In the wake of the events of Sept. 11, 2001, former Nuggets assistant coach Bill Ficke opened the doors to his restaurant, Big Bill’s New York Pizza in Centennial, and accepted only donations to a 9/11 relief fund for the food all day. His staff contributed all tips too. They raised $32,000.
Shortly after, a second donation day raised $33,000 for the relief fund for the families of a fire department rescue squad near Yankee Stadium that lost six men that day.
Ficke has put on the donation-only days for charity in honor of the 9/11 victims every Sept. 11 since, and will do so again Friday.
“We’ll be ready to have customers at 10 in the morning, and we’ll stay until the dough runs out,” Ficke said.
I met Ficke when I covered the Nuggets. The former Air Force man — and New Yorker — was Doug Moe’s assistant and owned the Fleet Feet athletic footwear store. Bill opened the restaurant in 1995, and it is a hub for figures from the Colorado sports scene.
In recent years, Ficke sent the donation-day money to such charities as the Mount St. Vincent Home in Denver. As this was happening, some knew that Bill’s wife, JoAnn, was continuing a fight with non- Hodgkin’s lymphoma that began with her 1994 diagnosis.
JoAnn seemed more concerned with how others were being affected than with her own condition, even when she underwent exhausting chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant. At the Rocky Mountain Cancer Center, she was renowned for her amazing memory about the families and circumstances of other patients and staff members.
In February 2007, JoAnn — whom Bill calls “a saint on earth” — died. The Fickes’ son, Dan, a basketball player at Loyola of Maryland, and Bill delivered heartfelt, tear-inducing eulogies at the packed funeral. In 2007 and ’08, Bill designated the proceeds from the 9/11 Tribute to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Last year, the event raised $48,000.
“When we sit down at the end of the night, the feeling is like winning the Super Bowl or the NBA championship,” Ficke said.
On Friday, the money will be designated to go to a new foundation — the JoAnn B. Ficke Cancer Foundation. In consultation with the RMCC and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, the foundation will help fund programs that help Colorado cancer patients. The foundation also will benefit from a Jan. 24 dinner at which Moe will be honored.
Ficke has lost so much weight, he now claims to be “Medium” Bill. His heart remains as big as ever.
