Nicholas Thomas Lemesh was born to Nicholas Lemesh and Sophia Novak on May 21, 1946, in McKees Rocks, PA. Nicholas worked as a television commercial film producer with Grey Advertising in New York City and Glaxo Smith Kline in Philadelphia. He died February 14, 2025 in Wilmington, Delaware.
Nicholas graduated from Stowe Township Junior-Senior High School in McKees Rocks (1964), where he was selected as a life member of the National Honor Society. He graduated in 1968 with honors from the Carnegie Mellon Institute of Technology with a BA Degree in Graphic Arts. He earned a master’s degree in fine arts from New York University in 1971.
Nicholas was highly respected in the advertising industry. He was selected ahead of thousands of candidates for the International Clio Award in 1984 and 1986, given annually for creative innovation and excellence in advertising. Many of his advertising projects won awards and additional contracts for Grey advertising, which led to his eventual promotion to Vice President of the company.
Nicholas Lemesh had a long and distinguished involvement with the American Red Cross, beginning in junior high school. As an undergraduate he led several Red Cross projects over a three-year period to Mexico, Panama and Honduras. On one of these missions Nick supervised first aid efforts while his team and Hondurans were bombed by El Salvadoran aircraft. In 1969 Nick was one of only four Red Cross representatives from the United States to attend an International Geneva Convention conference and the only student. In 1970 he was the Red Cross representative at the World Youth Assembly of the United Nations in New York. He was one of only five students in the United States to receive the International Distinguished Service Award from Macalester College in 1970. At only 24 years old he was selected to the National Red Cross Board of Governors, the youngest person ever to achieve that position at the time. He was one of the founding fathers of the National Red Cross Museum in Washington D.C.
His dynamic leadership and selfless humanitarian efforts with the Red Cross resulted in his listing in the 40th Edition of Who’s Who in America 1978-79 on page 1930.
Nick’s community involvement was not limited to the Red Cross. He was a dedicated Christian and actively involved with his church. He was a counselor at the Youth Leadership Development Center in Grover City, PA. He was co-founder of the Lemesh Holleran Scholarship Fund at Carnegie Mellon University. For over fifteen years until his death he was an active volunteer at Independent Resources Incorporated, a non-profit organization that provides quality services to people with disabilities, assisting them to achieve and to maintain an independent lifestyle.
He was preceded in death by his parents, his brother and sister-in-law Robert and Mona Daszy, and his longtime partner Darryl McEwen. Survivors include his sister, Monica Lemesh, cousins Kim Robertson, Robert Greiss and Patricia Nunley and their families, and his nephew and his wife, Walter and Carmen Daszy. He is also survived by extremely close friends, notably Elaine Deller, Craig McGinnis, Stuart Maletsky, Steve Weissman, John DelGrosso, Ron Klein, Marlene DiMarco and many others across the country and the world.
Funeral services will be conducted on Thursday, February 27, 2025 at 10:00 a.m.at the Holy Ghost Byzantine Church, 225 Olivia Street, McKees Rocks, PA 15136. Burial will be at the family plot in St Mark’s Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, please donate to the American Red Cross or the Lemesh Holleran Scholarship Fund. To send condolences visit: www.mccreryandharra.com.
