, I returned to the camp, only to find an empty site where our tent had last been. Evidently, Terry brought a b.b. gun on the trip and decided to pull it out at 1am. The camp ranger kicked Terry out of the camp and left the rest of us to sleep in a car.
Michelle Krezek and Patty Zarolli shared another story about Terry last night, one that left me quite jealous. It was freshman year of high school, and Michelle and Patty had just met. Trying to impress Michelle, Patty brings up this guy named Terry Venezia. “Patty, you got to meet this guy Terry. He is so cute. He is so funny. When he laughs, his whole head wrinkles.”
Terry was an athlete. And a good one. And a competitive one. Michelle Krezek, who ran track with Terry, reached out to Terry’s high school coach. Here is what Coach Van Dorn shared: “Terry was a tremendous athlete and competitor. What I remember most was that Terry was team orientated. Cross country is an individual sport. With Terry though, he always looked out for his teammates.”
Mark Everett recalls the last home cross country meet of our senior year. Mark, Terry, and one other runner were leading the race. Terry constantly pulled Mark along, encouraging him to keep pace. The winner’s shoot was only big enough for one of them to go through at a time. Terry veered to the right, and the other guy veered to the left—allowing Mark to take first place in his final race.
Brian Stain, who ran with Terry all four years, recalls that Terry started as the 5th best runner in freshman year. By senior year, Terry was the best. And then Terry ran Big Ten Track at Northwest, under a scholarship.
Well I am on the topic of Terry, Brian, and running, I have one more story to share. If nothing else, Marty Panega and I were cocky. 
For some inexplicable reason, Marty and I concluded we could outrun Terry and Brian so long as the race was relatively short. This was after high school. Though Terry was running at a Big Ten school, we felt Brian had dropped off a bit. If Marty could stay close to Terry, I could easily outpace Brian. Did I mention Terry was competitive? Terry was all business—approaching this like race like it was the state championship. Terry and Marty were first off on the two lap race. Terry was finishing his second lap while Marty was just completing his first.
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Please accept my condolences on the loss of your friend.
I have been blessed with 48 year friendships with women I first met when we were 13 and freshmen at St Margaret’s Academy. We have been together for so much life. As you and Terry were.
Plato: “A friend is another self.”