Nickolas "Nick" Contri | 2021 | Obituary

Nickolas "Nick" Contri

May 8, 2021

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U.S. Veteran

Nickolas “Nick” Contri, Highland, IN passed away on Saturday, May 8, 2021.  He was preceded in death by his parents Millicent and Hugo Contri.  Nick is survived by his wife Susan, children Christina Contri (Dan Nelson), Dawn Bell, Todd (Cassandra) Sanders and Ami Sell; grandchildren Indigo Nelson, Wally Sell, Joshua, Tiffany and Stephanie Sanders; sister, Theodora “Teddy” (Ron) Thompson, Oceanside, California; brother Dr. Victor (Sue) Contri; and nieces and nephews Vic, Karin, Willie, Michael and Carolyn Contri (Doyle Martin) Michigan City, IN.

On February 16, 1994, he married Susan.  Second marriages for both they combined their children into one family. 

Nick was born in East Chicago and raised in Merrillville. He was a 1969 graduate of Merrillville High School, a veteran of the Air Force, a Millwright at Bethlehem Steel and ending his work-life experience as a commercial refrigeration, heating and air conditioning tech.

Most important about Nick’s life was he was loving, caring and extremely talented in taking discarded material and making unique art work.  That all ended in 2003 when Nick fell 25’ off a roof while finishing up his workday.

Nick had a traumatic brain injury.  His personality was affected as well as his talent.  After a hospitalization of four months, he came home to a loving wife who accepted his changed personality. 

Prior to his injury there were metal sculptures, poetry and beautiful pictures making their home in Griffith eclectic. There was always something unique from his work and most of the time with a story behind it.

A mobile made from an old chicken broaster hung from the ceiling, a zebra made from a discarded radiator in the back yard sitting next to metal cattails. He made beautiful perfectly tuned windchimes because Susan loved the sound. Everything he did was to please his wife and family, always putting his love for Susan and family above himself. 

When Nick and Susan started dating, they were walking on a beach in Gary and collecting shells and stones they came across.  Susan put her find in her right pocket and Nick asked her to put his in her left pocket.  When they were ready to leave the beach and Susan’s shorts were loaded down with all these treasures, they decided to each sift thru what they had found and each pick out only one to keep.  They noticed something strange. Out of the many, many miscellaneous stones and shells they found that day, the two they each chose fit perfectly together.

There were a lot of hard times since 2003, but they stayed together because the love was there.

Nick was a loving husband, a devoted father, brother and son; a man who accepted his step-children as his own; a quirky, crazy uncle to his nieces and nephews, and an inimitable grandfather.

Friends may visit with the family on Friday May 14, 2021, between 4:00 and 8:00 p.m. at the SOLAN-PRUZIN FUNERAL HOME, 14 Kennedy Avenue Schererville, IN.  In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Camp Quality of Illinois or the Munster Humane Society.

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