Nick Fiehn

Nick Fiehn age 85, passed away on September 18, 2020. Nick was devoted to his family and a hard worker. He enjoyed playing tennis and golf, boating, challenging his granddaughters in cards, and working outdoors. He was a member of the Our Lady of the Victory Church and The German Family Society. He was employed for 30 years at McNeil, followed by 19 years at the Esterle Mold and Machine Company.

He was preceded in death by parents, Joseph and Rosina; brothers, Joseph and John; nephews, Frank and Richard Fiehn.

He is survived by his wife, Beverly of 62 years; son, Robert (Justine) Fiehn; daughter, Debi (Bryan) Griffin; granddaughters, Megan and Amanda Griffin; sisters-in-law, Elizabeth and Mary Fiehn; brother-in-law, Richard Segesman; nephews, John (Flo) and Michael Fiehn; and niece, Ellie (Kevin) Carris.

A Memorial Mass for family and close friends will be held Monday, September 28

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at 11:00am at Our Lady of Victory Church in Tallmadge (masks required). A gathering to celebrate Nick’s life will be held at a future date. In lieu of flowers, donations in Nick’s memory may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association at act.alz.org.

Words that describe Nick

Perseverance –

Nick spent his early years in Yugoslavia and Austria. He and his family had to relocate several times during WWII due to the Russian armies overrunning different parts of their country.

These times were very trying on his family to the point where they once spent 56 days traveling by horse and wagon, only taking things they could carry and surviving on the land.

After the war it took several years, for he and his family, to all find each other.

His father returned from a British prisoner of war camp, his brother Joe survived a Russian labor camp and his other brother John made his way back to rescue Nick and his mother who were shuttled between Russian internment camps and farms in Austria where they worked to provide themselves with enough food to allow them to survive.

In 1951, Nick and his family desired to locate to a safe place where they could settle and build a future, so they immigrated to America when he was 16 years old.

Nick believed that when you go thru difficult times growing up it can help you appreciate things in life. Difficult times help you focus on what it takes to make sure you and your family do not have to struggle later in life – these were lifelong lessons that helped mold him and his family.

No Excuses/ Hardworking –

He and his family came to this land of opportunity with basically nothing in their pockets. They were sent to a farm in Tennessee and had to work as farm labor for a few months until they were able to contact a cousin who helped get them to the Akron area.

He did not complain that he could not speak English, did not know the American culture and did not have a formal education but rather he knew if you wanted to make something of yourself in America you can do that by going to work and working hard.

He and his brothers all took the same lessons to heart and they went to work.

He joined the National Guard – he had had enough of war after experiencing some extremely difficult times but in life sometimes you do things you do not want to do in order to get where you want to go.

Nick was employed for 30 years at McNeil, starting as a machinist, and over the years was promoted into a management role. He left McNeil to further his career in management at the Esterle Mold and Machine Company where he took great pride in his work and loved interacting with his team until he retired.

Family Man/ Devoted –

Nick was a family man – he was devoted to his wife Beverly (they would have celebrated 62 years of marriage last week).

They met while they were both very young – his English was not the best, but it was good enough to win her heart.

They used to go dancing every Friday night with their friends and family and enjoyed socializing at the German American Club. He loved his polkas!

He was a wonderful, caring father to his children Bob and Debi and loved his granddaughters, Megan and Amanda.

Nick enjoyed boating and snow skiing while the kids were growing up. He wanted to make sure the family could share quality time together and ensure they had good memories about their childhood. This was important to him since his childhood had some challenging times.

The family enjoyed annual vacations to Lake Cumberland, weekend ski trips, and spring breaks in Florida

In retirement, he and Beverly spent winters in Florida

He enjoyed playing golf and tennis with his family and friends. We all looked forward to our annual Father’s Day golf outing.

He loved spending time with his granddaughters. On our many family trips, Nick was always the one to get the kids into the water, loved jumping in the waves and riding boogie boards with the girls, and usually was the last one out of the water. He and Beverly spent many hours playing cards and games with the girls.

Nick was not one to sit on the couch. He always was ready to help family and friends with any projects or work that needed to be done. He loved to build things, from home construction to log splitters, and he could fix almost anything.

He loved to work outside; the family joked that dad was happiest if you gave him a “shovel”.

He enjoyed gardening, canning his homegrown vegetables, and making homemade Hungarian sausage.

Nick will be dearly missed. We loved him very much, and hope he will be looking down on us and continue to help guide us.