Franz (LetItRev)... One Year Later

[Sid Vanderpool]

Today is the one year aniversary of the passing of Franz Siefert (LetItRev) one of the most well respected Mobile DJs in the country. I have compiled this last year into this post to give you some insight into the happenings over the last year. This is a long post...

Part One

During August of last year dozens of memories came flashing back to me during the flight from Salt Lake City to Philly. Memories of a man that would give the shirt off his back to help out a fellow DJ, firefighter, radio geek, car club enthusiast or almost anyone.

Franz rode shotgun for the 2005 Paige and I at the 2005 DJ Expo in Atlantic City New Jersey. It was his first time flying across the country and really anywhere. He made the comment, "I just don't fly!" But when we convinced him it was better than a week-long drive he gave in and took a plane. At the hotel we surprised him with the fact he was getting to stay in the hospitality suite which was huge. Think about it, your first trip on a plane AND you get to stay in a suite that normally was reserved for the Miss USA pagent. During the show he covered everything from DJNN to our famous Prize Patrol all savoring the down time we had in the evenings.

For years now our group had always had pizza at this one place on the boardwalk and now Franz was with us we wanted him to join the tradition. One of those nights we hooked up with DJ Salt and rode down to the boardwalk for dinner. On the drive down Franz gave us a dissertation on how dangerous it was to be riding in the back of a cargo van without seats or seat belts. The look on his face as we took the corners was priceless. We really never thought about it at the time but we all ate pizza and then for some reason Franz felt a little ill. This was something completely out of character for him and could have been a sign of things to come. We gave him some time to catch his thoughts and we then strode down the walk not really dwelling on it.

Last year Paige and I got to stay in the suite and there was a strange feeling about the show that we could never really get out of our minds. Every time we would turn a corner we expected to see Franz there, with every elevator door opening and every time we walked into the suite. He was not there. Now where was this guy that made such an impact in the 4 short days he attended the show. The hilarity of comments like, "boobies!" was not heard 10 steps after we pasted a cute girl with nice... He added a new take on the Expo, a new vision and a new way to look at things. This had all faded away. When we walked the boardwalk we avoided our old pizza haunt and chose to try something new.

In January Franz normally drives in to assist me with the NAMM show. This was one of his favorites. He loved discovering new gear and listening to the various artists. This year he would have loved it even better since I was invited to a private concert that included some wonderful top name entertainers. Even though I had some great help that the show that little mix of humor, sensibility and chauvinism just was not there. I used to ask Franz every morning what shirt matched what, unknown to me at the time he was completely color-blind. (I found that out after he passed.) He never let on and just pointed out and guessed at what went together. Luckily for me I didn't have anything too far out there colorwise.

This year the cheerleader for great restaurants was gone. Franz could never settle on an Applebees or BucaDeBeppo it had to be something more upscale. "I can get that at home, let's do a nice place." Talk about straining the budget. This year his words rang in my ears, but we settled mostly for quick food, no big meals and yes something I could get in my home town.

During the NAMM show there was no one dragging me to get their picture with a cute girl or begging me to sit and listen to the Eagles on a $100k hi-def audio system. It was almost mundane the way the week went. If it was not for Bill Lovelace and a few of my other friends that came in to help I would have been lost almost.

Moving up to Vegas last year. This was Franz's last airplane ride. He was amazed. Even though he owned a car that could do 125 mph the plane still got him from Reno to Vegas faster. LOL During the show he confided in me his worries about Kim and how she had a medical issue which could spell trouble. He wasn't the jovial Franz. He would sit in the halls and ponder. He was not into the trip at all. Like Franz has done in the past he put on a happy face all knowing that Kim might not be okay. He networked with people and made new friends like Ron (DJFusion) and others. On our last night Paige and I took Franz for what he thought was his most favorite meal. We went to Maggianos Little Italy. While we were there you could tell he was happy to be going home the next day to Kim and Amber. The little piece of Franz that was missing all during the show came out. He stopped the accordion player who was strolling the tables with Italian music and tipped him to play what turned out to be a German Drinking song. What a hoot.

This year I did not have a heart to attend the Vegas show. It was just too close to the one year anniversary of when he passed. To many emotions, too many feelings.



Part Two

We are now sitting at one year marking the date that DJchat.com lost a super-moderator, I lost my best friend and gained a wife and daughter in a far away place. As I sit and look back on the past year it has been filled with issues of keeping my own emotions in check while helping Kim and Amber work their way through it. Paige and I have drove in many times to help out. We had the task of sorting through years of equipment and music from his DJ business and placing it up for sale locally and on ebay. While knowing some of the gear would never go for the price I placed on it which matched the wholesale Franz paid less than 5 months before I purchased the gear myself to the tune of thousands of dollars.

Since the company, 24 Carat Sound that Franz built up over so many years had one of the most revered name for DJ entertainment in the Reno/Tahoe area it was brought to Marshall and Doug, two of Franz's oldest friends from LA and I how to put a price on the name. We came to the conclusion the name was worth around $15k and the person buying it would get the name and the phone number.

During this time it was not only the gear side of the business that had Kim worried. It was the event side. What would all or Franz' clients do now. In came Jeremy, a local DJ talent that had met Franz a few month before. Jeremy was great. He had the "look" that Franz would approve of. Kim worked a business arrangement with Jeremy. If he took on the last of the events Franz had booked and paid her the money from those events he would take possession of the name, 24 Carat Sound and the number even though the total amount of the events was less than the price placed on the name. Jeremy agreed to the business arangement and came through on the events. This brought the DJ business side to a close.

Marshall and Doug then had the fun of uninstalling and removing dozens of shortwave radios, repeaters a computers that ran a different side of Franz, his amateur radio side. One that brought him closer to many that shared his hobby. Marshal was amazed at how many radios, receivers, scanners and electronics Franz had. He said some of it he ahd not seen in years.

On one of our trips we "kiddnapped" Amber and took her for a couple of days. Went swimming, to the movies and did things that she and her dad used to do. It was never meant to replace her father, it was just to show her life can go on and that is how Franz would want it to be. While Amber was out with us Kim made her way to the first real private time she had since Franz passed. Amber is a different sort of girl. She is like a major mix of both Franz and Kim. She has Franz's directness and maturity while keeping Kim's girlie girl. Even though I know she is hurting so much inside she rarely displayed her emotions.

We traveled though Reno many times last year. During the year Kim's medical condition was completely disgnosed and she was given a diet and meds to help her through it. The last time I was there was in October on Halloween. I flew in to take Amber trick or treating, once again something her daddy always did with her. Decked out in a costume we both strolled the streets freezing our butts off begging for candy at the neighbor's houses. Amber thought it was the greatest thing. She smiled more that night than she had in all the other times we visited them.

At the end of the night around midnight a breakthrough that I had never expected happened. Amber told me she wanted to see the "video" I had created. So Kim Amber and I sat at the kitchen table. It was now time to see the video that they both had avoided for the last 7 months. I brought them to DJchat.com and embraced both of them as they shuttered and wept in my arms while watching the life of a great man, father, husband and friend pass by their eyes in a short 15 minute video.

Today Kim and Amber have traveled to a place where they have wonderful memories of Franz. They are in Maui Hawaii. They are visiting places where Kim and Franz went just a few years ago and left with smiles. March will no longer be the tradition of going up to the mountains that Franz loved so much with his "girls" and spending a private birthday skiing and snow boarding, something he had done forever. It is an new day and new year and the start of a new tradition for the broken family that Franz left behind. Kim and Amber are creating their own memories in celebration of Franz.

Franz I know some how somewhere you are reading this. We miss you...

[Nick Koan]

Sid thanks for the writeup, it was very touching. I knew today was going to be an interesting one (to say the least) when I saw Franz birthday announcement at the bottom of the page.

[dknv]

Originally Posted by Sid Vanderpool

...Today Kim and Amber have traveled to a place where they have wonderful memories of Franz. They are in Maui Hawaii. They are visiting places where Kim and Franz went just a few years ago and left with smiles. March will no longer be the tradition of going up to the mountains that Franz loved so much with his "girls" and spending a private birthday skiing and snow boarding, something he had done forever. It is an new day and new year and the start of a new tradition for the broken family that Franz left behind. Kim and Amber are creating their own memories in celebration of Franz....

I imagine Maui to be a wonderfully spirit-soothing place for them. That is good to know.
Thank you Sid for taking the time to share these memories with us, and to bring us up to speed on how Kim and Amber are doing.