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GUILDERLAND — Todd M. Pianowski was a champion bowler who had big dreams of excelling in professional sports.

He was also a sweet person who was devoted to his friends and family.

"He was very loving," said his father, Ron Pianowski. "He would do anything for anyone. He loved spending time with all of his friends and helping people out."

"He was an all-around nice guy," said his mother, Patt Pianowski. "He was the kind of son everybody would like to have."

Mr. Pianowski died on Thursday, May 5, 2005, of a gunshot wound. He was 22.

Mr. Pianowski was born in Albany and grew up in Guilderland.

"He was a very easygoing child," his mother said. "He always got along with everybody. He never gave us any problems."

She paused and laughed. "Well, except when he would fight with his younger brother. It was the usual sibling rivalry, he and his pain-in-the-butt younger brother."

But, Mrs. Pianowski said, as they got older, Mr. Pianowski and his brother, Kyle, became close friends.

Both parents said Mr. Pianowski loved all of his friends. That’s why he lived in Guilderland, his father said.

"He liked being close to his family and friends; that’s what kept him in the area," Ron Pianowski said. "He was very giving and everybody loved him."

Mr. Pianowski and his girlfriend, Lauren Parker, were together for five years. They met through mutual friends and recently lived together.

"He was devoted to his girlfriend; he had big plans," Mrs. Pianowski said.

"He had a great love for her," his father said.

"He was a good student, a good child," Mrs. Pianowski said. "He was a wonderful son."

Mr. Pianowski left high school when he was 16, his mother said. Last year, she said, he got his GED (General Equivalency Diploma).

In January, he began taking classes at Hudson Valley Community College.

"He got his GED and started going to college at the urging of his family, his girlfriend, and his friends," Ron Pianowski said. "We talked him into going."

Mr. Pianowski enjoyed college, his father said.

"He’d always tell me he was getting good grades," he said. "I was very proud of him, as was his mother, his brother, and his girlfriend."

His father went on, "He was doing very well; everything was going for him. He was going into business. I really was proud of him, the way he turned his life around."

Her son was studying business because he wanted to run a bowling alley or be a professional golfer, his mother said.
Mr. Pianowski’s parents both described bowling and golf as his passions.

"He started bowling at eight," Mrs. Pianowski said. "He just hit 299 and he was waiting to hit 300," she said of a perfect bowling score.

Mr. Pianowski bowled in an adult league on Friday nights at Westlawn Lanes, on Western Avenue.

Mr. Pianowski also loved golf. He got serious about the sport three years ago, his father said, as he made friends who played.
"He was a perfectionist," Ron Pianowski said. "He wanted to excel in sports, either bowling or golf, professionally."
"He wanted to be a professional," Mrs. Pianowski said. "When he set a goal, he planned on reaching it."

In addition to his parents, Ron and Patt Esopi Pianowski, Mr. Pianowski is survived by his brother, Kyle Pianowski, of Guilderland; his grandfather, Raymond Esopi, of Cape Coral, Fla.; and his girlfriend, Lauren Parker, of Guilderland.

He is also survived by his uncle and aunt, Robert and Barbara Pianowski, of College Park, Md.; his cousins, Julie and Jennifer, of New York City; and numerous close friends.

A funeral was held Wednesday. Arrangements were by the New Comer-Cannon Family Funeral Home, in Colonie. Entombment was in St. Agnes Cemetery, in Menands.

Memorial contributions may be made to Christ the King Church Building Fund, 20 Sumpter Ave., Albany, NY 12203.