Stephen Rourke, 1959-2010, RIP

[Cynette]

What heartbreaking news to hear this morning. I was a classmate and friend of Steve's at GMI (Kettering) and remember him as hardworking as well as a lot of fun to be around!

My deep sympathies to his family and friends. There goes another good one.

[delsaner]

I am terribly sorry to hear that 1114 and the FIRST community have lost a valuable mentor. My sincere condolences to Stephen Rourke, his family, and everyone else who has been deeply affected by this loss.

[Bob Steele]

This is a great loss to the FIRST family. The Skunkworks family sends its condolences to Stephen's team and to everyone else who feels this huge loss.

what we do in life echoes in eternity....

[Akash Rastogi]

A terrible loss for all of FIRST. Team 11 and myself offer our greatest sympathies to you Karthik, 1114, and the rest of the NiagraFIRST family.

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[Patriot]

It was with great sadness that we heard about Steve’s passing this morning. From all of us on 2056 we wish to pass on our deepest sympathy to Steve’s family and all of Niagara FIRST. Our thoughts and prayers are with you. He will be missed.

[Foster]

Karthik please pass along our deep regrets in Stephen's passing. While we don't know him first hand I expect across the year to learn more of him and the shaping he did of his teams. We don't often celebrate great mentors when they are alive. The huge celebration later reminds all of us of the mission we are on and how others have made huge goals for us to strive for.

My condolences to the family, you will miss him, but to know that others will miss him greatly will bring the warmth to you that many,many loved him.

With the condolences of team 1640,

[BX HANNAH]

Team 1023 is deeply saddened by this news. We sends our condolences to his family and friends, Team 1114, and anyone else affected by his love of FIRST and who will be missing him greatly. Thank you for being such a great FIRST role model and for everything you did for this program. You will be missed.

[Steve W]

FIRST has lost a great supporter. Stephen had such passion for the program. If you met him you were touched. Please pass on my sincere regret and prayers to the family and the teams that he had such a great influence on. Stephen may have passed on but his legacy in FIRST will continue for many more years.

[Karthik]

I attended Steve's funeral today. The outpouring of support from the FIRST community in Ontario was overwhelming. Steve's family was very moved to see that so many people in FIRST respected, looked up to and loved Steve.

On my way home I was thinking about the impact that Steve had on people. He was known for being an amazing judge of character and talent. Consider this piece of trivia for example. Six people that Steve hired to work at GM St. Catharines went on to win WFFAs with four different teams. Myself (2005, 1114), Derek Bessette (2007, 1114), Ian Mackenzie (2008, 1114), Tristan Lall (2009, 2505), Pat Fairbank (2010, 1503), Tyler Holtzman (2010, 2056). Now some of these people worked much closer with Steve than others, nevertheless it's another amazing facet of the legacy of man who did so much for FIRST.

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Being at the funeral today made me realize something very important that I wanted to share. Throughout our lives and especially in this program we meet a multitude of people who leave indelible marks on us. I'm sure everyone who's reading this post can think of at least five people they've met who have profoundly impacted their lives, whether it be friends, family or mentors. When it comes to these people, please heed my following advice; Let them know how important they are to you. Express your feelings to them and thank them for the impact that they've made. Even if you assume that they already know, it's worth it to tell them. Life can be painfully short and you never know how things could change in an instant. It never hurts to say thank you.

[Chris Fultz]

I did not have the honor to know Stephen, but from the words above I believe he was an incredible person and role model for us all.

Condolences from my family and all of Cyber Blue.

[Karthik]

Here's an article that appeared in today's St. Catharines Standard about Steve's legacy.

http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/A...aspx?e=2886913

[Mr.G]

Nice article. Thanks for sharing it. I will pass it on to people I know in GM that knew Steve. He was a great guy.

[Mr MOE]

On behalf of all of team MOE 365, we recognize a true leader of the FIRST community in Stephen. His families (FIRST and non-FIRST) are in our hearts and minds at this time of loss.

[JudyVandy]

Condolences to Steve's family and to his FIRST family. May he continue to be an inspiration to us all!