Ojars Vidas
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Spencerport: born June 14, 1946, died, Wednesday, December 19, 2012 at age 66 peacefully, after a very courageous and dignified walk with leiomyosarcoma. OJ grew up in Rochester and was a graduate of John Marshall High School, Monroe Community College, State University New York at Brockport and SUNY Oneonta for post graduate courses. He was a decorated US Army veteran who served in Vietnam from 1969 – 1970. He also was a dedicated social studies teacher, with strong convictions and expectations, who inspired his students to go the extra mile! These qualities earned him the Teacher of the Year award twice in his career. He had tremendous curiosity, faith in the human race and a great sense of humor. He was an avid bicyclist, having traveled with Kath and Jason on separate fun trips. He also very much enjoyed most types of music- especially the lyrics and voice of Bob Dylan. He was a man of true integrity who had no enemies and many friends. But, most of all, he will be remembered as a man who loved and adored his family. And they, him! Survived by his loving wife, and best friend, Katherine; his children, son, Jason (Erin Malone) Vidas of LaFarge, WI; daughter, Kristen (Jason) Kathman of Jamestown, NY; and son, Matthew (Emily) Vidas of Syracuse, NY; and his grandchildren, Katie (Kate Marie Kathman) and Tommy (Thomas Daniel Kathman), who filled his heart with special and immense joy and love! OJ is also survived by his parents, Arturs and Nina (Kalnins) Vidas, brother, Ilmars Vidas, sister, Anita (Paul) Najder, sisters–in law, Connie Vidas and Wendy (Michael) Mayer. Nieces and nephews, Joshua, Elizabeth, Brett (Christine), Stephanie, Alexander (Jamie), Nicole (Rick), Lindsay, Sarah and Alex. Beloved Godchild, Allison Luebbert (Victor Alves); Grand-nieces and Grand-nephew, Ava Marie, Cardin and Rory and many dear friends. He was pre-deceased by his brother, Peteris, sister-in-law, Lynnette (Winnick) Vidas, and father and mother- in- law, Paul and Dorothy (Welch) Rowland. His family wishes to publically thank Dr. Deepak Sahasrabudhe, Lynn Sievert NP, and the many other wonderful providers of care at the Wilmot Cancer Center; Dr. Will Allago at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; Dr. Jim Bingham for suggesting Dr. Sahasrabudhe; and the immense love, support and prayers of friends and family. The acknowledgement of which often moved OJ to tears of gratitude and love. Mr. Cutie, you are, and always will be, deeply loved and deeply missed. We are so grateful to have had you in our lives! WE have been SO blessed!!! You are our hero!! Thank you, God! Friends may call Friday (Dec 21st) 4-7 PM at Vay- Schleich & Meeson Funeral Home, 1075 Long Pond Road, Greece Chapel. His Memorial Service with Military Honors will be held Saturday 10:00 AM in the chapel of the funeral home. Private Interment at Pine Hill Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the charity of your choice, St. Jude Children’s Hospital or Veteran’s Outreach, in OJ’s memory.
Will be greatly missed. They just don’t come any better then Oj with a great personality and integrety that we all wish we could be like. He made it a better world for everyone that knew him.
Dear Kathy and Family,
I am so sorry for your loss. Oj was a special man and I considered it a blessing to know him. May the Lord bless you Oj for an eternity and until we meet again.
Michael Love
Dear Kathy and Family,
We were very sorry to hear of Oj’s passing. We have fond memories of both of you from Unity. We hope that your treasured memories of Oj will bring you comfort in your time of mourning. Our thoughts and prayers will be with you and your family.
Love,
Joe Langen and Carol Gomborone
We continue to have you in our prayers, Oj will always have a special place in our hearts. We will all miss him.
John and Marian
Mr. Vidas was a great Social Studies teacher and role model for me. He left a lasting impact on me that would lead me to become a history teacher myself. Mr. Vidas was truly a great man who I will certainly never forget. Thoughts and prayers to his family.
After reading this obituary, my heart feels full. What a wonderful life lived , so full of love and family. God bless you, Kathy and family. You are in my heart every day.
I just wanted to start off by saying I am so sorry for your loss. I am a former student of Mr. Vidas, I had him for 7th and 8th grade social studies. The talk of him passing has quickly sprung around many of my peers who also had the privilege of having Mr. Vidas as a teacher. There is not one of his students that forgot about him. He was an amazing teacher, the kind I am currently aspiring to be in my own studies. Looking back on my memories of Mr. Vidas, I can’t help but smile, laugh, and be grateful. During my middle school years, I was going through the typical teenage stage of having an attitude, and at times disrespecting teachers during class. Mr. Vidas was the only teacher that did not put up with my challenging attitude, but instead, he challenged my challenges. He believed in me when I had given up on myself. I vaguely remember one class, Mr. Vidas and I had gotten into a disagreement. At that point he had enough of me, and asked me if I wanted to slap him. And I simply just laughed because I didn’t think he was possibly serious. He then walked over to me and grabbed my hand and used it to slap himself across the face. The entire classroom was quiet and shocked, including me. He then turned and walked to the front of the classroom and said ‘what? don’t act like you didn’t secretly want to do that for the past 2 years. Can we be friends now?’ and then winked. All of my tough outer layers were peeled at that moment. He was one of the toughest teachers I have ever had, and although at the time I thought he was just mean or strict, I now realize he pushed his students because he loved them and saw their potential. I will always regret never having the chance to tell Mr. Vidas everything I am saying now, because I had thought about him time to time during my school years. He truly changed my life, and my outlook on teaching. I have recently been certified to teach, and when I think about the type of teacher that I want to be one day, Mr. Vidas immediately comes to mind. I will forever be grateful to have my life/school journey lead me to him, and I pray that he is looking down from heaven and smiling at all of the lives that have been touched by him and his courage. RIP -Jessica Hutton (graduated 2008)
I went to high school with Ojars and we were great friends back then. Upon graduation in 1964, we went our separate ways and never made contact again. It’s simply amazing to me how strong my memory of him still is even after 48+ years. It’s a real testament to his personality and character. He’s the one person I always wished would show up at high school reunions. My condolences to his immediate family. Heaven is the real beneficiary of our loss.
I will never forget the first day of middle school history when we all sat in our desks and Mr. Vidas sat silently staring back at us for five minutes and then yelled out ‘RIGHTS!!!’ and proceeded to teach from there. I still to this day (8 years later) use the bubble method and the sq3r method that he taught us. What an amazing life that impacted so many others. He will be missed.
Christie Spencer
Mr Vidas is one of the most inspirational teachers I have ever had. I will never forget our trip to Washington DC in 8th grade. I was lucky enough to have Mr. Vidas as my chaperon. I will always remember that my excitement and curiosity for visiting the capital was matched (if not exceeded) by Mr Vidas, and this was not his first time there by any means. Visiting the Vietnam memorial with him and that was an incredibly moving experience even though at the time I did not know he was a veteran. His ‘no short cuts attitude’ was captured in the lines that every student of his will remember: ‘Practice makes permanent, only perfect practice makes perfect.’ Thank you for being such an inspiration to me.
~Will Spencer
Mr. Vidas. I was his student of his. Thinking of him then and reflecting on those thoughts and feelings now as an adult brings forward feelings of great respect. He had my attention and I wanted to do well in his class. His expectations of his students came from the high standards he believed we were all capable of , and that he clearly held himself to. He was a special man. Reading about him in the obituaries today was upsetting. My deepest sympathies go out to his wife, children, family and friends. His obituary is beautifully written, with an energy that can only come from great love. Thank you, Mr. Vidas for the solid support, care and character you shared with your students and all you knew.
My thoughts and prayers are with you all at this hard time. I know that the wonderful memories you have will long live in your hearts and words.
One of the greatest teachers, ever. I will never forget Mr. Vidas.
Mr.Vidas. I was another student of his in 8th grade and one teacher I will NEVER forget for all the right reasons. I learned though my high school peers within HOURS that he had passed. It was all over Facebook. That just tells you how many peoples lives he affected. From the 1st day of class when he just stared at us for minutes until he yelled out ‘RIGHTS!’, then proceeded to teach like nothing happened, I knew he was a unique teacher. I was the normal teenager who wasn’t very interested in school but Mr.Vidas was one teacher who made you interested in not only what he was teaching, but what he was saying. I believed every word this man said. The one quote I remember specifically is ‘Your rights end,when anothers begin’. That has stuck with me through the years. Many times he would teach the class things that were not even involving social studies and I can remember many times laughing in class because he was an naturally funny guy. Never met a peer who didn’t love the guy. Did not even know he was a veteran as he would never speak of it even though it was at times very relevant in teachings or could have been great to use in examples. I’ve always respected this man and I believe every teacher or person in general could have learned a thing or two just by coming in contact with him. I still remember the class like it was yesterday even though it has now been 10 years. Hard to believe. You will be missed by many. R.I.P.
-Nick Pietropaolo
I learned so much from ‘OJ’ Mr. Vidas both as a student and later on working with him as a teacher aide. He will be missed and always remembered. I will also remember the Model UN trips he went to. My thoughts and prayers are with his family I would of been there in person to say this but I had to work Friday afternoon and evening and could not make it also to the funeral. May God Bless you all we will always remember him and thank him for what he taught and made us laugh also
Mr Vidas was a fantastic teacher. He always taught with enthusiasm and joy; and made learning fun. I am so sorry for your loss. We are all so lucky to have been blessed with this man in our lives. I wish I had heard about his passing sooner; I would have loved to pay my respects at his funeral. Please take care of yourselves; my thoughts are with you <3
Mr. Vidas was one of the rare teachers who didn’t just teach, he made you think. His words have stayed with me every day: Practice makes permanent. I feel so lucky to have been in his class. His lessons will stay with me forever.
To OJ’s family: We traveled to India together in 1978 as part of a Rotary GSE Team and shared 7 weeks of time together learning about India and It’s culture but also about each other. There were 6 of us including our Team Leader Bill Cadwallader. It was one of the most enjoyable experiences of my life and I’ll never forget any of the Team particularly OJ.
One of the most memorable things I remember was not in India but at LaGuardia Airport in New York on our way home. On our taxi ride from Kennedy Airport to LaGuardia, I inadvertently left gifts for my family in the taxi and discovered it when the plane was scheduled to leave in 10 minutes. I had to make an effort to recover the gifts even though the cab driver had left the area. As the plane and the Team were preparing to leave, OJ decided to stay with me and help search for the gifts. We knew this would not turn out well but it had to be done. Knowing that there are hundreds of thousands of taxi’s in New York, our chances were minimal in locating the taxi or gifts, but we went running outside and banged on the windows of each one we saw. Unfortunately, none of them were the one we had been in.
Returning to the terminal exhausted, we checked with a receptionist who said that a cab driver had returned to the terminal and left gifts that belonged to a couple of passengers he had about 15 minutes ago. She showed us what was returned and they indeed were my gifts. (what a miracle). OJ and I missed the flight the rest of the Team was on (we watched it moving to the departing runway) and caught a later flight, safely landing in Binghamton where other Team members and families waited for us.
After being together in India for 7 weeks, this event, more than any other, showed the character of OJ, his commitment to others, and his strong tenacity to help others no matter the situation. We know his family will miss him and Kitty and I will miss him too. To OJ: God’s speed on your way home.