Dusan Nedelko, 1970 - 2010 (Updated)

It is with sad hearts that we announce the passing of our good friend, Dusan Nedelko, in a car accident early Thursday morning (Feb 18).  Dusan was a native of K-W, now living in South River, Ontario.  He was known throughout the Ontario disc sport community as a tireless supporter of the ODSA and disc golf.  Dusan spent a great deal of time working with the ODSA's RADD Tour, teaching Ultimate and disc golf to grade school children throughout Ontario.  He also provided unlimited smiles, laughter and support at disc golf activities across the province, and beyond.

WODS members might have met Dusan when he attended one of our Ultimate clinics a few years ago to provide a disc golf demonstration.  Disc golfers might also have seen him on the Chicopee course in the summer of 2009, as he made a point of visiting the course any time he was in town.  What you may not know is that Dusan was a fundamental supporter of the Chicopee project right from day one.  He travelled hundreds of kilometres from South River in the fall of 2008 and the spring of 2009 to help us plan, design and install the course.  He made the trip again to attend both disc golf tournaments in 2009, even acting as Tournament Director for the Oktoberfest Tournament.  He was a gracious and respected supporter of WODS and disc golf in Waterloo Region. 

We will miss you, Dusan.

"Disc man" dies after crash
Disc golf community and youth in mourning after death of former Kitchener man

February 25, 2010
By Cherri Greeno, Record staff

SOUTH RIVER - Dušan Nedelko was the kind of guy you could laugh with, cry with, spill your heart out to.

And so, that's exactly what people did.

Thousands of them.

The 39-year-old mentor, leadership counsellor and outdoorsman spent his life helping kids, taking them camping, teaching them how to play disc golf and ensuring they had the life skills needed to succeed.

The "disc man," as he was known by so many, died Feb. 18 after his SUV hit a tractor trailer in South River, south of North Bay. Police said weather was likely a factor in the crash.

Nedelko grew up in Kitchener and attended St. Jerome's High School. At the time of his death he was working as Assistant Manager of Pickerel Lake Lodge and on contract for Wendigo Lake Expeditions Inc., which operates Project DARE in South River, a youth justice therapeutic adventure program.

He also founded the Algonquin Disc Golf Course in Tom Thomson Park in South River and spent the past few years teaching more than 20,000 children across Ontario how to play. He also helped a group of players in Waterloo Region start a course at Chicopee. The first game was played in June, 2009.

In disc golf, players throw a disc into a basket or at a target as they make their way through a course.

"He was very energetic and had the most giving heart," said Mike Yuhasz, who helped Nedelko start the course at Chicopee and sat with him on the Ontario Disc Sport Association. "He will stop at nothing to go out and welcome you on a friendship level. He always inspired you to go for more."

His love of the game and of the outdoors helped Nedelko connect with youth, leading to his nickname "the Disc Man."

Nedelko's brother Dan, of Cambridge, said Nedelko used humour and practical sense to get through to kids. He recalled one time when a group of kids were acting rowdy and instead of sitting around assessing the reason for their behaviour, Nedelko yelled "Let's go outside and make a snowman."

It worked.

"That's all they wanted," Dan Nedelko said. "He knew that sometimes kids just want to be kids and don't need serious counselling. He spoke to them on a level of equality, like he was one of them. You can't train someone for that. Either they have it, or they don't."

Another time, Dan Nedelko said his brother was in a grocery store and a little girl in an old, torn coat came up to him. "Are you the disc man?" she asked.

Nedelko bent down and told her he was. Shortly after, he had the little girl out on the course playing disc golf.

Last September, Nedelko called his brother to say he would have to miss his nephew's baptism. It wasn't something he wanted to miss but something else had come up. A former Project DARE youth member had just been diagnosed with cancer and his last wish was to go canoeing with Nedelko.

The brother's agreed that granting the boy's wish to go into the wilderness with Nedelko would be the baby's christening gift.

"The deeper meaning behind the trip was more valuable than any physical gift money could buy," Dan Nedelko said.

Nedelko's mother, Hanna Trafford, of Waterloo, said she is "heartbroken" at the death of her son but proud that he touched so many people.

She has started the Dušan Nedelko Memorial Fund so that her son's work enabling youth through outdoor activity can be continued.

"There isn't much more you can ask for than your kids grow up right and do the right thing," she said. "He was a big kid that gave and gave."

Trafford found a bag of maps and compasses that her son used to take into the wilderness on his trips. Inside were papers with jokes written on them that he used to entertain the kids.

One read: "I intend to live forever. So far, so good."

Trafford said this is now her new motto in life.

"I knew everything he was doing," Trafford said. "But I didn't know the impact it had on the community."

On Saturday, a celebration of his life will be held at the Disc Golf course in South River. Dinner will be held at the Spirit Point Wilderness Lodge by Algonquin Park.

For more information you can visit the Facebook page "In Memory of Dušan Nedelko."

cgreeno@therecord.com