St. Jude Half-Marathon for Tony Oliveira
Memphis...., Elvis, BBQ, rock n' roll, BB King, Stax Records, the Civil Rights museum, cotton, the Blues, the Grizzlies, and of course your the Memphis Tigers. All of these things are great; they help make the Bluff City awesome. But the thing that is the heart of Memphis, St. Jude Children's Hospital.
I've lived in downtown Memphis for almost 1o years. I have driven by it countless number of times. I still remember my first visit. It kicks you in the gut and then fills your heart. The place rocks. The kids have more courage in the little pinky finger than I'll ever have.
I was always impressed by the place but it never meant as much to me until my first year teaching at SBA, (St. Benedict at Auburndale). Before I ever taught a class there I found out that one of the students in my 12th grade religion class had been diagnosed with cancer. The class with Social Justice and Death & Dying. In addition I found out that the young man was supposed to play baseball for me in the spring (He did!). What the heck I am supposed to do with that information.
I meet the kid, his name is Tony Oliveira. I find out that he fought and beat cancer in his 8th grade year. Fighting cancer in your 8th and 12th grade years is not fair, not fair at all. Over the course of the next few weeks I'll be telling some stories.
How his buddies all shaved their heads when he was going through chemo.
The ridiculous and fantastic end of the day class we called religion with those seniors.
His return to the team in spring.
The Oktoberfest Brat cooking contest victory.., ok only a little of that one.
Tony fought cancer numerous more times.., he never let it win. Cancer may have taken his body here on earth but it NEVER beat his spirit. That young man lived more in thirty years than most people live in a lifetime.
So what possess me to run a half marathon? It comes down to this, if Tony and thousands of kids and people like him can battler cancer than I can put down my beer and sandwiches a run a few miles.
I've been training since the summer. I'm putting in the miles. I won't win the race but that's not the point. I'm going to try and fight my way through it. The victory is in the battle not the outcome.
A story about Tony
Tony's Obituary
Here is his obit.
A typical teen, chef Tony Oliveira would bum a few dollars from his father, Cody, here and there. But not for bars or new clothes -- he wanted a fine dining experience.
An athlete, outdoorsman, accomplished chef, husband and son, Mr. Oliveira lived every day like a treasured gift, friends and family members say.
He died Thursday evening after a 16-year battle with cancer. He was 29.
"Tony was a fun kid, watching competitive cooking shows and telling the chefs on TV what they were doing wrong," his father said. "He never once asked to go to Chuck E. Cheese's."
As a boy, he won regional and national cooking awards, entering under the names of family friends to bypass the age restrictions. He was an athlete training for triathlons.
At 13, his story changed.
For years, doctors helped him fight lymphoma and osteosarcoma, later taking tumors from his brain and lungs. They removed the majority of his spleen. Surgeries followed chemotherapy and convalescence. Through it all, he excelled.
Two years into a University of Tennessee-Martin education and baseball scholarship, he left for Louisiana's Nicholls State University and the John Folse Culinary Institute.
His talent wooed his colleagues; his charm wooed the gifted and ambitious pastry chef Brandi Hannon. The two cultivated a passionate rivalry and were married last March.
"They were a great team, always trying to outdo each other," his father said. "He'd create a magnificent, four-course meal and she'd dazzle you with dessert."
Mr. Oliveira went on to earn a scholarship at the prestigious Institut Paul Bocuse in Lyon, France, and worked as a sous chef at La Tour in Vail, Colo., quickly moving up to chef de cuisine. In Memphis, he helped a dear friend establish Restaurant Iris at 2146 Monroe as a premier New Orleans-inspired eatery.
"My son had a pretty bright future," Cody said. "He accomplished most of his goals, lived the way he wanted. He just ran out of time."
Mr. Oliveira, husband of Brandi Oliveira, also leaves his parents, Cody and Linda Oliveira of Memphis; sister, Christin Anne and her husband Capt. Russell Streif, of Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.; and two godsons, Jackson Graham Streif and Anthony Marshall Streif.
The funeral will be Monday at 1 p.m. at Holy Rosary Catholic Church on Park Avenue with burial services to follow. Memorial Park Funeral Home and Cemetery has charge.
The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Tony Oliveira Scholarship Fund at St. Benedict at Auburndale High School or to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital.
If you could donate a few bucks to St. Jude it would go a long way.
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