Sad Announcement regarding JL moderator

jeremy · 08-30-2004, 10:34 AM

I was just contacted by Brian Proffitt with the following news. As we have a lot of former and current JL/LNO members here at LQ I thought it was appropriate to post this, with permission from Brian. On behalf of the entire LQ community, I would like to express my condolences to Mike's family.

Quote:

It is with deepest sorrow and regret that I must inform the members and visitors of this board of the passing of Michael Watts, a member of our moderator team.

Mike was, without a doubt, the most prolific member of our team, and he was always very generous with his time and talents to help others on this site when it was LinuxNewbie.org and then under the JustLinux banner.

Many in this forum may not have known that Mike suffered for many years from bone marrow cancer. Since my tenure began at LNO/JL, he has fought the cancer three times with chemo and radiation treatments. This most recent battle, it seems, was his last.

While I am the Managing Editor for this site, it has long been clear to me that I was a caretaker on this site. The real drive for helping others and making the site a more pleasant place to be came from Mike and the rest of the moderator team. Mike's example of helping others even as he was ill has profoundly impacted me.

Mike passed away on August 25. His employer does not have any information yet on funeral/memorial services, nor on any sort of memorial contribution. I have been assured that I will be contacted when they learn anything, and I, of course, will pass it along to you.

For me, my thoughts and prayers go to Mike's family and friends in this time in the hopes that they can find comfort, Certainly they will hear from me that his efforts here were outstanding and far above the call.

There is a single thread in the /dev/random forum regarding Mike's passing; feel free to pass along your favorite memories there.

Peace to All,

Brian Proffitt
--
Brian Proffitt
Managing Editor
Linux Today/LinuxPlanet
JustLinux

--jeremy

320mb · 09-04-2004, 09:30 AM

Well I'll be the first to respond then...........Alot of former LNO/JL members may not have liked mdwatts, but he was very intelligent and did his best to
help new Linux users....................

May he rest in Peace!!

The Bad Penny · 09-04-2004, 10:32 AM

My apologies, I thought this was a FYI type thread,

Although I havent done so in many months, I went over to JL last week and posted my condolences there.
I haven't been a member there for long but I had been browsing the forum long before it went from LNO to JL
and I always enjoyed reading his posts.

The impression I got of him was a fair man who took helping people very seriously, but did not suffer fools easily.
at the time of his passing he had nearly 40,000 posts to his credit.

Im not a religeous person, however I sincerely hope there is a heaven and a god waiting for MDWatts,
and that he will find peace there.

laceupboots · 09-04-2004, 02:45 PM

My deepest sympathy to the family and friends. Always hard to lose a loved one. ;_;

Lurker01 · 09-04-2004, 06:12 PM

Im new here and I dont know the guy. But I can imagine he was a good person who helped others in anyway he could. I take a moment of silence to mourn a fallen comrade.

Pcghost · 09-24-2004, 08:36 PM

Mike was a great guy who helped countless numbers of people without pay or appreciation (in some cases). Some may have disagreed with him back when LNO fell apart, but no one can say he wasn't a good man. He helped tens of thousands of people without ever asking anything in return. I owe Mike Watts my job, and the life that came with it. He taught me most of what I know of Linux, and was infinitely patient when I got frustrated. He will be missed.

Sorry to bring up an older thread, but I was on vacation when this happened and never heard of his passing until today. :-(

AudioMechanic · 09-24-2004, 08:40 PM

I send my prayers.

witeshark · 09-25-2004, 03:20 PM

So sorry to hear! My thoughts and prayers to the family and friends