Foo - When coworkers die...

it really sucks. Last month right before Thanksgiving, one of my coworkers, Sandi Payne, died suddenly of a blood clot that got stuck in an artery. She had been on medical leave recovering from knee surgery and rehabing at home quite well. She was a great friend to me and had been my mentor when I first started at my current company. She had just turned 50 and had her first grandchild.

Today. Another coworker, Ramon Johnson, passed away at a hospital in Fort Worth.
At work yesterday he had complained of having a migraine and then suddenly lost feeling in his left arm. 911 was called and he was taken to the local hospital. They said he had bleeding on the brain and careflighted him to Fort Worth. He apparently had 2 strokes and a seizure before getting to there. This morning he had an aneurysm and there was nothing they could do. I did not know Ramon as well but I had several conversations with him over the last couple of years and deeply respected him as a coworker. He was 35.

I don't really know if I have a pint to this thread or not. I just needed to get this out. Until Sandi, I had not had anyone I knew well die in a long time, so this just compounds it.

Anyways, if you have a drink tonight and feel the urge, please give a toast to Sandi and Ramon. I'll miss them.

Fred

I'm sorry, and that does suck.

I will give a toast to Sandi and Ramon tonight if I drink (and even if I don't)

Cheers

Baiskeli

It happened to me last year. A guy in the next department had a heartattack and died at work. He was fairly new but we had spoken on occasion. He seemed in good health. And he was a year younger than me. Boy, that really gets you thinking.

Empathy here, too.
We lost a coworker to Cancer, but the worst thing is that we heard the news from someone OUTSIDE of the organization.

Fred, I'm really sorry to hear about what's happened recently. I can only imagine what you're going through.

Fred, here here. I know your pain, having lost a good friend from work a year ago. He was hired as a Sr. Accountant, but left the company to work somewhere more challenging.

Unfortunately, his new job had him working long hours where he succumbed to a combination of pneumonia and Sickle Cell Anemia. I will never forget my friend, Carl Rheindorf, who had a heart of gold, a great love of basketball and soccer and he possessed a great sense of humor. He left his fiance and their 3 year old daughter.

[edit: He was 28]

sorry about your friends, that sounds rough

I was bummed out enough when my boss left for another job (I was happy for him, but it still sucked)

One of my coworkers had a terrible headache, passed out, went to the hospital, and died a couple days later. They don't know why. She was only 52.

It's such a loss.

not to sound like an ass, but i think my boss is going to die soon. he is huge, and makes all kinds of bad noises in the bathroom, sounded like he was going to cough up a lung on friday. our offices are only 4 feet apart, but he calls me on the phone to talk. he is certainly not a healthy man. i feel bad for the guy

Although there has been a co-worker or to die where I work, it was never anybody I knew very well.

However, my manager (who's a good one) had a young daughter (about 3 when I started working dept.) who was battling some kind of cancer. She was sort a department mascott. He brought her to many little company parties and such and everybody got to know her and was sort of a "part of her struggle" pulling for her.

After about a year or two, she finally lost the battle and it was rough on everybody in the department. Nearly everybody in the 100+ person department came for her memorial service.

Man, that sucks. One of the guys in our repair dept. got killed in a motorcycle wreck a couple months ago. Saw and spoke with him quite a bit. He was a true biker-rode his Harley in to work every day in rain, snow, etc. I heard, afterward, that he had been drinking before the accident. Damn shame he went out like that....

We also lost a coworker in October. I didn't know him personally(he worked days, I'm on nights), but he was also a soldier. KIA on deployment in Iraq. Made Veterans' Day that much more poignant for us. They're both greatly missed.:(