Wikipedia:Deceased Wikipedians/2010

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2010

Rest in peace, deceased Wikipedians. We promise we will never forget your contributions.

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Ricardo Arturo Lafaurie, Jr. (JuJube)

Ricardo Arturo Lafaurie, Jr. succumbed to his longstanding health problems on January 2, 2010. Rick had been very sick his entire life; his family had been warned that he would not see his 16th birthday. Rick managed to fight until his 31st year, when circumstances conspired to keep him away from an emergency room when his lungs failed – he was taken off ventilation several days later. Going by the username JuJube on Wikipedia, as well as Danny Lilithborne on other online collaborative websites, JuJube was most well known online as a prolific poster on the Shoryuken.com forums as the regular Dasrik, as well as the well received digital author Blankpage. Rick had a very diverse and fulfilling online life to contrast with the offline life his body would not allow him to have.

John Patrick Bedell (JPatrickBedell)

John Patrick Bedell instigated the 2010 Pentagon shooting whereupon he was immediately shot by two police officers acting in self-defense. He died a few hours later. A prolific originator of ideas and proposals (many of which were posted to his userpage), Bedell had bipolar disorder which he attempted to self-medicate with marijuana. Bedell had contributed a few hundred edits to Wikipedia, with a particular focus on conspiracy-related topics, as well as to Wikiversity and Meta Wiki. His editing activity spanned from late 2006 to mid 2007, with the exception of several minor edits in 2009. The notoriety of his death led to debate about the transparency of some aspects of Wikipedia policy inasmuch as his userpage was promptly expunged after his death via suppression; this action was later reversed and the page was instead subjected to revision deletion.

Steven Patrick Dhuey (Walloon)

Steven Patrick Dhuey

Steven Patrick Dhuey, born December 25, 1959, died on June 2, 2010, of a pulmonary embolism. Dhuey, who described himself as a "law student, journalist, and former book editor", was a prolific, long-term contributor to Wikipedia, having been active as User:Walloon from 2003 until just a few days before his death.

John Bruno Hare (Brujo)

John Bruno Hare, born July 8, 1955, died on April 27, 2010, at the age of 54 after succumbing to melanoma. Under the username Brujo, he was an active editor on Wikipedia since 2004, registering in 2006 and making his final known edits in 2007. A computer programmer by profession, he studied linguistics (Bachelors of Science) and anthropology at the University of California at Santa Cruz, Kresge College. In the late 1990s, John founded sacred-texts.com, an archive of mostly public domain religious texts.

Michael Pumphrey (Mkpumphrey)

Michael Pumphrey died July 25, 2010, at the age of 54. Under the name Mkpumphrey, he was an active editor at Wikipedia since 2007, and contributed to many articles on military history and World War II. He was survived by his wife of 30 years and two daughters.

Marcin Alfutowski (Joymaster)

Marcin Alfutowski (Joymaster)

Marcin Alfutowski died tragically in a car accident on November 4, 2010, at the age of 32. As he wrote about himself: "I became a Wikipedian in August 2004 by accident: I was looking for some information. I got fascinated with the idea of this encyclopaedia and registered and started contributing on March 13, 2005." Marcin contributed to Wikipedia under the nickname of "Joymaster"; he was an administrator of Polish Wikipedia from December 14, 2006, up to his resignation in March 2007 and of Wikimedia Commons from February 11, 2006, to November 10, 2007. He was a professional soldier and the military was his main interest on Wikipedia; he had played a vital role in Wikiproject:Military. At the time of his death he was the 68th most contributing user of Polish Wikipedia with over 38,000 edits.

Kevin B. Thompson (Kbthompson)

Fire engine in the Hackney museum:
The last image uploaded to Wikipedia by Kbthompson, in April 2010

See Wikipedia condolences here

Kevin B. Thompson was born in London, England, in 1955 and died on December 10, 2010, in London, after a brave struggle with cancer. He is survived by his wife. He was a computer professional and an art, architecture and theatre lover, with interests in psychology, education and citizens' rights. Thompson contributed over 40,000 edits to Wikipedia, particularly on topics relating to London and theatre, and he served as an administrator on the English Wikipedia for about three years. He wrote, "I was born in the East End to a long line of ne'er-do-wells, at last count stretching back to 1585. A friend once said his 'family came to Bow to sell horses, they're still there because the public transport is so shit'. My family's experience must have been much the same." Of his WP interests, he wrote: "General interest in Hackney & The East End. Producer of tortured and lengthy, uncited prose - so, all collaborating editors welcome! Some knowledge of local history - moderate ability to research the rest. Also, interested in listed buildings and music halls. Will add a 'fact' anywhere, if it helps illuminate the world." He also wrote: "I have lived in Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets, the City of London, Leeds, Luxembourg, France and New York." He was a generous collaborator, a patient and helpful administrator and a nice man.

David Ostfeld (Davost)

Until his passing on December 28, 2010, Dr. David Ostfeld served as Admissions Chair of Bergen County Academies, a magnet public high school located in Hackensack, New Jersey. He was one of the founders of AAST, the first Academy at the school. Ostfeld attended a performance of the Nutcracker with members of his family on December 26. The morning after, he suffered a sudden heart attack. As well as serving as admissions chair, he taught AP chemistry. He was a beloved member of the community, a humble and generous man. "Words cannot express the impact that Dave has had on the Academy community since its inception and I am certain that the news of his death will be difficult for our entire staff as well as current and former students."—Russell Davis, current principal of the Bergen County Academies. Ostfeld was a leading contributor to articles related to the Bergen County Technical Schools, as well as articles corresponding to other school systems in the neighborhood.

Tim Westbrook (Stilltim)

Stillman "Tim" Foote Westbrook, known on Wikipedia as "Stilltim", was born on October 7, 1949, in Pittsburgh and died on October 5, 2010, in his home in Newark, Delaware.

Terry Koeckritz (TK-CP)

Terry Koeckritz was born on December 28, 1950, and died on December 17, 2010. He worked as a computer consultant in Reno, Nevada. He was an administrator on Conservapedia under the username "TK". He made 316 edits on the English Wikipedia, mainly to Conservapedia and Talk:Conservapedia.

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