I didn’t know what to think as Taylor and I walked to where Mr. Ray Mertz stood in the cafeteria. I knew very little about Theofano Nigiannis, or Fanie, as many called her. I knew that she worked to keep Palm Harbor University clean.
And that she passed away on December 31, New Year’s Eve.
Walking up to the bustling man, I braced myself for a possible rejection – even tears – before clearing my throat and asking if he was Mr. Ray Mertz. Turning around, the man shot us a cheerful smile.
“Whatever happened, it wasn’t my fault. I’m innocent,” said Mertz.
Laughing a bit, I told him that I came to interview him about Fanie, and his cheery smile slipped into a fond one.
“Alright,” said Mertz.
In a split second, all my interview questions disappeared from my head. So, I asked the first question that came to mind: what was Fanie like?
“Outstanding, excellent,” he said. “She was a very faithful friend and very faithful to the students.”
I asked him how long he known Fanie.
“I’ve known her since, well,” and here he paused to think. He mentioned working with her at Palm Harbor Middle, but stopped. Mertz then said that he and Fanie had worked together since the opening of this school in 1996.
Caught off guard byhow long they actually worked together, I smiled softly. A twinge of pain went off in my chest when I realized how hard this must be for him, having been friends with Fanie for this long.
I asked what the funniest moment they ever had together was. Another fond smile crossed his face as he tried to think of one to share. After a while, I was afraid that he might not have any or that most were too personal; instead I joked that they must have had many adult jokes then. He laughed a bit and joked that some were. He then told me that they used to play jokes on each other.
“It’s just hard, we had so many,” he said. He laughed a little and started telling us about this one joke he played on her.
He said that one time while fixing something in one of the buildings, he pretended that the room was haunted. He would make this voice and say that the room was haunted and he was a ghost. He told us that she turned to him and said “Let’s get out of here!” When he said Fanie’s part he took on this funny accent and I couldn’t help but laugh.
A comfortable silence fell over him for a little while; I could see that his eyes were tearing up.
“Fanie was a very spiritual person; her friends, family, were important to her,” he said softly. “As a friend and co-worker, you can’t replace her.”
I felt a stab of pain go through my chest. I couldn’t possibly imagine what he and the other friends and co-workers are going through, the pain. I looked down, hesitating before asking him the next question: when was she diagnosed with cancer?
“About eight months ago, but Fanie was never the type to tell you what bothered her,” he said, smiling sadly but fondly. “When she came back two months ago, she was weak and almost always falling, but for two weeks she came and cleaned the courtyard.”
He shook his head slightly. All I could do was compliment on her strength, while inside I felt the greatest respect for Fanie, for her strength, for who she was. We talked for little while longer, about when she got her U.S. citizenship in 1999 to her two sons she adored and the kids’ lives she touched.
We both knew the interview was coming to a close. I knew he had to go back to work just as I had to write this story. And soon Taylor and I left, leaving the cafeteria and Mr. Ray Mertz behind. Yet his words followed me.
I could imagine a caring woman with a special heart for students, a great friend having fun with her friends, a hard worker, a loving mother and overall a special person. But I thought about those who did know her as a caring woman, as a wonderful friend, as a hard worker, and as a loving mother; I can’t begin to imagine what they feel, and it leaves me speechless.
“You take your best friend and multiply that by a million, and you get Fanie,” Mertz said.
Funeral services for Fanie Nigiannis will be Saturday, January 8, 10:00 a.m. Saints Raphael, Nicholas and Irene Hellenic Orthodox Church, 1010 Riviere Road, Palm Harbor, FL.