Wikipedia talk:Deceased Wikipedians

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This page was nominated for deletion. The result of the discussion was Nomination withdrawn.

I hope people will add to this page as needed. If anyone has any questions or comments about the page, drop me a line. --SouthernNights (talk) 12:42, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] User:Buttered Bread

I am worried about User:Buttered Bread. His userpage says he was born in 1983 with HIV, he edited regularly starting in november, stopped editing in mid-December, and popped back in at Christmas to say he had been very sick and was in and out of the hospital. He has not edited since, and an email I sent a week ago asking if he was OK was not replied to. Raul654 21:12, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

I'm also worried. I noticed the same thing a few weeks back but I did't know how to find out any more info on him. Does anyone know his real name so we could try and find out if he is okay?--Alabamaboy 23:17, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

Well, his first name is Frederick and his last name starts with an E. He's hispanic, lives somewhere in Illinois, and is unemployed. That's not much to go on. If someone had the time and inclination, I suppose (s)he could contact the church of scientology and ask them, um, no... Raul654 23:27, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] A comment

Please do not add people to this list who were never an integral part of the community.

So being an integral part of the Wikipedia community (say: being a wikipedian) starts with 'several hundert edits'? I think it is thoughtful and of a humanist tradition to commemorate those who passed away but on the other hand I feel that every person who registered him or herself to this community is part of the community already. I know that there are significant efforts by some, while others do not have time or intellectual ability to create or enhance/deepen new articles. Therefore I demand that even users who only contribute now and then are being enlisted and therefore commemorated on here. LIllIi 02:18, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

I have no problem with listing editors who only edit now and then and that's why I tried to define "integral" rather loosely, being several hundred edits OR substantial contributions to certain articles. I think that definitions loose enough that any editor who has logged on here more than a few times should qualify.--Alabamaboy 18:33, 31 March 2006 (UTC)

I think "please do not add yourself to this list" goes without saying in this case... =) JIP | Talk 07:51, 20 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Great idea

Very, very good idea for a page. I've often thought about what happens to dead wikipedians. Nice to see you can get a decent burial online. Matt Yeager ♫ (Talk?) 22:53, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Help finding if this user has died?

I fear user User:David91 | talk has died due to a medical condition sometime after April 12, 2006, when he stopped editing and was admitted to hospital for some tests. From my research I am reasonably certain he lived in Singapore (likely in or near Ang Mo Kio which he edited 3 times--but with detail), and was probably the oldest Wikipedian at the age of 94 (based on a reference from 2003 when he said he was 91). I searched for a long time with Google, but didn't come up with much other than his age and his location. I couldn't find his e-mail address anywhere. Apart from his wisdom and knowledge shown in his numerous contributions in law (it seems clear he was a retired lawyer of some kind) and linguistics articles and sociology, he was interested in science fiction (and maybe even wrote some of his own). On Wikipedia he was part of Wikipedia:WikiProject International law (though it didn't really get off the ground) and he made nearly 5000 edits by a quick count. From my research he was also a well-respected member of other Internet communities he was involved in during his retirement.

I don't know if bureaucrats can do this, but he did use an e-mail address to register, and it would be good if someone who has access to it could try e-mailing him, or use his e-mail address to try to find more information. I searched through obituaries, but it's very difficult when all you have to go on is his first name (quite common too) and his age and no definite date. 02:29, 10 June 2006 (UTC)

I've posted a note on my local noticeboard, with this amount of information we may be able to know of his status. - Mailer Diablo 04:01, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] scary

Its a bit frightening to see that 3 out of 4 late Wikipedians appear quite young. EVERYBODY: For God's sake, watch your health! Rama's Arrow 07:35, 10 June 2006 (UTC)

I suspect that an overwhelming majority of Wikipedians are "quite young", which would explain this. So I don't think there's anything to really worry about...but yes, it's good to stretch, leave the house, get some sunshine...and find the nearest wireless hotspot where you can keep editing. --C S (Talk) 08:00, 10 June 2006 (UTC)

Yes, I do agree. --Bhadani 17:29, 24 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] How can living wikipedians ensure that news of their death reaches Wikipedia?

I'd been thinking about this for quite while. What should I do to ensure that the news of my eventual death is clearly established in Wikipedia? I have people in Wikipedia whom I know in person too. And those are likely to know if I'm dead for sure. Probably I should officially endorse a list of such guys so that their word becomes authentic. What else can be done? -- Sundar ^{\talk \contribs} 15:02, 28 June 2006 (UTC)

Unless you want to use your real name at Wikipedia, the best thing is to do as you've done and let other editors here know who you really are. If anything happens to you, I'd assume your friends would pass the word.--Alabamaboy 15:56, 28 June 2006 (UTC)

I was involved in a boating accident about 2 months ago. Nobody was hurt, but afterwards, I started thinking about this. I came to the same conclusion - two other wikipedia editors know me in real life, and should I pass on, I believe they would relay news to Wikipedia. Raul654 17:41, 28 June 2006 (UTC)

Man, it's weird. I've only been editing here for about 2 months or so, and haven't really become enough a part of the community to think of fellow editors as, well, normal people. This page made me think about that. I used to think of them as blank faces behind computers. Now I'll think differently... — the preceding signed comment was added by riana_dzasta • t • c • 13:22, 3 July 2006

The same thing happened to me. I've always thinked wikipedians were part of a computer program or something like that but when i saw this page... This is not the first time i think about those people, but also in forums (as once someone was involved in a hurracan and i could do nothing but wait till he posted something). What i mean is that its shocking to watch a page which tells you right in the face that some articles were wrote by somebody who's dead and tells you all his contributions...--MoniMimi (talk) 18:57, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Actually the lack of known dead contributors reflects the youthful nature of the project and in the real world writers, musicians etc who are dead don't raise an eyebrow. Thanks, SqueakBox 19:10, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Don't let it change your experience. Very, very few Wikipedians end up dead — in our entire worldwide interlingual Wikipedia community, only four people have died. —THIS IS MESSED

OCKER (TALK) 05:41, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

Don't want to be a downer, but that's confirmed deaths. There could be other people that we just don't know about. Yank sox 05:43, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, all Wikipedians will end up dead eventually. Unless you know something I do not. Sosobra 00:33, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

I'd assume you could get a partner or parent to write it on here if you knew you were going to die... ~Crowstar~ 20:47, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] User:HolyRomanEmperor

I'm afraid we'll have to add him to the list now. sighs All so terribly young... —Nightst a llion (?) 09:46, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

I've been following the discussions about HRE on Wikipedia_talk:Requests_for_adminship and I think we need more info before adding him. Best, --Alabamaboy 12:43, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

Apparently he's still alive - he posted on his talk page on 5 July. - THE GREAT GAVINI {T-C} 16:22, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, there's a lot going on around this. Sounds like a sick prank or something.--Alabamaboy 16:25, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

Several people in RFA talk are saying that HRE account was hijacked by one of those Anti-Serb editors, I'm too confused, he's not dead that is for sure. Thanks Jaranda ^{wat's sup} 22:57, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Friends

You asked for any info on User:Xulin, I am the one that set his Testimonial page, feel free to contact me --RzR 01:08, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] User:Xulin

I was looking around I found Xulin's real name, I think. [1] This is a thread about French localisation and the name given was Xavier Bonnafous and his e-mail was xulin@free.fr I put two and two together. — The King of Kings 16:36 July 20 '06

[edit] I was just wondering...

...should there be a disclaimer or info-verification policy for this endeavour? I mean, it is conceivable that a person may fake his death with an accomplice or sockpuppet, and then try to sue WP for maligning him or something. Rama's arrow 03:28, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

The same standards for any Wikipedia article apply here--i.e., referenced information and a willingness to correct the article if info is found to be misleading. The truth is that any Wikipedia article could be subject to fake info and WP sued over that but the project has still managed to succeed without a disclaimer or info-verification policy. I think using the same standards here means we are ok.--Alabamaboy 13:25, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

There was a successful suit against WP over the biography of some American civil servant, whom the article accused of involvement in the Kennedy assassination. I think it would be wise to issue a disclaimer at least. Rama's arrow 19:59, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

Um, no. You are thinking of the Seigethaler incident, but your comment is factually incorrect in almost every respect. Raul654 20:01, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Paulpinson

According to User:Paulpinson's userpage, edited by an anon, he died in a car wreck in 2005. He didn't make many edits, but he started The Ill-Made Knight article. His account made an edit the day the anon made the death announcement, so it may just be another hoax. He provides a lot of information about himself on his userpage, so it shouldn't be hard to check out.--Cúchullain ^t/c 17:46, 2 August 2006 (UTC)

I don't think this is an actual death and seems more like a poor-taste comment made to explain why the editor left Wikipedia. In addition, the editor only made about ten edits overall.--Alabamaboy 19:09, 2 August 2006 (UTC)

The user appears to have edited the article April 1 fifteen hours after the death announcement was made. --Jetman 04:49, 12 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Coma

My buddy User:Rydel stopped replying to my emails and his website was offline for quite a while. Apparently he is in the state of coma. Not dead, thank God, but it is a notable condition for which i didn't find a category. See his blog here - br23 blog. Scroll down, see it at the comments. --Amir E. Aharoni 16:00, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

I added him to Missing Wikipedians. If you want to comment there further, please do.--Cúchullain ^t/c 17:59, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

Thanks. --Amir E. Aharoni 19:06, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] new redirects/shortcuts

On Wheezier Plot, could you explain why you think we need all these new shortcuts? WP:RIP seems reasonable to me, but I have trouble imagining people finding "WP:LATE", "WP:DEMISE", "WP:LOSS", or "WP:GONE" to be particularly useful ways to get to this page. --Allen 07:02, 11 September 2006 (UTC)

Dear Allen aka Amcbride, before should you ask, please see, read, view, and notice the history page first (that is, the past versions of this page) of this Wiki-article, particularly of all the edit summaries that I have "written" them down. Somehow, you might know the true reason which underlies them on why I am including those new shortcuts. Suppose or if you really regard those likely "short" words such as "late", "demise", "loss", and "gone" are deemed as simply redundant to be dealed with for this obituary article, think again! Do think twice and try to look and contemplate at those words especially their general meaning and their relevance carefully and more observantly! But on whatever you have stated here, I will try to consider this matter for myself and will attempt to alter and reduce them to some certain degree though! Thanks! --onWheeZierPLot 07:41, 15 September 2006 (UTC)

Please don't call other users' good faith edits vandalism. You have not explained why you think we need all those redirects listed here, beyond them being synonyms for "deceased."--Cúchullain ^t/c 07:25, 20 September 2006 (UTC)

They're unneeded, I agree. Ral315 (talk) 23:22, 20 September 2006 (UTC)

Indeed. The existence of the redirects is probably harmless. Mentioning them all here on the page tends to turn this into a macabre joke. - Jmabel | Talk 05:52, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Push

I corrected the error in his listing, but as far as I know he only added a few edits to one article, not "hundreds". He has other tributes on the web at the locations where he made more contributions. I do think it makes sense for his home page to point here, but I am wondering about what this says for the criteria of who gets to be "deceased". --Jaibe 08:27, 12 September 2006 (UTC)

I know. To be honest, I agree with you on this one. However, I also have no desire to remove a deceased editor if another editor felt he/she was worth mentioning, as in this case. Best, --Alabamaboy 12:01, 12 September 2006 (UTC)

I agree with your last sentiment, especially in the case that it can be verified.--Cúchullain ^t/c 20:19, 12 September 2006 (UTC)

I was going to mention his lack of edits, but I thought there was something probably wrong with the "user contribution" function. Not to sound disrespectful to the deceased, but he made a total of eight edits, five of those being main space edits; that's hardly "an integral part of the community". Who added him in the first place? Jumping cheese

^Cont@ct 06:56, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

Push Singh was added by Raul654. Further edits to his listing were made by Raul654, Alabamaboy, 128.2.247.134 and Jaibe. A ecis ^{Dancing to electro-pop like a robot from 1984.} 14:17, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

Wow...thanxs for the research! So what's the consensus on Push? Keep or remove? Jumping cheese

^Cont@ct 06:21, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Given that the two who edited are an integral part of the community, I think the decision should be theirs. Raul? Alabamaboy? - Jmabel | Talk 07:18, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Being that he had only a miniscule handful of edits, I don't object to removing Push. Raul654 07:27, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Whilst on the topic... perhaps a guideline can be created for when someone makes the "Deceased" list-- active time? number of edits? Nephron T|C 07:47, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Agree. Right now it's a vague "several hundred edits". Throwing a random number out there...maybe 500? Jumping cheese

^Cont@ct 11:09, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] David91

I believe he's been posting as an unregistered guest on the Citizendium forums. ★MESSED ROCKER★ 05:33, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

Comment moved from project page. A ecis ^{Dancing to electro-pop like a robot from 1984.} 11:11, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

Can I see the evidence? 18:34, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

This is one of many areas where David91 has been spotted making posts. ★TWO YEARS OF MESSED ROCKER★ 04:37, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Is it really appropriate to list unclear cases?

I am not saying one way or the other, but though the page itself I find respectful, I do question how healthy an idea it is to list people who are "suspected" of dying. Should not extreme conservatism reign on this page. It is one thing to commemmorate real dead, and another to list people who have fallen off the edge of the earth as far as contacting them has proven. For whatever reasons some wikipedians may deliberately choose to avoid contact with their old wikipedian friends, but are in rudely good health. I would ask people to ponder this possibility seriously. -- Cimon Avaro; on a pogostick. 08:34, 24 December 2006 (UTC)

Concur. If I walked out in a huff, I'd hate to see myself described under "Maybe he's dead". - Jmabel | Talk 22:48, 26 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Prediction

I predict that this page will fill up a lot within the next 100 years. -dogman15 21:01, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

A wise prediction.--Alabamaboy 23:16, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

Probably not...since most accounts on Wikipedia are anonymous. Unlike MySpace and mydeathplace, there are no names to associate the accounts with. For example, if John Doe died in a car crash, his friends or people who read his obituary can search for his MySpace account and post farewell messages. On Wikipedia, there are no names to search by. If based on account inactivity, every Wikipedian in WP:MIA can potentially be dead (or retired from Wikipedia without even a message). Only Wikipedians that have revealed their true identity and later died can be properly placed in the page with news sources attached. =) Jumping cheese ^Cont@ct 11:08, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Also we may be able to live greatly extended lives due to modern technology and even most of the older editors may still be alive. Re Jumping Cheese it's a classic case of "how well to people manage their digitalm lives in anticipation of their death?" SqueakBox 15:17, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

It depends on whether most Wikipedians decide to stop editing once they reach a fragile age. Either way, every substantial contributor to Wikipedia will either go to this list or to Wikipedia:Missing Wikipedians. Unless of course if someone becomes a troll and is blocked indefinitely! Gizza^Chat ^© 02:42, 7 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Special:Contributions/Pushsingh

He has only made eight edits. According to The purpose section, he shouldn't be mentioned here, "at least several hundred edits or be known for substantial contributions to certain articles." His contributions weren't very substantial. This list could become very long if people with ten edits are allowed here. Gizza^Chat ^© 02:46, 7 April 2007 (UTC)

I agree. The problem is that I have no desire to stop someone from placing a Wikipedia editor on this page if they are truly dead. As you state, there are a number of editors who've made a few edits here then passed away (such as User:EC).--Alabamaboy 14:14, 7 April 2007 (UTC)

Having just seen this, Push made eight edits over the span of almost two years. His blurb makes it sound like he made huge contributions here, and Raul stated above that he wouldn't mind if Push was removed. He's not at all in the same league as the other entries here, who had made tangible long-term contributions to Wikipedia(s). Some criteria need to be in place, and I would err on the side of the contrib level of the majority of the people already listed. Admittedly, editcount isn't the only way to contribute, but these were dedicated folks, and then there's Push. The article he created has barely been changed, so I am loath to say it was a great contribution. The other one got redirected, again with no addition of content. It's nice to eulogize and praise, but there's honestly nothing here to merit it given the company he is in. Would it be a huge issue if he was removed? MSJapan 01:25, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

Removed per my reasoning above. MSJapan 18:25, 1 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Rydel

According to his user page, Rydel passed away today after several months of illness.--Cúchullain ^t/c 15:44, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for letting people know. I've added him to the main page.--Alabamaboy 18:31, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Month of May

There seems to be a rather large number of deaths in May alone...Uladzimir Katkouski, Tron Øgrim, and Емил Петков. Sniff... =( Jumping cheese ^Cont@ct 19:30, 3 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Osterritter

I removed the guessed reason for his death. There is no proof whatsoever und the User who stated the message on the german lost wikipedians left shortly after that. Such things are way too serious to just guess an state without proof. 80.245.147.81 08:20, 21 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Evidence?

The user Trynton Shines has claimed that Wikipedia has gotten an email about User:Curps's death. I am requesting for someone to look into this. -Yancyfry 02:51, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

That user is the North Carolina Vandal. Vandals say users are dead all the time. Could it be real, yes. Probably not though. It will still be good to have someone look into it though. --(Review Me) R ^ParlateContribs_@ (Let's Go Yankees!) 03:46, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Gaimhreadhan

According to this edit to the Irish Wikipedians' notice board, prominent Irish editor Gaimhreadhan has died.--Cúchullain ^t/c 08:04, 12 August 2007 (UTC)

Per confidential info I have received, this editor is not a candidate for this page. I'm afraid I can't share info more at this time.--Alabamaboy 19:53, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Deceased Dutch Wikipedian

Dutch Wikipedian JacobavanBeieren died this past July. Can someone gather more information on this? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.237.153.147 (talk) 05:23, 13 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Move to meta

I like this page a lot. But I feel its presence on en.wiki is a bit disrespectful to non-en.wikipedians. Because this list isn't exclusively on deceased en.wikidedians, I think it is better of being on meta.wikimedia. This is exactly what meta is for. Mind you there would be a soft redirect left on this particular page so finding the page would be a click away. -- Cat ^chi? 16:34, 27 October 2007 (UTC)

Page would be multilingual there, an obvious + of such a move. -- Cat ^chi? 16:44, 27 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Korenyuk

Based on this edit attributed to a fr.wiki editor (edit summary), User:Korenyuk, who according to his userpage was suffering from Polymyositis and whose Ukranian userpage also seems to have been deleted, died on October 6. I don't know what his level of activity was in either of those Wikipedias, but perhaps a French or Ukrainian speaker can clarify that and whether he should be listed here. Tewfik^Talk 03:40, 4 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Sadness

This is a very sad page, their edits will always appear on articles history, but they aren't here, no more. --Emijrp (talk) 21:29, 27 November 2007 (UTC)

They might not appear forever. Certain users can delete edit histories, I believe there is a way to redirect or move a page in such a way that its edit history is vanquished (a copy-and-paste followed by deletion of the husk), and of course Wikipedia might eventually be rebooted, or altered in a fundamental way, or there might be a future legal requirement that edits are tied to a verified individual, or some other change in the law. The soil piles up on top of the bones until there is only soil. -Ashley Pomeroy (talk) 00:16, 7 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Removed several users from this page

I just removed several users from this page because they did not meet the criteria of being integral members of Wikipedia. We are very generous in defining what it means to be an integral member of the WP community, but it is hard to justify including editors who made only a few edits on this page (especially when these editors were usually editing articles about themselves). Several people have raised this issue with me recently so I decided the time had come to remove several names. I should also point out that the names recently removed were all people who are remembered elsewhere on the web for doing amazing things with their lives; this simply means their talents were not directed at Wikipedia. If there are any concerns about this, please let me know. Best, --Alabamaboy (talk) 16:59, 5 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Utilisateur:Stéphane Tendon

fr:Utilisateur:Stéphane Tendon just left us. If someone speaking french can add him. Thanks. (No memorial has been created at this time). Like tears in rain (talk) 05:27, 31 March 2008 (UTC)

Done. Sorry for the delay. haz (talk) 16:32, 12 May 2008 (UTC)