NATHAN MORANTZ

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NATHAN MORANTZ Tragically, but peacefully Nathan passed away by his loving family's side on June 21, 2016 at the age of sixteen. Nathan was predeceased by his baba Ronda Schwartz, papa Saul Morantz and great-baba, Gertie Litman and great-baba, Elsie Segal. Nathan is survived by his mom, Lisa, dad, Marty and older brother Jeremy, as well as his zaida David Morry and David's wife Jacky Morry, grandma Pearl Morantz, aunt and uncle Sheree Walder Morantz and Richard Morantz, uncle, Steven Morantz and aunt and uncle Susie Morantz and Evan Rubin, aunt and uncle Darcy and Lyle Grosney and by his cousins Ethan, Sean and Emily Morantz, Jacob and Zachary Rubin and Ryan and Becca Grosney. From the time Nathan was a baby, he was severely challenged by Autism. When Nathan was two and a half years old he began to partake in Applied Behavioural Analysis in order to treat his Autism. Through this therapy, which combines behaviour modification and discreet trial training, Nathan's teams of consultants and therapists taught him to speak, read, write and prepared him to interact with his classmates once he started school. As a pre-schooler, Nathan's older brother Jeremy enjoyed being involved in Nathan's ABA sessions and watching as Nathan progressed. When Nathan began school at the Gray Academy, his new peers were instantly drawn to him. A lot of his friends came to play during Nathan's ABA sessions in order to work on peer development. It was at school where Jeremy loved showing off his younger brother to all of his friends. When Nathan started swimming lessons as a kid he taught himself to count the days until Wednesday's lessons; this keeping track of time was a huge ability for him. There was nothing he loved to do more than swim, and he did so year round. When Nathan was a little boy he set up a "NASA HQ-esque" system in our home office. He would sit on his swivel desk chair and glide over from his computer to his mini TV screen, as he simultaneously brought up clips of his favourite movies on Youtube to our old home movies which he referred to as "The Jeremy Show". Marty installed a golf game for Nathan on the computer where he spent many hours "golfing". This room remained his sanctuary for his whole life. Nathan appreciated classical music from a very early age. As he grew older, when out in the car he insisted that Bach and Mozart be played on the radio. We could see that classical music soothed him as he appeared to be deep in thought while listening to the music. Nathan was also mesmerized by being at the car wash and seeing the water and coloured soap move over the car. Nathan had the biggest smile, and often had a twinkle in his big, striking brown eyes, which he inherited from Lisa's dad and Marty's mom. Many fearless and open minded individuals came into Nathan's life and he always sensed who they were. He would reciprocate their love and attention with his own unique brand of affection. When Nathan was almost 10 years old, Nenette came into our lives to assist in Nathan's care, as his day to day challenges had increased. Upon meeting him, Nenette instantly became emotionally attached to Nathan. She called Nathan her baby and later told us she thought of him as her son. In more recent years she would tell him they were best friends. Nathan had the most beautiful singing voice with the perfect pitch. From a very young age, his musical therapists always told us that Nathan excelled in singing and dancing. Nathan loved to sing the berakhah in celebration of various Jewish holidays, as well as throughout the year. Everyone in the neighbourhood knew Nathan by his big red bike, which he road miles and miles throughout the summer months. Nathan had a taste for healthy foods, if someone was eating a salad around Nathan, he would almost always swipe it away for himself. We would see Nathan's handprints in the tuna salad container, and it wasn't unusual for us to find a half eaten cucumber lying on the kitchen counter. We could hardly keep up with his request for green olives and so we had to have industrial sized jars on hand at all times. Every grocery store we took Nathan to, he insisted on eating olives from the olive bars. When the women at the La Grotta Mediterranean Market would see him come through the doors, they would make sure his regular order was ready for him. Before it was no longer possible for Nathan to tolerate travel, we all visited Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Florida, San Diego, Detroit Lakes, a ten day road trip to Mount Rushmore, Disneyland, the Maritime provinces, the West Edmonton Mall, the Mall of America in Minneapolis and a week long stay at Bear Country Resort near Patricia Beach. We brought him to Palm Springs to visit Papa many times, to visit Auntie Susie, Uncle Evan, and Jacob as a baby in Vancouver, to Toronto to visit Uncle Steven and to Kelowna many times to visit his great aunt and uncle and cousins. Many of these vacations involved Nathan's favourite activity of sliding down watersides and playing in the sand on the beach. He was enrolled in the Autism program at Grant Park High School from Grade nine to the end of Grade eleven at the time of his passing. Nathan enjoyed delivering flyers, working at the Dollar Tree and at Imaginability as part of the IPSA school curriculum. Nathan grew from a beautiful baby to a very handsome young man, while retaining his adorable baby face. Mandy Johnston and Nathan met when he was two and a half years old through his ABA program and they bonded instantly. We will be forever grateful to Mandy for rescuing Nathan through CPR when he suddenly stopped breathing on June 18th, 2016. We are also filled with gratitude to the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service for arriving a short time later and reviving Nathan. As well, we are forever indebted to the the physicians and nursing staff in the Paediatric Resuscitation Room at the Children's Hospital where Nathan was stabilized, this allowed him to open his eyes every time Lisa sang his favourite songs to him. These moments with Nathan were a true gift that will never be forgotten. We were overwhelmed by our friends Doctors Leif Sigurdson, Leanne Van Amstel and Ed Buchel who stood by us and helped us navigate through the process of Nathan's stay in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit and did so with compassion. Further, we were in awe of the steady stream of family and friends who came to be by Nathan's bedside in his final days. We are indebted to our friends Alix Kravetsky and Michael Kowalson who stood by us during Nathan's entire hospital stay, right up until the moments after we had to say good-bye to our precious son. Funeral services were held on June 23, 2016, graveside at the Shaarey Zedek Cemetery under a beautiful blue sky on a warm, sunny summer morning. Pallbearers were Richard Morantz, Ethan Morantz, Sean Morantz, Steven Morantz, Lyle Grosney, and Michael Kowalson. Honorary Pallbearers were David Levene, Evan Rubin, Mitchell Segal, and Mayor Brian Bowman. Thank you to Rabbi Allan Green for capturing Nathan's essence in a most fitting eulogy. Donations can be made to the endowment fund that's been set up in Nathan's memory at The Children's Hospital Foundation at 204-953-5437, contact is Lawrence Prout.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Jul 30, 2016