I spoke with Mazen Muna, owner of the Dogg Haus restaurants, this week. Sadly, one of his longtime friends and an employee died this week.
We also traded emails, so I'll let Muna's words tell the story.
"On Tuesday night, my dear childhood friend, part-time employee and older brother to a current employee, lost control of his Motorcycle on North Avenue east of Prospect, while riding with a group of friends. Wednesday morning, he passed away due to head injuries.
"His Name was Nick Amezquita. He left behind a large and caring family, hundreds of friends, two young boys and his wife, Stephanie. Many of you may recognize him, and many more will recognize his brother, Nathaniel."
Muna met Amezquita in middle school. They grew up together, went to high school together, too, and remained friends throughout the years. In 2005, Amezquita painted the mural of the cartoonish Chicago skyline on the back wall at the Brady Street Dogg Haus location. He was still a part-time employee at the Dogg Haus.
Muna told me that "(Amezquita) worked for Time-Warner as a full-time job and was also the president of the Moto Psycho’s motorcycle club."
In honor of Amezquita, all Dogg Haus locations with the exception of the Brady Street location will close at 3:30 p.m. on Monday, July 18, so that staff can attend the funeral.
A fundraiser for the Amezquita family will be held Sunday at Moct, 240 E. Pittsburgh Ave., from 6 p.m. until midnight.
A life-long and passionate community leader and Milwaukeean, Jeff Sherman is a co-founder of OnMilwaukee.
He grew up in Wauwatosa and graduated from Marquette University, as a Warrior. He holds an MBA from Cardinal Stritch University, and is the founding president of Young Professionals of Milwaukee (YPM)/Fuel Milwaukee.
Early in his career, Sherman was one of youngest members of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, and currently is involved in numerous civic and community groups - including board positions at The Wisconsin Center District, Wisconsin Club and Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. He's honored to have been named to The Business Journal's "30 under 30" and Milwaukee Magazine's "35 under 35" lists.
He owns a condo in Downtown and lives in greater Milwaukee with his wife Stephanie, his son, Jake, and daughter Pierce. He's a political, music, sports and news junkie and thinks, for what it's worth, that all new movies should be released in theaters, on demand, online and on DVD simultaneously.
He also thinks you should read OnMilwaukee each and every day.
