Aug 19, 2007

Friends remember teen killed in accident

Los Gatos High graduate died in Summit Road car crash

By Cyrus Hedayati / MediaNews

Nate Mlyniec's memorial service in Vasona Park this week was much like his life: full of food, friends and laughter, and it ended too soon.

For two hours Tuesday, family and friends shared stories of the 18-year-old Los Gatos High School graduate who recently died in a car accident on Summit Road. When the park closed, the service continued on into the night elsewhere.

"It wasn't a funeral type memorial, which is something you would have dreaded. It was out in the wilderness, which I know he would have loved," Nicole Hughett said. "There was a lot of laughter, because he was a funny guy."

Since then, Mlyniec's friends have continued to talk about him and his many sides: a budding chef with a taste for the exotic, a prankster who could enliven any situation and a steadfast believer in the goodness of the people around him. He felt that life ought to be lived in the moment, and he led by example.

"He lived like he knew he was going to die young," John Forbes said. "I think he really enjoyed every moment of his life."

Kyle Goodison went backpacking with Mlyniec a few weeks before his death. He remembers the 18-year-old showing a remarkable understanding for what he wanted out of life.

"We talked a lot about life and life issues and about how people's real concerns, at the end of the day, have to be happiness and how much love you have," Goodison said. "Just the turnout for his service at the park, it was great to see because he had a lot of love."

Intensely studious yet laid-back and humorous, Mlyniec worked hard to achieve balance in his life. He had set his sights on becoming a chef and was on his way to studying the culinary sciences at UC-Davis.

Mlyniec took many opportunities to cook for his friends, making them butternut squash soup, lemon tarts and even creme brulee. Chris Maddox remembers walking into Mlyniec's room a few weeks ago and seeing endless stacks of cookbooks, each full of bookmarks.

"Nate was more motivated than anyone else we knew. Not only was he motivated, he was on his way to achieving what he wanted," Maddox said. "Out of everyone I know, he was the most likely to succeed at anything he tried."

Mlyniec's enthusiasm for food helped get him a job at Manresa restaurant in Los Gatos.

After finishing a meal there, he peered into the kitchen to watch the chefs at work, and caught the head chef's attention.

After two minutes of talking, Mlyniec had a job in food preparation at Manresa.

"(Nate) just talked to him for two minutes, and he was so nice and excited, especially about food; he really knew what he was talking about," Maddox said.

As a food lover, he championed exotic restaurants and made a habit of ordering the most unusual dish on the menu.

"Whenever we'd go out to eat, I would just let him go in front of me, and we'd get two of whatever he ordered," Scott Szyjewicz said.

Mlyniec had a similar appreciation for underground bands and offbeat movies. He was always recommending movies to his friends, and set up a subscription to the online music service, Rhapsody, just for his friends to use.

"He was always trying to introduce new stuff to people," said Szyjewicz, who played in a band with Mlyniec - Stranger and the Acquaintances. "I have a mix in the car and half of the stuff on it is bands he introduced me to."

But Mlyniec tempered his love for everything unique and interesting with a loyal devotion to his friends and family. Even as he worked and studied for his many Advanced Placement classes, he made time to help his grandmother move out of her house in Bakersfield, Maddox said.

"He was always looking out for our group of friends. Whenever anyone needed someone to talk to, Nate was always there to talk," he said.

A relentless optimist, Mlyniec expected the best from his friends and family and almost always thought of them before himself, they said.

"When he was 7 or 8, and I guess he was talking to his mom about religion," said Faryl Hoang. "He asked if there was a religion that believed in people. And I think that sums him up because he had this unwavering faith in the people he knew."

Hoang also remembers Mlyniec as someone who fervently believed in fun for fun's sake. The night he died, they drove around looking for random items at various Walgreens, and still managed to have a blast, she said.

"He always knew how to have a good time without poking fun at people," Hoang said. But the most enduring side of Mlyniec seemed to be the guy with a smile on his face that wished everyone else could do the same.

"He enriched the lives of everybody around him," Scott Goodman said. "He had a taste for the obscure, and he would bring all these non-mainstream things into the lives of his friends, whether it was off-beat movies or exotic foods or just lots of different types of music."