Friends Share Memories of Jason Gutz
by Madison Pitsch
Photos courtesy of Daniel Hakes
Sophomore Jason Gutz of Plainview, Nebraska died in a tragic farm accident on July 5, 2017
Gutz was an exercise science major, worked as an athletic trainer for the football team and worked in the Training Room. Gutz was an invaluable part of the Concordia
community. It is heartbreaking to lose a brother and a friend, but encouraging to know that we will be reunited with him in heaven.
“One of my favorite memories was when he would bring water to us freshman football players that were too small to see what was going on and had to stand in the back!” Gutz’s hall mate Kordell Hamer said.
“Jason treated everyone kindly and didn’t let much get him down, not even chemistry,” Gutz’s hall mate Brady Fehlhafer said. “Jason worked hard at everything he did whether it be his job in the athletic training room, his studies, (or) his relationships with people. Some of my favorite memories with Jason were our conversations when we were brushing our teeth.”
“He was friendly, funny and extremely kind,” Gutz’s hall mate Joseph Greenmyer said. “He always had a smile on his face. My favorite memory is playing 3 on 3 basketball with him in our Lifetime Wellness class and dominating. He was a guy who, as soon as you met him, you would hope the two of you could be friends.”
“As a friend he was amazing—such an awesome guy,” Gutz’s roommate David Carrasco said. “I remember he used to tell me he didn’t really understand soccer, but he came to a lot of our home games. Once he
was going to go out with his girlfriend at the time and I had a game. When I came back to the room after the game, I found a box with
some pizza in it and a sticky note that said ‘Saw you playing and scoring a goal, that’s my roommate.’”
“I remember a couple times walking into the room late at night after work, and he was playing some music in Spanish, and he’d say ‘I see how you’re happy all the time, this is good stuff!’ Every morning he’d start the day with the best attitude, no matter how bad the day before was, he would get up and say ‘Another day, let’s get it.’ Even though he was loud in the morning, his attitude made me forget about it; he was always positive.”
“One time I was Skyping my family back in Colombia, and, since they don’t speak English, he’d try to communicate with them and say some stuff in Spanish, and my family absolutely loved it.”
“It was awesome how open minded he was and how willing he was to make mistakes and learn. When he was going to start working with the athletic training room, he had to learn how to tape ankles and stuff. He asked me if he could practice on me because he was going to be tested on as part of the interview. Once when I sprained my ankle the training room was closed. Since his major was exercise science, of course he’d have some stuff to work with in the room. He took care of my ankle; It was awesome, I felt like I had my own personal therapist.”
“As a friend, Jason was always willing to lend a hand,” Gutz’s RA Daniel Hakes said. “He always let me borrow his vacuum and even would occasionally drop by my room with food.”
“I remember at the end of the school year I texted all my guys that we were having a hall meeting that night at 10. For some reason I forgot about it and walked into the dorm around 10:25. Jason, Taylor Beck, and Kordell Hamer were sitting on the steps waiting for me. Jason saw me and started laughing and never let me hear the end of it.”
“Jason was in the room next to mine and in Schuelke there are doors between rooms that are permanently locked but they still have an inch underneath that is open which allows
sound to travel between rooms. My favorite memory of this was one night around midnight, I was laying in bed trying to fall asleep and all of a sudden and I heard multiple curse words. I knocked on his door and he let me in. I asked him what was going on and he replied, ‘I hate my chemistry class so much.’”
“Other than this incident, Jason was always quiet, respectful, and considerate towards others. He was a hard worker and a dedicated friend. We got along very well because we gave each a hard time. At the
end of the spring semester I had this giant monkey piñata which I was going to throw away but decided against it because I thought I’d be more fun to hide it in my resident’s rooms. Jason would lock his room
before leaving so I couldn’t put the monkey piñata in his room. At the end of the semester he helped Brady Fehlhafer hide it in my room and I didn’t find it until after all my residents were gone. He was one of the best prankers in the hall.”
“I’m going to miss Jason, especially this next year, because I would have had him as a resident in Dorcas this coming school year. I thoroughly enjoyed the time I was able to spend with him and look forward to seeing him again in heaven someday.”
Jason and his Schuelke hallmates pose with Pastor Matthias
