by Cris Italia
After battling brain cancer for over a year, Manzoni finally lost his fight on Saturday, Dec. 14, at age 27, but not before touching thousands of lives.
Those closest to Manzoni knew him as "Smooch" or "Junior," two nicknames he answered to most of his life. His mother, Fran, first called him "Smooch" when he was a child, and the name just stuck. Co-workers called him "Junior" because of his father-son relationship with Billy Romm, the owner of Billy's Caf, where Manzoni worked for 11 years.
"We started him out as a busboy when he was 15," Romm said. "I watched him grow up right in front of me." Raised in a single-parent home, Manzoni sought fatherly advice from Romm. "If I were to have a son," Romm said, "he was it."
Manzoni's popularity grew mostly because of his outgoing personality. "He was always the first one to throw a hundred dollars on the bar," said Dickie Chimienti, one of Manzoni's closest friends. "He would just give anyone the shirt off his back, that's the way he was."
While working for a contractor in June 2001, Manzoni accidentally received an electric shock that caused a seizure. He didn't know it at the time, but he had two tumors in his head, which were too small to be detected by a CAT scan. A neurosurgeon discovered them and removed one, but the other was embedded, and Manzoni was told he would require radiation treatments.
"From the beginning we knew it was going to be difficult," Romm said. "But he never stopped fighting, and treated it like it was just a bad cold."
Manzoni's mother remembers what he told a priest when he first learned of his condition. "[The priest] said, 'Robert I will pray for you,'" Fran recalled, "and he told the priest, 'I have the easy part, I just have to die. Pray for my mother and brother.' That was the kind of strength he had."
"He was so special to me," she went on. "I just didn't know he was so special to so many people." Fran said she was amazed to see the outpouring of support from the community, but she always knew that her son lived life to the fullest. "He worked hard and played hard," she said. "And if he could put a smile on people's faces, he would do it."
Those who knew him said that Manzoni had touched the people of Long Beach. "He was more like a mayor," Romm said. "Everyone knew him either from the restaurant or from the neighborhood. And he was just a great role model for the younger kids. Everyone who worked here looked up to him."
Manzoni contributed to several charities in Long Beach and frequently took part in sports fund-raisers. So when it came time to raise money for his treatment, no one was surprised at the success his friends and family had. "Everyone wanted to make a contribution," Romm said. "He didn't have health insurance, so there was a real need. All the people he had helped through the years came through for him."
In all, his friends and family raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in fund-raisers held throughout the year. "It was embarrassing, almost," Manzoni said after the first fund-raiser. "But it makes you feel so loved. It lets you know who your friends are. I can't get over it ... It just makes you cry."
According to Romm, the last few months were extremely difficult for Manzoni. "He wasn't talking anymore," Romm said. "He fought every bit of the way."
"He said he was going to beat it," said Chimienti. "I remember that, he believed that, and although he isn't with us today, he did beat it."
Paying their last respects
Hundreds of mourners gathered at St. Ignatius Martyr Catholic Church in Long Beach Dec. 17 to say a final farewell to Robert Manzoni. Friends and family gathered inside the church, sheltered from the frigid winter wind, to celebrate a life that ended too soon.
Rev. William Logan and Rev. Thomas Donohue celebrated the Mass. Logan likened Manzoni's parents, Fran and John, to Mary and the apostle John. "The mother of Christ was with her Son every step of the way, through His ministry, suffering and death, and John was at her side. Fran and John were also with Rob every step of the way." Both priests were honored to assist Manzoni in receiving Confirmation late in his life.
Though he knew Manzoni only after he became ill, Deacon Tom Evrard was impressed with the young man's strong spirit and positive attitude. "I came to know a person filled with joy, even though he was sick," said Evrard. "When he received Confirmation, he had the fullness of the Holy Spirit, which helped him on the road of life."
Evrard visited Manzoni often in his "little house" and remarked that there was seldom an occasion when the two were alone because of the constant stream of friends and family coming to visit.
Even while he was ill, Manzoni thought of others, according to Evrard. During one visit to Manzoni's home, the deacon found he had stockpiled baseballs, footballs, basketballs and soccer balls that he was preparing to ship to underprivileged children.
Manzoni's holy card bears a picture of Padre Pio, a saint to whom his mother has a special devotion. Evrard described Pio as someone who, even while experiencing the pain of the stigmata, would smile. "Robert was the same way," he said. "I visited him in the hospital in October, and although he couldn't speak, he was still able to communicate with his smile."
Logan encouraged Manzoni's family and friends to "do what you have already been doing. Just listen to and be there for each other during this difficult time."
Manzoni's high school friend Jesse Landry joined other mourners outside the church after the funeral Mass. Landry said simply, "He was one of the greatest people I have ever known," adding, "Rest in peace, Smooch."
