CATCHING UP: David Jiranek

Obituary
The Jiranek family put on an unforgettable memorial service. There were several themes. The most common was the gratitude expressed by everyone who knew him for "making life more fun." (He was an inveterate practical joker and named his 32-foot sloop "Bouncing Czechs.")
On his sister-in-law's wedding night, for instance, he got into her wedding dress and traipsed down the main drag of Cold Spring, N.Y., reciting Ophelia's lines from "Hamlet" in a falsetto voice. Even when the town police stopped him and asked what he thought he was doing, "he never broke character," Joe Hooper, his brother-in-law, told us.
Jiranek's red racing bike and helmut stood near the podium, a reminder of his decade-long devotion to intense, regular bicycle trips with his closest friends.
Todd Hoffman did finally address what he called the elephant on the beach, what we've been doing all this week, this 45-year-old crap. It was a reference to the fact that David Jiranek died so young, his premature death the result of a swimming accident. We're using the wrong measuring stick He did in 45 years what most of us won't do in 95 years. It didn't erase the pain of losing David. But it wasn't meant to. It recalled for everyone the pleasure of his company.
· Bouncing Czechs [Herman ]