RIP JALT President Kevin Cleary, 1962-2014

From the JALT Board of Directors:

With great sadness we announce that JALT President Kevin Cleary passed away peacefully last night (Wed., Jan. 15) in Kyoto in the presence of family.

{After suffering a heart attack the previous Friday night, before a JALT exec meeting.}

Kevin was an exemplary teacher, author, leader, and most of all, friend.

His passing marks the closing of a tragic week for his family but begins a longer and very difficult period for everyone. Many of you have already offered to help in any way that you can. As soon as we know how you can be of assistance to Kevin's wife and children, we will let you know.

Funeral services were on Wed., Jan. 22 at Saint Ignatius Catholic church, Sophia University, Tokyo.

The warm and caring outpouring of support for Kevin and his family is
no surprise to those of us who knew him. The many emails and other
messages have been comforting and are a genuine expression of the love
and respect people have for Kevin. We will communicate all of your
condolences to his wife Naoko Fujiwara 藤原直子様（奥様）and children Kirsten
and Atticus.

We will all miss Kevin.

From the Board of Directors

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Here are just a few practical details to share:.

1. 弔電（Choden) Condolence telegram
If you wish, please send these care of the church by noon on Jan.22.

聖イグナチオ教会
〒102-0083　東京都千代田区麹町6-5-1
〒102-0083　Chiyoda-ku, Koujimachi 6-5-1, Tokyo, Japan
電話：03-3263-4584
喪主：藤原直子


2. Condolence cards
If you wish to send a condolence card, please mail it to JALT Central
Office. We will collect all of the cards and take them to the family.

JALT Central Office
Urban Edge Building, 5th Floor 1-37-9 Taito, Taito-ku, Tokyo 110-0016
〒110-0016 東京都台東区台東1-37-9 アーバンエッジビル5F JALT事務局
Tel: 03-3837-1630 Fax: 03-3837-1631 Email: jco@jalt.org

~~~~~~~~~~~

Osaka Chapter President Bob Sanderson has these words of condolences on behalf of Osaka JALT:

Kevin Cleary's sudden and unexpected death is a real tragedy and a terrible loss for all who knew him. He was a truly gentle soul, uncommonly mild-mannered and even-tempered, incredibly intelligent with no sense of arrogance whatsoever, a husband, father, author, and a tireless worker and great president for JALT. He took time out of his busy schedule to attend our Osaka/Kobe Tech-Day-Plus mini-conference this past September, which we greatly appreciated, and after our post-conference dinner party I had the pleasure of taking him out for drinks privately where he shared with me how much he really loved the work he was doing for JALT. He made a huge impact on the organization in many ways such as by helping streamline and improve treasury and database systems, but perhaps most notably by presiding with such mild-mannered yet firm authority at what might otherwise be rather contentious board meetings. He will be sorely missed and remembered very fondly by many. We extend our deepest condolences to his family and friends.