[KHall]

I knew this man, heck I’ll come right out and say it: I loved this man.

How could you not love such a kind, gentle, patient and generous man? Words fail me here. The term may be technically inappropriate, but it’s the only word I know that describes people like Art: he was a saint.

Shock, disbelief, anger, and now just tears. There is no Earthly or logical way to understand these events. It seems as if old scratch found a troubled mind and used it to destroy a major force for good.

This should cause us to stop and think about what we are really doing at FIRST. Are we just training engineers? Are we simply steering young people towards success? There is something deeper happening here. FIRST has a stated goal of changing our culture. By doing this, we’ve joined the fight against ignorance and corruption. It is an ancient fight, and looking around the world today it may seem like we are losing ground to this enemy. But we must never give up.

I urge the FIRST community to think of Art often. Remember his kindness, his patience, and his generosity. We must keep Art alive in our hearts by following his example. We should honor the memory of his life’s triumphs by doing as he did. We have lost a battle, but we cannot allow the enemy to defeat us.

With great sadness, my wife Lori and I offer our condolences to the family and to all those who loved this wonderful man.
As is our custom to say: May his memory be eternal!

Keith Hall