In Memory of Nemanja Petrovic

I learned this week about the death of my friend, Nemanja Petrovic. Nemi had become part of our family when he came to the US as a high school exchange student 17 years ago. At almost 7 feet tall, you couldn't miss him. He had come here to escape the civil war in Yugoslavia and play Division I basketball. He intially played at U of Maryland, see his stats page, but played most of his career at St. Joe's in Philadelphia. He was the team's rebound leader when the team went to the NCAA Sweet 16 and the recipient of numerous awards and academic honors. Most of all, Nemanja was a giant mentsch.

Nemanja lived with Elizabeth's aunt Pat and uncle Marc in the Philly suburbs before they ever had children. When they adopted Melissa, Nemi was there from the first day and has been her big brother ever since. Because of the war in Yugoslavia, Nemi didn't have much opportunity to go home or visit his family for long stretches. He was with us for all holidays and family occasions. He was part of our wedding party in 1995 and like a cousin in every way. When his brother, Darko, moved to the US shortly after him, we had our own family version of the "wild and crazy guys."

Nemanja was 34 years old. He is survived by his brother Darko and sister-in-law Clementina, his parents, Rada and Golub, his sister Melissa, and all the members of the Davis and Siegle families who had "adopted" him in the US.

I don't believe there are theological lessons to learn from Nemanja's death. I don't believe things like this happen for a reason - certainly no divine or religious reasons. I do believe simply that we can find meaning in the things that happen and the relationships that we build in our lives. Nemanja overcame obstacles and made lemons out of lemonade. Injuries kept him from reaching the heights that recruiters held out for him as a high school student, but he took the opportunity to learn as much as he could, to meet everyone he could, to play as hard as he could, and that always brought him success. Nemanja was a great brother and a great friend. From him, we learn what it means to grow close to people, support them, work with them, and grow with them. There's too much to say about a guy like Nemi. He lived a short 34 years but gave all of us who knew him a lifetime of inspiration. We miss him every day.

See Darko and Nemanja's page from GL Trade.

Read more about Nemi (obit published by the A10 Athletic Conference and this obit by St. Joe's).