Memorial services for Arthur H. Missias, 1948-2010, will be held at the Portage Northern High School Igloo at 1 p.m., Friday, January 29. Somehow it seems appropriate that we say goodbye to Artie  in a place named for extreme cold. I doubt I could even begin to tally all the hours we spent with kids and teams  in the coldest damn rinks all over the Midwest and Ontario. Art gave his all to his players, to the sport of ice hockey, including the American Hockey Association of the U.S. [AHAUS], Portage Northern Varsity Huskies  Hockey, the Kalamazoo Optimist Hockey Association [KOHA], and, most recently to the Bronco Women’s Hockey Club at Western Michigan University. I have no idea how many games or championships  his teams won, but it was a bunch; what I know is that he hated to lose. And he maintained contact with most of his players and considered them family. He, Julie, Chris and Sarah live about 100 yards away from me and I walked Shanahan past the house twice a day. In the afternoons, while Art was in chemotherapy,  he would be out in the sun relaxing and I would hear that  familiar low growly yelp, “HEYWOOD!”  It was the same yell he used in the rinks all through winter. He was one of a kind and had an uncontrolled laugh that could melt a crowd of any size. Art was not physically imposing, but he was a giant in all ways that mattered : Husband, son,brother, nephew, dad, friend, mentor, coach. If they have hockey up where he’s going, I have a pretty good idea who’ll be working the bench, probably already getting stuff organized as we speak.