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River Ridge High unites to aid family

The Saitches were stunned when the father died suddenly, but the community also stunned them with its generosity.

By MICHELE MILLER
Published August 16, 2006

	[Times photo: Brendan Fitterer]
	River Ridge High social studies teacher Tim Newman removes flooring from a closet in the Saitch house. Friends banded togeter to prepare the house for guests after Mike Saitch's death. "The two boys are our students, and it's a tough loss," River Ridge principal Jim Michaels said of Nelson, 16, and Brandon Saitch, 13.

NEW PORT RICHEY - Patricia Saitch was feeling overwhelmed living in a place where the very worst and the very best had somehow converged.

Monday afternoon marked four days since the Florida Highway Patrol had come to her door to tell her that her husband of 16 years was dead.

Mike "Big Mike" Saitch - the man who first wooed her at a 25th anniversary party wearing an unforgettable white suit, the man who loved salsa dancing and watching his sons, Nelson, 16, and Brandon, 13, play basketball - wasn't coming home for dinner at 6:30 p.m. as usual.

Saitch, 60, had been on his way home last Thursday night, driving back from a job in Fort Myers, when he suffered a massive heart attack and drifted onto the median on Interstate 75. Later Mrs. Saitch would think about the goodness in how he went.

"Thank God he didn't crash the car and kill anyone," she would say. "Thank God for that."

But first she would fall apart. "It was such a shock," she said. "It really turns your life."

She had her two boys to think about. Brandon seemed to be doing okay, but Nelson thought he had to be the man of the family now. She didn't want him worrying about that. There was her husband's son, Patrick Kalwij, and the rest of the family back in the Netherlands where the Saitches had immigrated from six years ago. There was the family business - Brannel Design and Sewing Room - that the two had worked at day and night.

"There's a lot going on in your head," she said. "It's such a nightmare going through something like that."

Now, four days later , Mrs. Saitch, 43, was vacillating between feelings of grief and joy as she stood in her kitchen, her refrigerator stocked with food brought by neighbors and friends while her sons' high school principal was laying tile in the back entryway.

Over the weekend two River Ridge High School basketball coaches - John Sedlack and Tim Newman, who also teaches social studies - had showed up with about 20 kids and cleaned the yard, the pool and the garage.

They trimmed trees and pressure-washed the house and the fence to help her prepare for the onslaught of family, friends and business associates who would be coming from the Netherlands, Atlanta, Orlando, Fort Myers and Aruba, where her husband was born.

And when folks found out her husband didn't have life insurance, they pitched in to help with the funeral.

"Our friends have stepped up to prepay the whole thing till I can figure it out," said Mrs. Saitch. "It's unbelievable. I'm from the Netherlands, and we are not accustomed to this. We are really overwhelmed with the generosity of our American friends. Since day one, people have been here 24/7."

It wasn't a hard call, said River Ridge High School principal Jim Michaels, who on Monday was laying the tile with Tim Newman, coach Ernie Beck and girls weight lifting coach Mike DeGennaro.

"The two boys are our students, and it's a tough loss. We all have common bonds. And we have some experience doing things that need to be done," said Michaels, adding that the school has pulled together before, particularly when student Samantha Slusak was seriously injured in a gymnastics accident. "We have a great community, a great family here at River Ridge."

That River Ridge family, as well as those from the Rosewood cul-de-sac known for its seasonal block parties, have helped ease the pain of the family's loss somewhat, Mrs. Saitch said, as she greeted yet another friend stopping by to check on her.

"Everybody's going to help look after you," Ron Kalavsky, 58, told her. "Don't worry, you've got a lot of good friends."

That's true, Mrs. Saitch said, as she dried yet another tear.

"My husband was a quiet man. He liked to do everything by himself. If he could just see this. If he could just see everybody in his house doing all this stuff. ...

"We have a great family - a great community here. It just makes you feel so welcome."

Michele Miller can be reached in west Pasco at 727 869-6251 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505. Her e-mail is miller@sptimes.com.

[Last modified August 16, 2006, 06:49:43]