On Aug 31 at 2:15 am, My Dad passed away in San Angelo, Tx. He was 80 years old.
He was a purest from the word go and did things because he believed in it, which was the reason he started the NBL.
Not real sure what to say other than- I love you dad and thank you.
Greg Esser

My sympathies Greg. He did a lot for the sport and is now in the fabled BMX heaven

Sorry Greg,I do not know you or your father but I know the feeling if you need anything your brothers here at vbmx are here for you

Greg,
I am so sorry to hear of your dads passing. I know what your going through being that my dad passed away only 10 months ago. Your dad was the heart of the NBL in the early days.Without his vision we all may have never had the pleasure to compete in a sport that we all loved.

There will be tough days ahead, but hold your head high knowing your dad was loved and repected by many on this board.

May god compfort you and your family during this difficult time.

Mark Lopez

Greg,
Sorry for your loss. I'll always remember your dad with a cigar in his mouth and some great florida racing.

Stu

My heart goes out to you and your family. BMX has lost a true pioneer....

Thoughts out to you and yours Greg.

Godspeed George Esser.

Greg
My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. I know it's a rough thing to go through. Just know that you have friends scattered all over the country that care about you, and owe a debt of gratitude to the Esser family. Being a East Coast guy myself, I am thankful for all that your family - and your Dad, has done for this great sport of BMX. It goes way beyond "just riding a bike at the track". I owe many things to the fact that BMX exists. My job is BMX, all my true friends I have, I meet through BMX, and I met my wife through BMX.

All because George Esser brought BMX to the East Coast.....

Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
-Ed Ferri

Greg,
My heart, thoughts and prayers go out to you and your family..........
I knew your dad for the stand up man he always was. A true leader, outstanding father and an all around great guy. I as many will greatly miss him...Rest in peace George...


Rodney Miles

Greg, sorry to hear of your loss. My heart goes out to you and yours.

When I saw the topic, I was afraid that this is what I'd see...
Greg, I'm so sorry to hear this. My prayers and deepest sympathy to you and yours. Losing a parent is just the worst thing you can go through, when my mom died in Oct. 04 it tore a big chunk out of my heart that really has'nt healed much yet.

Greg me and my daughter are sad to hear about your dad.Hopefully people who didnt know him can apreciate what he did for eastcoast racing by watching joekid on a stingray and what eastcoast racing has become today.To me that makes him a bmxlegend longlive eastcoast racing.Wishing the best for the Esser family!

Our deepest sympathy to you and your family. We never had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Esser but definately appreciate everything that he did for bmx. We are aware of the fact that if it wasn't for him, our daughter and 10s of 1000s of other children would not be enjoying the sport today!
Thank you Mr. Esser, for everything!
Best wishes to you and your family! The Peets

Greg, truly sorry about your father.

My thoughts are with you and your family.

Best wishes,
Bren.

Greg,
I am very saddened to hear of your loss.
My thoughts are with you and your family.

Your friend,

Johnny Johnson

Greg, I am so sorry to hear that. I had been thinking of him the last few days, and like Mike said my heart sank when I saw this thread.
I don't know what to say...he was an awesome man, one who served his country, a visionary who saw a need for a sanctioning body for so many kids and made it happen, a great dad who supported you and Brian in so many ways.
I'm honored to have met him, to have had the opportunity to work for him.
My thoughts and prayers go out to you and Brian.
Pete

Greg, as I said earlier today, you are in my thoughts.
You said it right when you told me he is finally free. To a degree you and your family are as well.

And again, my phone is always open to you if you need someone to talk to.

May your pops rest in peace and always be remembered for the great things he did.

Greg, Brian and Esser Family,

Many condolences, your Father was an Icon in the sport in my book. Your Father welcomed me to the NBL in '81 after being an ABA turncoat of sorts and I will never forget that.

Your Father and Family will be in my prayers.

Joe Baumert

Greg, I too am sorry to hear the news. George was a legend like the rest of the Esser family and he'll be thought of fondly.

Greg

Greg:

Condolensces from the Matthews family and all of the BMX racers here in Austin, Texas.

Cash Matthews

My condolences Greg. He was a very innovative man. I enjoyed racing NML and his National races. Later getting one of our bmx bikes a third at the first NML (NBL) National which he got on the pregame show for the Orange Bowl. Later, I also welded for MCS with Rick as the shop manager.
He ALWAYS HAD A VISION and worked to get all fulfilled. The FL motocross scene progressed because of the NML.
My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

I'm sorry to hear of your loss...thoughts and prayers go to you and your family.

i join this thread late,,,,god bless you and brian,,,my god bless you and your family . i cannot begin to know what you lost,,,,,amazing man and family ,,,you have been a family to us all. sorry for your loss. jerry

Greg and Brian. What can be said? You know I am there with you. George was a trip. With a cigar in his mouth, he would spit out a one liner, that would quite a whole room of teenagers. He was funny. And once you got him going, he would talk your arm off. But you would have more knowledge when it was over. He would often open his house up to more racers than could fit in there, and with Mary. Everyone had towels, food and drinks. Along with raising two fine boys. Who, after 28 years or so, I still talk to on a regular basis. That I proudly call my friends. The NBL was great because of him.
Godspeed George...I am a better person having met you

greg ,brian just got back from the grands . i heard the news on thurs . they dedicated the race to him . your dad was a great man and i feel honnored to have known him .

George Esser was one of the reasons BMX and the NBL soared in popularity. Many racers like myself never got to meet your dad, but we all owe him a huge debt for his tireless work for BMX and building BMXs foundation on the East Coast.

I raced the East Coast from 78-81 and I cant think of a single man that was more important to BMX in our area than your Dad.

Greg and Brian-

Im sorry to hear about your dad, he was an great man! I remember the cigar as well, man he would just chew the daylights out of that thing. I always looked forward to coming out to your place to race and hang out, your family was very cool and BMX was a much better place because of your Dad!

George--Rest in peace..

Greg I am always here for you anytime you need to talk you know where I am..

GH

Thank You all so much for all of the kind words. It does make things easier to know he was thought of so nicely.
I just returned from the funeral--a military funeral is quite the show. He was buried in San Antonio Tx at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetary. I have to say, the folding of the flag and 21 gun salute its very emotional. When those guns are fired you just about come out of your shoes.
It was very hard to watch such a show but at the sametime made me feel so proud of my Dad.
I will miss him very much.
Thank you all again.
Greg

I feel for you Greg, while I didn't know your Dad, I was VERY aware of his place in BMX. My thoughts and prayers go out to you and your family. I had a passing in my family over the weekend too (an Uncle). He was buried today. I wish I could have been there, but it just wasn't in the cards. I'm glad that you were able to be there for your Dad.

Again, thoughts and prayers for you and your family,

Jon "HinkDog" Hinkle

Very sorry to hear greg,god bless you all...
Jerry & Family

Greg,
I had the Pleasure of knowing you and your father, and it has changed my life. Your Dad has changed the lives of ANYONE Who has raced a BMX bike on an NBL track since the 70's. My thoughts and Prayers go out to you and your family.
Dennis Neubauer

Greg & Brian

Sorry to hear of your loss. Your dad was a pioneer and the NBL is one of his legacys. He will truley be missed and never forgotten.

Rest in Peace George.

My condolences to the Esser family.

I want to thank you all once again for all of your kind words.
Its very nice to know that even in the world we all live in today with things moving so fast that people take to time to remember.
Thank You again.
Greg Esser

God Speed, we lost a great one!

Sorry to hear the news Greg. He was a great man and helped me more then once.

Take care friend.
Gary

Greg,
I heard about your fathers passing and I wanted to pass on my condolences to you and your family. Your dad was a great man and is responsible for getting BMX to a National level on the east coast. He was very innovative and very proactive with his ideas. He was one of the first to push Pro racing to another level, and asked the Pro's their opinions and then acting on them.
Hope life in your family gets back to normal as soon as possible.
PK

Greg,
I'm very sorry to hear your dad passed away. My thoughts and prayers to you and your family.
Randy Moore

All right everyone, I wanted to bring this thread back up because the National Bicycle league did something real cool. They updated thier website, and added a Hall of Fame section. The very first person in the hall of Fame is None other than George Esser. Thanks again for taking the time to let Greg and his family know how much you care. Here is the link to the website. http://nbl.org/hall-of-fame.html

George Esser is called a "visionary" in his Hall Of Fame write up on the NBL site. And rightfully so. Mr Esser's work changed the lives of so many, and paved the way toward the bright future that our sport has.

Thanks to the NBL for doing this - to honor a man's passion for what he loved, and for his enormous contribution towards BMX!
-Ed Ferri

Wow, That is very cool. I didn't know anything about it until I saw this here.
I sure have to find out who wrote it. They a did a very nice job I would like to thank them myself.
I am very touched that so many remembered.
Thank You
Greg Esser

You should be proud Greg, your pop was a stand up guy! George Esser made BMX on the East coast period.

Happy Holidays to you Poodel head, you need to be in AZ in March..Love ya brother!

GH

Greg,

I appreciate all that you and your family has done for this sport. I am an Old Pompano Kid that watched you many times. I still have some great pics. in a box. Even ran into a couple of the Miami crowd when I was at Florida State. My boys are 6 and 5 and we are all racing and really enjoying it. I live in Virginia now and will be at the Lexington Nationals. I even have my old NBL Card I picked up at the office at Sample Road in 1979.

Greg,

As a 14 year old in 79 MCS was a dream and NBL was the fantasy, I am not even sure why, maybe because it was on the other coast.

As an adult, Godspeed Mr. Esser and live well Greg.

As I say now, the there are two kinds of people in the world. Those who ride motorcycles and everyone else. I know where you and your dad stand.

Curt