When I was a kid, the things I looked forward to most each year (besides Christmas, obviously) were a. Decorating my birthday cupcakes to bring into my class at school b. Decorating my Dad’s birthday cake…always chocolate! And c. Helping my mom make a vat of strawberry shortcake for our Father’s Day cookouts, amongst many other seasonal desserts. June is strawberry season in Massachusetts and they are so juicy, deeply red and sweet, my fingers would be stained for the rest of the day.

In-between these celebrations I made cakes and brownies in my Easy Bake Oven and decorated them lavishly with whatever I could find in my mom’s pantry. I should have known then that my future would be in the culinary field!! My Dad loved our homemade treats, cards and notes more than any gift we ever bought him. In fact, he would open a gift and then stick the little gift tag back onto whatever the gift was and leave it there forever (unless it had to go through the wash!) So all his bottles of aftershave and shaving cream were adorned with our little notes to him.

All my best memories with my Dad as a kid were the things we did outdoors together. Trout fishing, where he taught to filet the little fish and hang them up by their gills on a stick, cook them in a pan and then pop the cheeks out to eat…the most tender little morsels! Camping and canoe trips where I learned to cook over a fire, find the level ground to pitch a tent…or how to make it level! And most importantly, how to pee in the woods! Gathering kindling wood for summer cookouts at the lake where he’d cook kielbasa and dozens of burgers & hot dogs off his Weber charcoal grill – never dreaming of using lighter fluid to start the fire. And countless Saturday mornings spent in his pickup truck driving around his asphalt plant or rock quarry, climbing up rock piles and heavy equipment and then once I was a bit older…but not of driving age…operating the asphalt roller on a few paving jobs! And then, kicking and screaming, being put through my Dad’s own Driver’s Ed obstacle courses in a pickup truck before I was allowed to get my license.

One of the many amazing things about life is that we never know how all of our seemingly unconnected experiences will prove to be extremely useful later on. The bulk of my culinary career has been in catering, and I will never forget the day when I realized that I would need to operate huge trucks of all shapes and sizes…box trucks, refrigerator trucks, ones with hydronic tailgates and Sprinter vans (that are so top-heavy, they are like a sail going over the windy Tampa bridges!) All while also navigating the narrow cobblestone streets, alleys and driveways of Boston and Cambridge, and the busy highways and miles long bridges of Tampa Bay! I remember calling my Dad the first time I ever drove one of those trucks on a catering job in Boston (once it was safely parked back at our kitchen) and we had a good laugh!! For almost every wedding I catered in greater Boston we would make a field kitchen…setting up pop-up tents in a literal field, cooking over charcoal fires on cast iron skillets and hauling 5 gallon buckets of water for a makeshift sink. And then creating really exceptional plates of seasonal food for hundreds of expectant guests. No trout cheeks here…but I’d always think back to my childhood experiences in the woods and always felt most exhilarated cooking in these places.

When I told my dad that I had decided I was going to pursue a career as chef, he was not thrilled. He asked why I would want to flip burgers for a living when I graduated Summa Cum Laude with a degree in economics & finance?! I indignantly told him I would not be flipping burgers! And then funny thing…my first job out of culinary school was at a catering company in Tampa, and my first event was a banquet for about 500 guests where we had set up different food stations in the ballroom. When our chef assigned me the slider station, and I spent the night flipping little burgers on a flat top and frying sweet potato fries, all I could do was laugh! (And maybe cringe…I did not go home and call my dad after that job was finished!)

My life experiences also shaped who I became as a chef. A semester abroad in Italy while in business school opened my eyes to a whole new world of flavors and passion about food. I returned to Massachusetts and taught myself to cook using the bounty from some of the same local farms I grew up eating the seasonal produce from. And then through my health struggles and those of my Dad, I learned about the power of the food we eat, that it’s so much more than calories…it’s information to every cell and truly is our most powerful medicine. My dad did come around to my life as a chef, and when I was a cooking instructor at Sur la Table he attended one of my knife skills classes! After that on the regular he would send me photos of salads he had made, showing off his stellar knife skills! And after every big job I would cook for clients, I’d send him photos of my creations and he would blow them up on his iPad, zooming in so he could see all the details.

Some things never change, no matter how old you get. We celebrated my dad’s 80th birthday exactly 3 weeks before he passed away. My mom had the idea to decorate his cake to look like his asphalt plant and rock yard. I ordered the supplies on Amazon while sitting in his hospital room, not knowing if he would be discharged in time for his party that we had been planning long before we even knew he was sick. He did make it home the day before! I covered the chocolate cake with turbinado sugar to look like sand, and added toy trucks and pylon cone candles. We even had the Westover AFB planes flying overhead! Decorating that cake for my dad…albeit so bittersweet…is one of my favorite memories.

My dad in large part shaped me into the person I am today. I got my stubbornness, grit, tenacity and can-do attitude from him. Our relationship was also quite messy, like so many are, and there are wounds that I am still working on healing and letting go. But I got to witness my Dad come to a place of surrender before his God, to watch as God softened his rough edges and wrap my Dads imperfections in His nail-pierced arms…just like God’s done for me. I am so grateful that I had a father who showed me endless, unconditional love, who gave me a glimpse of just how much my Heavenly Father loves me, and who showed me how to love God and how to love others.

I had the privilege of writing my Dad’s obituary, and on this Father’s Day I’m sharing it here as a way of honoring my Dad’s life and legacy. I know this day is bittersweet for a lot of you, and whatever your situation is, know how much you are loved by your Heavenly Father today!

Tadj Ondrick, 5/9/42 – 5/28/22

Theodore “Tadj” Ondrick of Chicopee passed away in his home on Saturday, May 28, 3 weeks after celebrating his 80th birthday surrounded by his loving family of 19. Tadj was born on May 9, 1942 and spent his early childhood living on his grandmothers “poor” farm in Chicopee with his dad, mom, sister and several farm hands who worked to pay their rent. When he started kindergarten he only spoke Polish and Czechoslovakian and was sent home until he learned English, which he quickly did! After World War II his father started a construction company and as a young teen Tadj spent weekends and summers working in his dads business. His family built a home of their own on East Street with recycled lumber and bricks which he and his sister cleaned by hand after school before playing with friends. His upbringing formed his unparalleled work ethic which continued for his entire life. Tadj attended Chicopee High School, graduated from Monson Academy and then Wentworth Institute of Technology in 1960 with a degree in Civil Engineering. He founded Chicopee Soil Boring and Testing Labs, which he later sold to Allied Engineering and Testing, and during that time he met his wife, Pamela, at the Holyoke Saint Patrick’s Parade ball; her father being parade marshal that year. Tadj had his pilots license and their first date was a very turbulent flight to Marthas Vineyard in his Cessna. She was his co-pilot on that first date…and throughout their 50 years together. Pam was also active in the business in differing capacities.

Tadj was a visionary. He bought his father’s business, Ted Ondrick Company, which at the time provided construction services to the local community. Tadj expanded the business to offering construction materials from sand and gravel pits and his granite quarry, and an asphalt plant that aided in the growth of local businesses, towns, and cities. He was a pioneer in the recycling industry, developing first-of-their-kind processes to recycle, rather than landfill contaminated soils, concrete and asphalt. He designed, built and implemented portable rock crushing systems which are still being used by other like companies to this day. He grew to provide services throughout the Northeastern U.S. and Canada. He was a member of the first Board of Directors of the Construction Demolition Recycling Association (CDRA) and was instrumental in building that organization as the go-to place for information about the recycling of materials generated during construction and demolition. In 2014 he was chosen for induction into the CDRA Hall of Fame. Tadj sold the business in 2014 to his older sons, Todd and Adam, who continue to operate Ondrick Materials and Recycling, and who have further expanded operations to Ondrick Natural Earth, supplying hard scape supplies to the community. His younger son, Alexei, is the national commercial sales director for a company in the asphalt field, and his daughters, Amanda and Ashley are both business owners in the hospitality industry.

Through the years Tadj loved to fly and attained his commercial and instrument ratings. He passed on his passion for aviation to his oldest son and grandson. He was a man of adventure and had many close encounters including waking up in a tent with a moose footprint right next to his head, and going through class four rapids in a canoe, abandoning ship right before going over a waterfall. In his younger years he was a member of the Strokers hot rod club, earning national titles in drag racing. He was a fierce competitor in lacrosse and hockey. He enjoyed trout stream fishing, deep woods canoe trips, mushroom hunting, snow and water skiing and traveling…all of which he especially loved doing with his family. Later in life he took up photography and computerized photo editing…which he always said was proof that you can teach an old dog new tricks!

Tadj was always looking to meet the needs of his community and donated resources to designing and building projects throughout Chicopee, at local churches, camps and at Pioneer Valley Christian Academy, where his 5 children and then several grandchildren attended. He scholarshiped countless students, donated to bolstering the schools learning disability programs, and contributed to all of the athletic facilities, known as the “Ondrick Athletic Fields.” He was an active member of First Central Bible Church where he served on the finance board, and where through discipleship and loving friends he came to know the true meaning of living a Christ-centered life.

Tadj delighted his family, whom he dearly loved, with his sense of humor. Even in his last months while hospitalized and then at home on hospice he kept them laughing, and also in amazement at his strength and ability to rally for precious moments. He left a legacy of faith, of generosity, of determination, of grit, of hard work, of laughter, and of love for his family and his friends. Tadj always said, “I do not fear death because the Lord Jesus Christ is my Savior.”