Detrick, Aaron

Detrick, Aaron Phillip

Aaron Phillip Detrick, 44, passed away peacefully on January 10th after an 8-month battle with cancer. That's the bad news, the good news is there's an above average chance that he is likely making his mom (Marcia Detrick) fix him some pork chops and banana cream pie up in heaven currently.

Born in Springfield, Ohio, he grew up the all-American boy. Throughout his life he had tons of friends, played high school football, ate more pizza and chicken fingers than anyone you know, played with toys his whole life, had hair everywhere but on his head, was the Prom King, did track (mainly discus and shot), but ran the last leg of a 4x100 relay once and to this day those that saw that incredible feat of skill and endurance are still laughing, had a surprise bachelor party in Tampa that was a night that'll go down in history for reasons we can't discuss here, was deeply loyal to his oldest friends, rooted on the Bengals for decades, only to be heartbroken by the incompetent Mike Brown and his inept family year after year, endless midnight runs to Waffle House, never took school too seriously, but always found a way to avoid any major trouble and get good grades, chugged a whole bottle of Jack Daniels on the beach once, and his first car was a gorgeous deep blue station wagon that he loved (but his brother totaled).

After graduating from Catholic Central High School he attended Wright State, but it wasn't right for him, so he moved to Chicago for a summer with Andy "Shark" Morman. Incredibly, they weren't arrested or put in prison, but this is where he ate so much deep dish pizza he formed a callus on the top of his mouth which gave him the amazing ability to eat pizza at any temperature the rest of his life. After that he lived on Cassilly Street on Wittenberg's campus some, enjoying more than a few drinks and laughs at Station One and McMurray's along the way. Then in the fall of 2002 he decided to move to Florida to the oldest city in America, St. Augustine. It was here that he lived with his rumored common law spouse and close friend to the end, Jak Krumholtz.

Jak, Aaron, and Tiegh Collins all had a good thing going, but then fate would have it and their perfect friendship triangle would be changed forever when he met the love of his life, Sara Root, in 2005. She very well might have been the only person in the world who would let this big hairy human truly be himself. They liked the same things, played with toys, enjoyed the same types of movies, and were just a perfect fit.

Aaron graduated from St. John's River State College and then began to dominate the toy industry. He had a huge collection of toys, specializing in G.I. Joe, but he had the bug to be his own boss and keep an extremely messy office which only he could find anything (just like his Dad) and started to travel the country buying and selling toys.

Eventually he and Sara were married in November 2011 in one of the coldest Florida weddings ever, but also the highest blackout to sober ratio weddings the world has ever seen. Thank goodness this was before cell phones recorded everything, as anyone there would be cancelled in today's world. They then decided to move back to Springfield in 2012 after Sara graduated from college.

Over the next 12 years they built a toy empire together, with Aaron eventually opening a brick and mortar store on Upper Valley Pike. He was so proud of his store and he worked there five to six days a week (and often traveled to shows on the weekends). Even when he was sick and full of cancer he'd go and sit in his chair to say hi to his customers.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Orva and Marcia (Koepnick) Detrick, and his beloved dog Arty. He is survived by Sara and his dog, Kiwi. When he was sick, little Kiwi would sit next to him all day and he loved her very much. Aaron is also survived by his older and much more handsome brother Ryan (Emily) and like a brother Brad McLaughlin. It is rumored Ryan, Brad and Aaron saw the rock band Jackyl together more than 30 times, the only problem is no one can remember. Cousin Kenny Koepnick also held a special place in Aaron's world and although he is a male who drinks White Claw regularly, he was always there for Aaron in life and in toys. Overall, he had so many close friends we can't name them all, but a few that were there for him literally until the end, helping in any way possible were Jak, Cousin Kenny, Nicole Suzel, Timmy Whalen, and Aunt Emily Ulery. Thanks to Funkle John Koepnick, Connie, and Aunt Anne Williams as well for always being there. Lastly, thanks to the incredible toy and G.I. Joe communities for all of their support over the years, specifically more recently when they did benefits, toy auctions, and custom action figures to help with the mounting medical bills. He loved nothing more than going to a big toy show to goof off, tell stories, and see all of his toy friends.

A special thanks to all of his doctors and nurses at The James at THE Ohio State University, the Mercy Health Springfield Cancer Center and the ICU unit of the Springfield Regional Medical Center.

Info on a Pizza Party to honor him (planned for Sunday, January 19) can be found on Facebook. Arrangements entrusted to the JONES-KENNEY-ZECHMAN FUNERAL HOME. Condolences may be shared at www.jkzfh.com.

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