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Evan Matthew Meisler Memorial Fund

A personal campaign sponsored by The Meisler and Gordon Families

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Evan Matthew Meisler was born on February 25, 1991 in NYC. There were four seasons on that day. Summery sunshine, cool Autumn-like breezes, and a flurry of snow came as spring was in our steps. Proud parents Helene and Mitchell chose all of Evan’s Aunts and Uncles to be his Godparents. Evan was a blessing.

Evan grew up in Park Slope, Brooklyn. As a child, he loved his Lego creations, toy car collection, playing with friends and his cat Harry. School did not come easy to him, but that didn’t stop Evan from pushing, asking for help, finding mentors and working  hard. Evan attended PS321until he was diagnosed with ADHD.  After which,  he attended two schools for students with learning disabilities, Mary McDowell Friends School and Winston Preparatory School. During his second year in High School, Evan mainstreamed himself into the Institute for Collaborative Education in NYC. During his time at ICE, he was surrounded by great friends and supportive teachers. He went on to college at Virginia Tech, making Dean’s list again and again, and graduated with a major in Accounting. While at Virginia Tech, Evan volunteered, year after year, to help incoming freshmen acclimate to college; he wanted everyone to feel welcome and included in the Hokie Nation.

Evan’s motto was “Family First”. When his parents found new life partners, Evan was the glue, the honey that forged real friendships between his two sets of parents. There were no “step” parents or "half brothers" in Evan’s eye and heart. Family was family. When his parents moved up to Woodstock, NY, he considered Woodstock his home. Evan was totally devoted to his younger brothers, Alex and Daniel, and loved arriving home to spend hours playing Monopoly with them, or watching South Park or silly, inappropriate movies. He affectionately nicknamed them his "little angel buttercups", or "buckos". He sometimes spoke very bluntly and would say things like, "be a useful human, get off your butt and do something". Upon being on his own and learning some cooking skills, he'd love to come home and cook us breakfast (egg, onion, tomato, ham and cheese omelet), make his brothers a special dinner or bake pizza from scratch with them - the bigger the mess, the better!

When Evan first went away to college, his dad was diagnosed with cancer, so it meant less visits from his family...so Evan came home more often instead. Evan was very close to both his parents. He called his mom and dad frequently asking for guidance when in need of support, looking for an opinion or just to say hi. His cousins were also his friends, Evan would literally drive in a snow storm 12 hours to come to his 4th cousin’s Bat Mitzvah. Or ride up from Virginia to New York to attend a family wedding, family Reunion, a Great Aunt’s funeral, the holidays and birthday celebrations; life events large and small were all important to him. Family vacation time was also important to him. Fun times were had with his mom, stepdad, aunts, uncles and cousins to places like Mexico. He would also vacation with his dad, stepmom, grandparents and brothers in Florida, Colorado, Cape Cod, and Seabrook Island. We fondly remember him, helping to hold up the Snoopy Balloon, with his cousins and friends, during the NYC Thanksgiving day Parade! Evan loved spending time with his family pets: Harry, Heidi, Hunter, Sasha and Maverick!

Honesty, loyalty and being a person you could count on were part of Evan’s character. His VT Hokie community became his family away from home. He was a real friend in good times and bad; the person a friend or colleague could count on, to be there to give a hand, help them move, study, have a shoulder to cry on, and enjoy life. Evan befriended people of diverse ages and backgrounds. He was often considered the center of his large network of friends, the kind of person who would cook dinner for "Friendsgiving", organize parties, enjoy watching TV or convincing friends that they could do the Insanity Workout together. He got his friends to climb a mountain in the dark to see the sun rise from the top and another time, to race down a mountain, before dusk, to make it to the bar on time. He orchestrated a friend's wedding proposal, in NYC, on the ice rink at Rockefeller Plaza. Evan's friends warmed our hearts by sharing stories and special times for over three hours at his memorial in Virginia. We saw our son through their eyes, and that was a special gift.

When Evan met Pia in 2013, he found the love of his life, and wanted family, friends and the world to know it. Pia and Evan had a very supportive, loving relationship. They began planning and building their future together. Evan would bring Pia to our family weddings, proudly introducing her as his girlfriend. They would come to Woodstock and Brooklyn during school breaks; we loved watching them as a couple. Pia became part of our extended family.

Evan’s work ethic was phenomenal. During high school, he worked on weekends and on summer break, as a babysitter, busboy, waiter, and camp counselor. During college breaks, he worked as an office helper, meat store assistant, in the college cafeteria, as a financial institution intern, and an accountant intern. He also, took an auto mechanics class, and loved working on cars, and would teach his friends to do the same (especially change their oil). He loved sharing what he knew with others. After graduating from college, he worked at an accounting firm, as a restaurant manager, and at a cleaning supply company. Evan enjoyed learning new things and took all his jobs very seriously. The stress of not being able to find the right career, and keep a job long term, ultimately might have led him to decide to take his own life.

Evan’s joy and love of life was altered by the onset of clinical depression, and an anxiety/stress disorder, that would come in waves, sometimes hurricanes. Evan acknowledged that he needed help and tried to get help many times. On September 24, 2015, an emotional Tsunami swept over Evan. The world lost a wonderful human being; a beautiful life full of warmth and possibilities was cut short by a devastating illness.

We hope you will contribute what you can to help prevent suicide and assist their survivors by donating to the Evan Matthew Meisler Memorial Fund. Evan would want us to pay it forward.

We are so proud of Evan's accomplishments; he touched many lives, he was loved and will be missed.

May Evan’s life and memory be a blessing upon all those who he touched.