SITE
DEDICATION
Gregory F. Braun
Born on:
February 5, 1954
Passed on: May 24, 1981
This
Disco Demolition site is dedicated to the memory of
Gregory F. Braun.
All Photos By Victor Modlinski
gregoryfbraunfinal.jpg
Greg was the
quintessential Coho. He lived and breathed Rock & Roll
music and The Loop FM 98 was the soundtrack that he
lived by...
He lived for
all things fun and exciting.
It was an honor and
privilege to have been his friend. This meant being
prepared for the latest Braun excursion, be it camping out, a rock show,
amusement park, movie
premier, anti-Disco event or anything to do with Steve
Dahl and Garry Meier.
Needless to say, Greg was
instrumental in influencing my interests in
photography, Rock and Roll music, live shows,
movies
and the appreciation of life in general.
He was
the one that got everyone to go to Disco
Demolition Night.
He was also the one that
convinced me to go to ChicagoFest with him that same
year to see this
new hard rock band from Germany. The Loop FM98 had spent
weeks hyping this mystery band on-air and promised to
broadcast their concert live. So we went and the mystery band ended up being
The Scorpions. We we were very lucky
to get into the Rock Around The Dock stage to see them at
ChicagoFest on Monday, August 6, 1979.
Everyone
knew we were witnessing Rock & Roll history
that night... all the while being blown away by the
awesome music of The Scorpions. The live broadcast
recording of this concert is still out there on the web
and if you search real hard you can still get it.
Indeed, what a beautiful night it turned out to be!
This was my very first live
rock show, and it helped to forever change the way I
look at live music and the performers.
This first show convinced
me that The
Scorpions were going to be one of the best live Rock &
Roll bands ever to take the stage. Thanks to Greg and
that show, I have been following them ever
since...
scorpions1979.jpg
ChicagoFest
- August 6, 1979.
Greg was
known as "The General" by all of his close friends. He became
the driving force for all things fun to do after work.
Being employed by the
same bank and having many friends and family in common,
made it easy for our group to get along and hang out together, even after
business hours.
Some of our get togethers and road trips could get
quite
wild... but never totally out of hand.
We were
young people entrusted with great business
responsibilities... as you can see by this photo.
gregbraunandcompany.jpg
Halloween Party in 1979.
The fun we had back then was genuine, but the times were
very different from today in the late
70's and early 80's. There was no Internet or cell
phones, no cable TV and we all got our music and news
from the radio and the newspapers we read.
If you
were trying to call someone, you would hope that they
were at home at the time to answer the phone. Very few
people had answering machines back then and snail mail
was still the only way to send someone a letter or make
a payment.
It was at the beginning of 1980 that
we all knew something was very wrong with Greg. He was
losing weight and every time he would eat something he
would have to use the bathroom shortly thereafter.
He would always spend a long time in the bathroom
and complained about it a lot. We all pushed him to go
see a doctor, what he was experiencing was not normal to
us.
When he finally did go to the doctor, it was
already too late. He was diagnosed with advanced stage
colo-rectal cancer and had maybe a year or so to live.
It hit all of us like a ton of bricks. He was too young
to have such a terrible disease... he was only 24 years
old!
We all watched as Greg began what treatments
were available at the time. We all prayed for him and
gave him every encouragement, but nothing worked and he
spent a lot of time in the hospital during 1980.
They say you know who your real friends are when you
become sick or broke. This was true in Greg's case...
only a handful of his close friends cared enough to go
visit him when he needed support. I was always there for
him during his tough times.
gregbraunandpattiross.jpg
During
one of his extended stays at Northwestern Hospital in
downtown Chicago, Andy Julkowski, a co-worker of mine
and I paid Greg a visit one late Friday night. We were
attending a restaurant grand opening together earlier
that evening that featured members of the Chicago
Honeybears, the Chicago Bears Cheerleading squad.
It turned out that the owner of the restaurant spoke
with the girls earlier. He told them about the dire
situation with my friend and one of them offered to do
something and approached me about it.
It was a
very touching gesture on her part and a very emotional
moment for me. She proposed that we pay a visit to him
at the hospital that night as soon as the restaurant
event was over. We agreed and stayed until the event was
over... and then headed out.
This was going to be
a great surprise for Greg, a life long Bears fan. I was
so happy!
Her name was Patti Ross and she was
truly an angel in a Cheerleaders Outfit!
Greg
really enjoyed the visit and we laughed about it
afterwards... he could not believe we pulled off getting
a member of the Chicago Honeybears to visit him at
midnight, in the hospital, and way after visiting hours.
It was a moment that I will forever cherish... thank you
Patti Ross!
Greg looks very happy in these two
Honeybear photos... this is the way I will always
remember him.
gregbraunandpattiross1.jpg
Greg
continued to fight on with his cancer throughout 1980
and had many ups and downs. They had tried many
treatments of last resort on him, and many of them would
be deemed barbaric today. But he was desperate to try
anything that would help cure him of this cancer. This
vibrant, full of life person that I knew just wanted to
keep on living.
There was a time after one of
these treatments that I visited him and could not
recognize him because he was so emaciated he looked like
a living skeleton. This really freaked me out and I
thought it was over for him.
But another time,
they released him from the hospital in February of 1981
to celebrate his 26th birthday. He looked perfectly
normal, he had his weight back, a new car and we went
out to celebrate at one of the rock clubs to see a new
up and coming local band. I thought that the treatments
he was getting were helping and things would go back to
the way they were before he became sick.
But
things were not as they seemed, he told me that night
that this would probably be the last time I would see
him alive. They pumped him up with a bunch of drugs and
nutrients to give his system a boost so that he could
have somewhat of a normal life... before the end.
He said he would be undergoing another new treatment
because all the others failed and he was pretty much
giving himself up for experimentation that may help
other people in the future. He looked death right in the
face and was not afraid... he was the bravest person I
knew at that point in my life.
I saw him one last
time at the hospital before he passed away. He was back
to looking like a living skeleton after the latest
treatment efforts failed, and we sadly said our final
goodbyes...
Greg passed away on May 24, 1981.
At the funeral, he looked like a wounded animal that
had lived and died with great pain. I can only imagine
what he must have suffered through during those last
moments of his life. All of us cried as we slowly
carried out his coffin after the funeral. It was truly a
sad day for all of us...
It left us all feeling
empty inside, with something missing. Our entire group
of friends slowly dissolved and I ended up leaving the
bank in October of 1981. His death had an effect on
everyone that knew him... they could not believe that
something like that could happen to someone so young.
I lost my best friend when Greg died and it
personally took me quite a while to come to terms with
the fact that I would never see him alive again. I still
have issues with totally opening up to new people even
to this day. I guess I don't want to ever go through
that type of emotional pain again.
I learned a
lot about life and death from Greg and I want to thank
him for everything we experienced together as friends. I
look forward to burning the sky with him when my time
comes.
Rest in peace my good friend.
Victor.
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