The first time the Giants beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl in 2008, Erik Roemer told his mother it was the happiest day of his life. Roemer at the time had Stage 4 brain cancer, but nothing would keep him from watching his beloved team play in the championships. The 2004 James Caldwell High School graduate died less than six months later at the age of 22. 

On Sunday, his mother, Adele Roemer of West Caldwell, brought out the Giants t-shirt and cap she purchased for Erik in 2008, along with a poster-size picture of him holding three beer bottles on his 21st birthday. She displayed the items in the room while she watched New York once again defeat New England.

“There was one star that was shining brighter than all the others last night,” Adele Roemer said Monday.

Meanwhile, Roemer is working so others will not be defeated by brain cancer. She recently dropped in the mail invitations to the second fundraiser she’s organizing in memory of her son. The dinner dance will take place on Saturday, March 24, at Mayfair Farms in West Orange.

The first event held in 2010 raised $42,000. The money was used to create the Erik Roemer Memorial Lecture Series at The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore (CHAM) in New York, where Erik received treatment. Proceeds from next month’s dinner will also go to the lecture series, which brings together top minds in cancer research and treatment.

Adele said her son, who was diagnosed at the age of 20, wished he could help the much younger children being treated at CHAM.

“I never knew that when you raise money for a certain institution, you have a say in what they do with it,” Adele explained. “I didn’t want it to be the 'Eric Roemer Waiting Room.' I wanted it to have an impact. I wanted it to go for research.”

Erik Roemer grew up in West Caldwell and played football for JCHS. He was studying to become an auto mechanic when a series of headaches led him to tests which revealed a tumor in his brain.

His mother said doctors used every type of chemotherapy possible, but his particular type of cancer, Glioblastoma multiforme, would always come back even after scans were clear.

Erik was in many ways a “Giant,” like the team he adored. He was a big guy with a huge smile, and there was no limit to his courage.

With Stage 4 cancer, he went skydiving while on vacation in Florida. A video from that day was shown at his funeral, where he got two standing ovations.

“He just never ever complained,” said his mom. “He used to say, ‘I am not sick. I have cancer.’ To him there was a difference.”

Last May, Adele and her daughter, Lianna, traveled to the Bronx to attend the first lecture made possible by their fundraising efforts. She said she was full of pride when a picture of Erik and his nurse practitioner were displayed at the lecture.

“I am a firm believer in something good comes from something bad,” Adele said. “If my son had to pass away than this is the good that comes from it.” 

To purchase a ticket to the dinner or a raffle ticket, call Adele Roemer at 201-704-0753. To make a donation, visit the Children's Hospital at Montefiore's website.