One of the nicest men I have ever known, Kevin Yauch, died Tuesday while working in his yard with his wife. I don't know his exact age, but he's a lot younger than I am. (Late add - He was 51).
(Photo from Facebook, reprinted with permission)
It is suspected because of recent heart problems that Kevin died of something related to that, but it is hard to believe that someone with a heart as big and good as Kevin's could ever have "heart problems."
In my years with Kevin in the newsroom, I never heard him utter an unkind or foul word. He was cooperative to a fault. He was a Christian witness in the true sense of that statement.
A former colleague of mine, who admittedly has a lot of passion for his work and often showed his passion with sometimes harsh and foul words admitted to me today that Kevin's presence near his desk used to restrain his usual verbal outbursts out of respect for Kevin.
Trust me, that's as close to a miracle as you might see.
I'm sure everyone who ever worked with Kevin has a story of how he "saved" us by recovering some lost copy or thawing a "frozen" computer, but more than that I'm positive there are hundreds of stories about his kindness and gentleness in a room that sometimes lacked both.
Kevin, a wizard at fixing computer problems at the Journal, was one of the many who took the buyouts offered in 2007. So valuable was Kevin to the Journal that he was one of the buyout employees who was kept on as long as possible.
While still working at the Journal last spring, Kevin suffered a major heart attack, which brought to a close his Journal career.
Since then, I understand he and his wife have traveled the world, including luxury cruises and stays in villas. Good for them.
My prayers go out to his wife and family. I don't believe they had any children.
Kevin's death just made a tough day at the paper, a thousand times tougher.
It is suspected because of recent heart problems that Kevin died of something related to that, but it is hard to believe that someone with a heart as big and good as Kevin's could ever have "heart problems."
In my years with Kevin in the newsroom, I never heard him utter an unkind or foul word. He was cooperative to a fault. He was a Christian witness in the true sense of that statement.
A former colleague of mine, who admittedly has a lot of passion for his work and often showed his passion with sometimes harsh and foul words admitted to me today that Kevin's presence near his desk used to restrain his usual verbal outbursts out of respect for Kevin.
Trust me, that's as close to a miracle as you might see.
I'm sure everyone who ever worked with Kevin has a story of how he "saved" us by recovering some lost copy or thawing a "frozen" computer, but more than that I'm positive there are hundreds of stories about his kindness and gentleness in a room that sometimes lacked both.
Kevin, a wizard at fixing computer problems at the Journal, was one of the many who took the buyouts offered in 2007. So valuable was Kevin to the Journal that he was one of the buyout employees who was kept on as long as possible.
While still working at the Journal last spring, Kevin suffered a major heart attack, which brought to a close his Journal career.
Since then, I understand he and his wife have traveled the world, including luxury cruises and stays in villas. Good for them.
My prayers go out to his wife and family. I don't believe they had any children.
Kevin's death just made a tough day at the paper, a thousand times tougher.
2 comments:
Kevin was one of the good guys. I'm very saddened to hear of his passing. He was the most helpful person I've ever known.
One of my friends shared this in a facebook thread we've got going after someone from our high school class died...
"The last enemy to be destroyed is death." - 1 Corinthians 15:26
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