In Memory of Nicklaus Sorum

This is the eulogy given for Nicklaus Sorum who left us too soon. The photo is of Nick on Smith Island in Prince William Sound taken while he was working from the M/V Auklet.
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The Extreme Nicklaus James Sorum

June 29, 1986 – May 22, 2008

Nick came into this world in Prescott, Arizona on the date that was known to wild land firefighters as the “big fire day”. It was named due to large fires historically beginning on this day. This was a very appropriate day for Nick to arrive and take center stage in the lives of his parents who were both fire fighters. He had a flame burning in his mind from the very beginning which kept burning hot and bright, but burnt out much too soon. All who knew and loved Nick can attest to his great talents, passion for his beliefs and his love for his fellow man. Even the nurses in the maternity ward hated to see Nick leave. They said he was the most active and attentive newborn they had ever seen. We all agree that we hated to see him leave and will miss him forever.

Nick’s young life was centered around church, enjoying the outdoors, working with technology, playing music, making art and attending political and sporting events. At seven weeks old, he was the youngest supporter of Richard Kimball, the democrat who ran against John McCain for the senate seat in Arizona in 1986. As Nick grew, he developed a deep sense of social justice and worked to try and get our nation to return to the will of the people, and out of the clutches of the corporations. Nick loved everyone and disdained war and greed. Much of his art demonstrates this passion.

His dad, Alan, bought the newest computer in 1986, the Commodore 64, and held Nick on his lap for hours as they explored the new and growing world of technology. This early exposure turned into another passion for Nick. He has always loved his technologies and has put them to great use in music, art, photography, and too pass along his ideas.

Nick went on his first camping/hiking trip when he was two months old and attended many sporting events beginning at the age of three months and continued enjoying both ever since. He and his family moved to a wonderful small town of Wrangell in southeast Alaska when Nick was five. By this time he had been blessed with a little sister, Elise, whom he loved deeply from the day she was born. He patiently (sometimes not too patient) allowed her to tag along with him and his friends making her life much richer. They were able to participate in scouting, gymnastics, baseball, basketball, soccer, swimming, and wrestling. Growing up on an island included much boating and fishing, but Nick’s main love was kayaking. At age ten he began working summers helping at his family’s guide/outfitter business cleaning and carrying kayaks. When he wasn’t working he was out on the water in his own kayak or playing ball or exploring trails with his friends. Nick and Elise hiked the Chilkoot Trail twice, once in 1997 and again in 2007 and had planned to make this hike every ten years.

One of the biggest traumas in Nick’s young life was moving to the big city of Valdez in the middle of his 8th grade year. He left a small, community centered middle school and came into a much larger competition centered junior high. His transition was hard, but through his belief in God and Christ and with the help of the band department, scouting and the girls in his class, he was able to come to terms with the move and blossom in high school. He was a member of the Church of Christ and lead singing during worship services. Nick thrived on music and his second home at Valdez High School was the band room. He played trumpet in the Jazz Band and took up tuba when he was a sophomore. He loved the tuba so much that he spent all the money he had saved for a car and bought his own tuba. Nick bonded with his tuba and was rewarded by being named principal tuba in region honor band twice and was selected for state honor band twice. He was also the standard sousaphone entertainer for pep band during VHS basketball games. Boy was he LOUD!!

Nick received other honors during his high school years. He was a 3-year member of the National Honor Society, active in student government, earned his emergency trauma technician (ETT) in 9th grade and his Eagle Scout rank in May of 2004. Nick qualified for the state wrestling tournament twice and loved the sport until a chronic back injury caused him to stop. He also had many good times kayaking and hiking in Prince William Sound and snow boarding Thompson Pass.

After high school, Nick decided to enter UAF as a music and elementary education major. Again he found his home away from home in the music department and loved playing his tuba, working with young children and spending time with his many friends. He enjoyed broomball, his art classes and volunteering for KSUA. He had great plans for the future.

As you can see by looking around this room, Nick was a talented artist. He used this creativity as an outlet and much of his work shows the conflict he saw in this world between good and evil, just and unjust, light and dark. He made statements with his work, some enlightening and others quite disturbing. Nick was an open, helpful, loving man who had a very hard time accepting the stark contrasts in life.

Our friend Annette Janka says of Nick, "The only possible way that I can try to make sense of his decision is that maybe those who have been given the gift to have sensitive hearts that are so in tune to others and the world, maybe it makes them feel life's pain and challenges more intensely too. Maybe he expected so much of himself, it was too hard to bear."

He was torn between his love for God and his love for the world, his quest to eat right and exercise and his use of one of the world’s toxic but legal poisons. We will always ask why he ended his life, but we know alcohol was a major factor. Please remember all of Nick’s goodness and if possible keep yourself from being enticed by life’s poisons. Life is a vapor and we should honor Nick’s memory by working for the Creator to help make other’s lives better. God bless you all and thank you for being a part of Nick’s short but bright life.

If you have time, please write your best memory of Nick in the journal page you received in the memorial program. He would have loved to have sketches and signatures accompanying your writing too. Please put your finished page on the journal table as you leave, these pages will be compiled into a memory book. Then on your way out, please share some dessert with his other friends and family. Thank you again for coming to remember and show your respects to Nick.