It is with a heavy heart that I tell everyone here that the Colorado rod community has lost a great guy. Nick Garcia, also known as Gypsy, Fordabaker, Mr G. as well as a few more, passed away a few days ago. He was a fixture in his Ford powered '37 Studebaker at rod runs and cruise nights for as long as I can remember in these parts. He worked for the Denver Water Company for years, and I used to see him on his route all the time. His old shop is just up the street from my house. I remember a few years back he was excited because he had his time in and was going to retire. He wanted to devote more time to a new project car he was working on. He was a hands on kind of guy. He was good at bodywork and he could turn wrenches as well. But, his skill of choice was upholstery. He really knew how to stitch. His little garage was always buzzing. There were always neat cars there with the interior torn out getting re-done. I was originally going to have him do the interior in my Buick, but he was always so booked that we never did manage to get together. He and his close friends used to build some nice cars. They were low buck home builts, but very nice. About 2 years ago, I saw him at a swap meet up at Bandimere Speedway. I hadn't seen him for a while, and I was shocked to see him cruising up the swap aisle on one of those Little Rascal scooter deals. He had lost ALOT of weight and just didn't look like himself. I stopped and talked to him, and he said the doctors didn't know what was wrong with him, but he was going in for more tests the following week. I wished him well and told him he'd be in my prayers. He stopped going to car events, so I didn't get to see him much. I saw him at the Polar Bear swap meet last January, and he was on his little scooter going up the aisle. I stopped him to see how he was doing and he didn't know who I was. I felt bad, but it wasn't his fault. His son was with him and explained to me that he had been diagnosed with cancer and had been going through heavy treatments. I wished Nick and his son well, and again told them they'd be in my prayers. The last time I saw Mr. G was the 4th of July weekend at a Burger King cruise night up on Green Mountain. His son was pushing him around in a wheel chair, and he looked bad. I went over to see him and he was pretty much unresponsive. I asked his son how he was doing and he said not good. They said they thought he had until Labor Day. I gave them my best, but I knew the end was near. I'll never forget, when they left the cruise night, his son drove the Stude through the parking lot. I waved at them and Nick did wave goodbye to me as they passed by. Who knew that was the last time I'd get to see him.................. Today on my break, I was skimming through the paper to check out the hockey scores. For some reason, after I checked the scores, I flipped through the rest of the paper just to see what was going on--something I rarely do. News is pretty depressing these days. As I got to the obituaries, as I was turning the pages, I caught a glimpse of a familiar face. I turned back, and sure enough, it was Nick. Even when you know someone isn't long for this world, losing them never makes it any easier. Make it a point to tell the people close to you how you feel, and cherish the time you spend together. We never know how much time we are going to get. Vamos a faltarle, mi amigo. Vaya con Dios......................E
I had met Nick a few times. He always was willing to talk to the younger guys and was always a gentlemen and a scholar. Sad news but thanks for letting us know. He will be missed by many and was a friend of the Road Devils in Denver.
The Jalopy Journal
