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On the road to graduation, Vestaburg High School senior Brody Gondek has overcome the death of his father, homelessness and a learning disability. – DN Photo | Tim McAllister
RICHLAND TOWNSHIP – At just 18 years old, Vestaburg High School senior Brody Gondek has already overcome a lifetime’s worth of trauma, including the death of a parent, homelessness and a learning disability.
“It’s been inspiring to witness Brody’s journey through high school,” Vestaburg High School Principal Kristine Lance said. “He’s faced some really tough situations, like his dad’s long illness and his passing so close to graduation, and times when he didn’t even have a stable place to live.”
Brody’s father, Roger Gondek, died this past April 18 from diabetes. He was 56 years old.
“My dad lost his dad when he was younger too,” Brody said. “The diabetes first started in his toe, then went up to his leg. He got his leg chopped off, and from there on it just kept getting worse.”
School administrators and Brody’s mother, Christina Gondek, a manager at Walmart, arranged for Brody’s own private bedside graduation ceremony with Roger just before Roger passed away.
Vestaburg High School senior Brody Gondek at a football game last year with his mother Christina Gondek and father Roger Gondek, who recently died from diabetes at age 56. – Submitted photo
“My dad was very happy to see me graduate,” Brody said. “I didn’t know that was happening until my mom called me up and said that they were going to do, like, a graduation so your old man can see you graduate before he goes. It was kind of hard seeing him like that.”
Brody recalled his father as “a good guy” who would “drop everything in a heartbeat to help somebody.”
“Everything he did was about people,” he said. “Like one time, back in third or fourth grade, my buddy’s dad’s truck wouldn’t start up after practice, and it was cold as heck out. My dad just told my buddy to come hop in his truck and sit with me, and he helped the dad start up the truck.”
In another memorable incident, Brody recalled his father forging a special bond with a chicken after saving its life.
“What did we like to do together? Well, normally we would argue, but I also used to like to build stuff with him, chicken coops and stuff like that,” he said. “We raised chickens a lot, so we had to have good chicken coops. One time he saved a chicken’s life. I remember that like it was yesterday. After it fell into a puddle of water and drowned itself, he ran outside, gathered that chicken, warmed it up, gave it mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and brought it back to life.
“He named it Roger Junior, and that chicken walked next to him until the day it died.”
During his self-described “menace” years, Vestaburg High School senior Brody Gondek celebrates his birthday with his sister Iliana and father Roger Gondek, who recently passed away from diabetes at age 56. – Submitted photo
Brody was homeless for much of his junior and senior year.
‘Hopping from friend to friend is tough,” he said. “Now I’m staying out at my buddy’s house, and have been for the longest time.”
Brody described himself in early childhood as “a menace” who even made a teacher cry once. He still feels bad about that and wants to retroactively apologize to Mrs. Kilma in this article.
“When you’re little you don’t know any better, you just talk back, but I yelled at her,” he recalled. “Sometimes teachers probably deserve that, but I don’t think she did. She was actually a nice teacher, and I’m still sorry about that. I should have apologized to her that day, but I never did.”
Once he began high school, Brody began enjoying gym and math classes, but he did not thrive in language arts.
“Ninth and 10th grade were hard, I didn’t do very well and I started to fall behind,” he said. “Math comes easy for me, I’m good with numbers, and I enjoyed gym class, but I struggle with reading and writing because I’m a little dyslexic, so that can be tough. Sometimes when I look at a book for a long time the text starts moving, or sometimes I read stuff backwards.
“As a junior I decided to get my mindset right, focus on my grades and make sure that I wasn’t just doing the bare minimum,” he said.
Brody’s efforts paid off; he is set to graduate this Sunday along with the rest of the Class of 2025.
Lance said Brody has been through so much, but what really stands out to her is how he’s handled the many difficulties life has thrown his way.
“He almost always has a smile, and it feels like these challenges have actually helped him grow into a really thoughtful young man, rather than holding him back,” she said.
Because of an injury, Brody played on the Vestaburg football team for three of his high school years instead of all four.
“I played linebacker and running back, but I couldn’t play football during my junior year because I broke my wrist falling off a four-wheeler,” he said. “It took longer to heal because I’ve broken my wrist multiple times before. I’m so clumsy, man! But I wanted to play in my senior year, and I was good and careful so I could play.”
After graduation, Brody intends to enlist in the National Guard.
“I want to go see the world, so I’ll put my 20 years in,” Brody said. “I want to just have enough money so that I can do stuff.”
Vestaburg Athletic Director/Dean of Students Ty Warczinsky said Brody has always been one of his favorite students.
“He has an amazing heart,” Warczinsky said. “While he can be as stubborn as a mule, when he opens up and allows others to see who he really is, it’s a gift that many get to experience.
“My hope for Brody is that he continues to grow into the man I know he can be: fun, loving and caring,” he added. “He has the potential to be truly special. I feel privileged to know his story, and if you knew every aspect of it, you would love him even more.”
Class of 2025
This is the third in a series of stories by the Daily News about some of our local outstanding and unique graduating high school seniors and their future plans.
TODAY: Vestaburg High School senior Brody Gondek
