Nicholas F. Tagaste

Nicholas F Tagaste

“Daddy”  “Pa Dukes”  “Uncle Nicky”  “Chef”  “My Friend”

Most Proudly Known as “Grandpa” or “Pa Ka”

There are no words for the loss we all feel since October 1^st, 2023.  Nick was so much to so many there just seems to be a vacuum in our universe as we all try to find our new normal without him.

I lost my best friend and our three boys have lost our Patriarch, “Daddy”.  He was “Uncle Nicky” to so many ages from 6 to 60 and touched their daily lives in countless ways and facets along their lives.  He was “Pa Dukes” to all the neighborhood sons we call our own and was blessed to see them become men and some became fathers before his end. 

He was “Chef” to generations in endless kitchens from New York to West Palm Beach over the last 50 years where he created his one-of-a-kind dishes with pinches and dashes.  A branch of his family tree who looked to him for inspiration and direction in their shared love of knives and well-stocked pantries. 

His friends are friends for life who will celebrate him every day in each of their own ways of life.  His Sons, Best Friends and Golf Buddies will now have a reason to smoke those expensive cigars and I’m sure there will be many cappuccinos made in his honor at the Cigar Bars he loved. 

“Cat Daddy” you are so missed.  Burt is keeping your favorite chair warm; BoBo is wondering if I might grow a beard for his morning chin scratches and nighttime whisker snuggles. Sophie misses her snarky door man who cursed her with every turn of the courtyard handle and I’m sure she is still giving him that side eye hiss as she waddles right past him….

Most of these things have a long list of those who passed before them and those who have been left behind; if I had to do that this would never get published. Anyone who knew Nick was touched by his contagious belly laughs and his wicked sense of humor.  If his laugh didn’t bring tears to your eyes, it certainly at some point made you laugh until you wet your pants.  So, if you knew him, you know what you meant to him as he never had a filter.  Just know that if he called you “My Friend” he had love for you now and until his very end.

God gave him his last three wishes…

To see his sons become men with families of their own….

To see a grandchild be born, he got not 1 but 3….

Most importantly is number three… he asked to be blessed to pass drama free, after a full day of living while he lie in his sleep ….

God is Good and We Thank Him for His Mercy in the End.  Suffer no more “Our Friend” be with us all now until we meet again ….

You have Earned your Wings now Fly….

Nick will be celebrated on October 16^th, 2023 with a Mass at 11:00 am  and a Celebration of Life from 12-4 pm (Church Hall):

Our Lady Queen of Apostles

100 Crestwood Blvd. South

Royal Palm Beach, Florida 33411

561-798-5661

Donations can be made in Nick’s honor to our church at the above phone number. Flowers can be sent to the same address.