Palisadian Nicholas ‘Nick’ Rex Rosser, 18, died on Saturday, January 31, in an automobile accident on Palisades Drive. Nick was a senior at Palisades Charter High School. He played midi on the varsity lacrosse team and forward on the Venice High club ice hockey team. He was a longtime lifeguard and employee at the Santa Ynez Recreation Center and a camper and counselor at St. Matthew’s Day Camp. He was also an avid surfer, skateboarder and budding photographer. Nick is survived by his 14-year-old sister, Alessandra ‘Ali’ Ponticello Rosser, an eighth grader at Paul Revere; his parents, Stacey and Richard Rosser; and grandmothers May Ponticello and Linda Rosser. He leaves four aunts and uncles and three cousins. Born on December 21, 1990 in New York City, Nick spent his earliest years in Brooklyn Heights, just outside Manhattan, before the family moved to Short Hills, New Jersey. In June 1999, the Rossers moved to Pacific Palisades, living first on Las Lomas and quickly becoming deeply involved in community life. Three years later, the family moved to the Highlands, where Nick was immersed in what his parents fondly refer to as the ‘Highlands Crew,’ a group of adventurous playmates including Gray and Conor Ishimatsu, Max and Chris Groel, Timmy Galier, Evan Biscow, Zach Sherman, Nicky Giggins, and Matt Girard, all of whom roamed between houses and the Santa Ynez Rec Center to skateboard, swim or play airsoft and videogames. Nick graduated from Marquez Elementary and St. Matthew’s Parish Middle School. A regular St. Matthew’s Sunday school and youth group attendee, he became a confirmant of the Episcopal Church while in the eighth grade. The highlight of Nick’s summers was as a camper at St. Matthew’s Day Camp, where he had so much fun he could hardly wait to become a counselor himself. After sixth grade, his father asked Nick how he would spend the summer. Nick came up with the idea of a Videogame Camp and presented his concept to the board of the Santa Ynez Rec Center. After hearing the 14-year-old’s proposal, the board unanimously approved. With Timmy Galier, his business partner and fellow gamer, Nick’s camp hosted four to eight kids two times a week all summer. The next summer, Nick participated in the Los Angeles Junior Lifeguard program and ultimately became an American Red Cross certified lifeguard. The summer following ninth grade, Nick’s greatest childhood dream came true. His winning smile, solid work ethic and desire to work with children got him hired for a coveted spot on the St. Matthew’s Day Camp staff. For the next three years Nick served as a co-counselor, but this job was not enough to satisfy his love of working with kids. Each of the following two summers he worked a second job, first as a lifeguard at the Santa Monica Beach Club, then at the Santa Ynez Rec Center, where he continued working until the afternoon of his death. Nick loved to read and was rarely without a book in progress. It started with Harry Potter in the second grade and continued as he read Philip Pullman, and later Michael Crichton, Robert Ludlum and Orson Scott Card. Nick had eclectic musical tastes, ranging from rap and hip-hop to techno and classic rock. He loved watching ‘Scrubs,’ ‘Lost’ and ‘The Office,’ especially when relaxing with family. He was fond of hanging with an extended group of friends, often talking late into the night. Inspired by his graphic arts class at PaliHi (taught by John Buse), Nick bought a camera with his own money and was becoming quite a photographer. As an East Coast kid by birth, Nick appropriately became a hockey enthusiast and player in elementary school. In the days when a blacktop area at the Palisades Recreation Center was surrounded each Friday night by curb bumpers, he played rollerhockey for three years. During his middle school years he transitioned to the rollerhockey program at the Mar Vista Recreation Center. Rollerhockey led to ice hockey. Nick started playing at Culver City for the in-house league and subsequently embarked on a three-year stint at the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo, where he spent his freshman, sophomore and junior years playing for the Venice High club team. These hockey years paid off as Nick discovered his true sports passion. His junior year, a friend suggested he try out for lacrosse at PaliHi. Having never played the sport, Nick was hesitant but tried out for fun. He made the junior varsity team. Coach Scott Hylen claims Nick was a natural and bumped him up to the varsity team after less than a month. Fast on his feet and adept with a stick, Nick played varsity midi his junior year and had begun practice for his senior season two weeks before his death. Nick approached his college applications with the same focus, ethics and solidly developing manhood that he brought to his various jobs and sports. His essay recounted the challenges and satisfaction experienced as a co-counselor for a special needs camper. Nick knew he wanted to play lacrosse in college and this became his priority selection criteria. He received invitations from coaches at UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz and Chapman University and San Diego State, and visited a number of teams. Within hours of Nick’s death, a stunned community reverberated with memories of his constantly flashing smile and reached out to the family with meals, prayers and shared loss and grief. There will be a visitation on Saturday evening from 6 to 9 p.m. at Gates Kingsley & Gates, 1925 Arizona Ave., in Santa Monica. The memorial service will be held at St. Matthew’s this Sunday February 8, at 2:30 p.m., with a reception immediately following. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to: The Nick Rosser Memorial Fund, 15332 Antioch St., #419, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272. ‘BETTY-JO TILLEY
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