Jamie Moravec, who played three sports in Chicago's gay leagues, died Sunday night, Nov. 14, from injuries sustained in a fall from his fifth-floor condominium in the Uptown neighborhood. He was 35.
Moravec played beach volleyball and flag football within the Chicago Metropolitan Sports Association ( CMSA ) umbrella and bowled in the Friday night Chicago Pride League. He was part of the Waveland Witches team in the current bowling season—and the league held a moment of silence in Moravec's honor Nov. 19.
Moravec played Nov. 13 in the CMSA flag-football playoffs.
"Jamie was always the tallest bowler in the league, and had a unique way of throwing, literally throwing his ball down the lane. Jamie was a bowler who always seemed to have fun without taking it too seriously," said Michael Stricklin, 39, the president of the Chicago Pride Bowling League. " [ He brought ] lots of humor and great sportsmanship," to the league.
Moravec's current bowling teammates are Chris Wedig, Pat Ciara, Bradford LeHew, Jeffrey Wedig, Frank Batusic, Amy Jakubiak and Adam Sorkin.
Moravec, who had a 140 bowling average, has participated in Chicago's gay bowling leagues since 2001. Moravec played beach volleyball and flag football for the last six years.
"He was always a nice guy, fun to be around," said Austin Baidas, who lives in Lakeview and was football teammates with Moravec. "Jamie really improved [ as a football player ] from the day he started [ playing ] . He helped our team win some [ league ] championships over the past six years.
"He will be missed."
Moravec was a blocker for the Halsted's team.
"Jamie had a lot of great, long-term friends," Baidas said. "He was a fun teammate to have, always enjoyable to be around."
Robert Hull, 36, who lives in Lakeview and works as a CPA, was football teammates with Moravec for five years. They also played together on a spring CMSA flag football team for Wilde. Plus, Hull and Moravec played volleyball together both indoor and beach volleyball for Big Chicks.
Hull was the captain for both of Moravec's football and volleyball teams.
"As a teammate, Jamie always was encouraging, fun, loud [ and ] intense," Hull said. "As a person: Jamie loved those close to him with all his heart and he often let us know how important we were to him. His family meant the world to him. Jamie loved to eat. I think his happiest times were when food was on his plate. Food didn't last long on his plate as he would devour it in record speed, often resulting in stomach aches.
"Jamie would get so excited over the simplest joys of life. He was like a child and it was refreshing.
"As a friend, Jamie was such a warm and caring person. He would compliment me when I dressed well, looked nice or made a good play in football. He was there when you needed someone to talk to and listened with an open mind."
The Halsted's team honored Moravec this past weekend at the CMSA awards ceremony, held at Hydrate's, with a toast, led by Hull—and many of Moravec's close friends will be honoring him again with a tribute party in January.
"We were playing flag football and the pass was to go to Jamie," Hull said, reflecting on one of his favorite memories of Moravec. "It was a wet day out, and there were big spots of standing water on the field. As Jamie was running his route a puddle came upon him. He immediately stopped running to avoid the water and the pass fell incomplete just before him. At the time we were upset with him for not running through the puddle and catching the ball. But for years afterwards we affectionately would call him 'Puddles,' [ even though ] he didn't like the nickname.
"Jamie was a great blocker. He brought enthusiasm, fun and spirit [ to the field ] ."
Moravec was born in Florida, raised in Illinois. He graduated from Loyola Academy High School in 1993 and Loyola University of Chicago in 1998. He was a senior buyer for Newark.
"Jamie was a very boisterous, fun-loving [ man ] who loved life," said Bradford LeHew, one of Moravec's closest friends. "It's hard to describe Jamie. He was this six-foot-six bearded guy who played football, but also collected antiques.
"He was the best friend anyone could ask for, fiercely loyal to his friends. Jamie was hilarious, very smart. There's so much I could say about him; he was just a wonderful, wonderful human being, a life force who touched everything and everyone within a 10-mile radius."
"He was an amazing human being."
Moravec participated in the 2002 and 2006 Gay Games, and he participated in several gay bowling tournaments across the U.S. He also bowled in the Chicago Pride Invitational.
"I have so great, fond memories of Jamie," LeHew said. "I can't single out just one favorite Jamie story—because I have so many fond memories of Jamie."
