Steve Jobs Legacy
The following article is original content submitted by Recovered.
Steve Jobs Legacy
Steve Jobs lived an incredible life. Much will be written about his legacy and the indelible imprint he left on this life. He is arguably one of the most visionary men of our century. He did for technology what Henry Ford and Thomas Edison had done in the previous century with industry.
Steve Jobs redefined “cross-over” appeal. People of all races, languages and cultures embraced him as the change agent he was. There has been much written about his mercurial temper and his pursuit of the next big thing.
His ability to bring disparate groups of people together via technology and his inventions far surpasses any other human being on the planet. Wouldn’t it be nice if the Democrats and Republicans could do the same? Better yet; the Republicans and President Obama?
Categories: tributes Tags: burial arrangements, funeral, funeral home, newspaper, obituary
How Do You Want To Be Remembered?
Funerals are usually the last place you’d expect to learn, let alone have fun and laugh, but that’s exactly what the deceased want to happen at this service.
Romeo Theatre Company students and their director will make a return during the Victorian Festival to make history come alive by holding a Victorian funeral re-enactment.
The performance will be held at noon at the First Congregational Church on Saturday, May 16. Pre-sale tickets are $8 and tickets at the door will be $10. Children’s tickets are $5.
Like last year’s mock wedding, entertainment and education will be used to inform the audience of the superstitions and etiquette of Victorian-era funerals, said Rebecca Couch, coordinator of the performance.
“Everyone from last year kept saying `we need to do a funeral,’ so I looked into it and another event with a lot of ceremony, etiquette and traditions is a funeral,” she said.
The same cast from the wedding re-enactment will revive their roles, including 2008 graduates Justin Kent and Catherine Raffa as the newlyweds, senior Ryan Hake as the minister and director and instructor Kendra Walls as Kent’s mother, Dixie. The service will be for Dixie, who at the couple’s wedding ironically wore black since she believed she was losing her southern son to a northern woman.
“A lot of the humor will come from the families interacting,” Couch said.
While the northern and southern families try to get along for the funeral, the disembodied spirit of Dixie will wander around, commenting on how her own funeral is going.
“Back then, the fear wasn’t of death, but to die and not be properly mourned,” Couch explained. “No costs were spared for funerals then<they even dyed horses black for the processions.”
Some curious traditions audiences members can keep an eye out for are covering mirrors so the deceased spirit doesn’t become trapped in the glass, or stopping clocks at the death hour.
Like modern funerals, a reception with tea and cake will be held following the performance. It won’t be as long as the traditional wake though, which Couch says lasted three to four days.
“The medical field wasn’t as advanced then, so if someone seemed dead they might’ve just been in a coma or unconscious,” she said. “So they held wakes to see if the person would wake up.”
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Violent Death at the hands of Police
The
Death of a loved one is always sad. Be it accidental or from illness the loss is always painful. When it comes at the hands of those sworn to protect us, it’s sting is particularly painful. By now you may have heard of the young man who was
killed by BART officers in Oakland. The following is the latest account of the shooting.
OAKLAND — A BART police officer struggling to handcuff a 22-year-old man, stood up over the facedown Hayward resident and fired a single shot into his back while a handful of officers watched, a video taken by a train passenger apparently shows.
The attorney for the family of Oscar Grant III, fatally shot by an unidentified BART officer early New Year’s Day, said Sunday he plans to file a $25 million lawsuit against the department and asked prosecutors to consider filing murder charges against the officer.
The shooting occurred shortly before 2 a.m. Thursday after five officers responded to the Fruitvale station to reports of a fight on a train, officials said, though they have not confirmed whether Grant
was involved in the fight.
The new video, obtained by television station KTVU, shows two officers restraining a struggling suspect. While the man is lying face down on the ground, one officer appears to be seen pulling out a gun and firing a single shot into his back.
Civil rights attorney John Burris, known for his work in several high-profile cases involving police abuse and corruption, said at a Sunday news conference that the shooting was “the most unconscionable shooting” he has ever seen. He said that the Alameda County district attorney should consider filing charges of second degree murder or manslaughter against the officer.
“I’ve drafted a notice of claim against BART for $25 million I plan to submit officially,”
Burris said, adding that the officer had violated Grant’s civil rights and caused his wrongful death.
The Police Department is in the early stages of a thorough investigation, BART police Chief Gary Gee said Sunday at a news conference. He declined to discuss many details, as doing so “before all the facts are in could compromise individual recollections and do disservice to the truth and the answers we’re all seeking.”
BART police are cooperating fully with a parallel investigation by the Alameda County district attorney’s office, Gee said.
Gee declined to identify the officer but said he is a two-year BART police veteran. The officer was given drug and alcohol tests before being sent home on administrative leave Thursday, Gee said.
The last BART officer-involved shooting occurred in May 2001, Gee said.
Mario Pangelina Jr., whose sister had a 4-year-old daughter with Grant, said he was on the same train as Grant that night, but on a different car. He said he saw Grant’s interactions with police immediately before the shooting.
“First, an officer grabbed Oscar by the neck and pushed him against the wall,” Pangelina said. “Oscar didn’t fight him, but he didn’t go down either. He was like, ‘What did I do?’ Then another officer came up with his Taser and held it right in his face. Oscar said, ‘Please don’t shoot me, please don’t Taser me, I have a daughter,’ over and over again, real fast, and he sat down.”
Grant was the only man in a small group sitting against the wall who was not handcuffed, Burris said, so officers grabbed him away from the wall and pressed him belly-down onto the ground.
“One officer was kneeling over his neck and head, and another standing over him,” Burris said. “He was not kicking, and one officer was pulling on his arm. The standing officer pulled out his weapon and, within moments, fired the gun into Mr. Grant’s back.”
Burris said the bullet went through Grant’s lower back and ricocheted off the ground up into his lungs, killing him.
BART’s 206 sworn officers attend the same academies and training programs as city police and sheriff’s deputies. According to BART’s Web site, its requirements go beyond state guidelines, as every officer applicant must have completed at least a year of college.
Police have one video of the incident in evidence, different from the video that local media have released, and the quality of that video makes it hard to reach a sure conclusion, Gee said.
“It’s not clear to me why the officer felt he needed to shoot. I don’t know, and from my perspective it doesn’t matter,” Burris said.
Two authorities on police use of deadly force, both former law enforcement officers, said the newly discovered tape leaves unanswered questions.
“Strictly on the basis of this video, it is impossible to determine whether the shooting was justified because the officer who fired the shot might have seen some imminent threat to his or others’ lives that the camera does not detect at that distance, angle and resolution,” said Michael Scott, a University of Wisconsin law professor, former police chief in Florida and co-author of “Deadly Force: What We Know.”
Scott said he watched the video several times. If there was a threat, he wrote in an e-mail to the Times, it “would most likely have to be a firearm or other weapon in the possession of Mr. Grant. However, if it turns out that Mr. Grant had no such weapon, it is awfully difficult to imagine what might have justified the use of deadly force.”
Curtis J. Cope agreed that the tape doesn’t show enough to draw clear conclusions.
“There are so many things we don’t know,” said Cope, a former 30-year law enforcement officer who has conducted police training and provides expert testimony in police procedure cases. “We certainly don’t know the reason why they decided to put him prone on the ground. We don’t know what reactions were taking place, what orders were being given and whether or not he is then complying or not complying. … You need to look at every possible angle of it. Those angles all take time.”
Grant was a butcher at popular Oakland grocery store Farmer Joe’s and a loving father, family members said Sunday.
“He was so happy with his daughter,” said Lita Gomez, sister to the mother of Grant’s child. “You could see he was just so happy when he looked at her. Now, he’s not going to be there for kindergarten. He’s not going to be there for her prom. He’s not going to be there for her wedding. She was robbed of that.”
Family members erected a memorial for Grant outside the Fruitvale BART station Saturday night, where they said they plan to continue honoring his memory for 10 days.
A public funeral service is planned for 11 a.m. Wednesday at Palma Ceia Baptist Church, 28605 Ruus Road in Hayward, family members said.
Gee asked anyone with information on the shooting to call BART investigators at 877-679-7000, ext. 7040, or the Alameda County district attorney’s office at 510-272-6222.
Staff writer John Simerman contributed to this report.
Deadly force on BART
· Officer David Betancourt, a 22-year law enforcement veteran, shot a naked Bruce Seward outside the Hayward BART station before dawn on Memorial Day in 2001. Seward, 42, was asleep on a bench and appeared unconscious. After calling for an ambulance, Betancourt approached when Seward woke up, grabbed the officer’s nightstick and swung, smacking the patrol car, police said. Betancourt used pepper spray on Seward, but it had no effect, police said. Family members and mental health advocates decried the shooting, but a BART review cleared Betancourt of wrongdoing.
· BART police Officer Fred Crabtree was cleared of wrongdoing after he shot an unarmed 19-year-old man, Jerrold Hall, from behind at the Hayward station in 1992. Crabtree died in 1996, apparently hanging himself. Hall’s father, Cornelius Hall, sued the agency and won what he calls a small settlement.
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Needless Tragedy
Sadly, situations like the one listed below will continue to reoccur over and over. We can intervene and help our youth.
OMAHA, Neb. — Anthony Ray died violently Saturday, not knowing that he was getting closer to his ultimate wish: To be adopted.The 15-year-old was found dead inside the home of his foster family near 37th Street and Bedford Avenue. He had a gunshot wound to the head.Police arrested 12-year-old Kameron Jones in the case. The Douglas County attorney will decide Wednesday whether to file charges.
Social workers said Ray grew up in the Nebraska foster care system, all the while, wishing for a permanent loving family. Court documents show he was removed from his home around age 5 because of abuse and neglect.“He had a long, hard life. But he had a solid ten months and a whole huge family who cared about him,” said Brenna Poindexter, an adoption caseworker who counseled Ray for more than two years.
Poindexter’s job was to recruit a family for Ray and more than 20 other state wards on her caseload. The two would watch Harry Potter movies together, talk and eat Chinese food.“He like anything fried,” she laughed.They often sat quietly at the zoo watching the white tigers, Ray’s favorite animal.“I’ll just remember him learning to enjoy life and those little things he was missing,” said Poindexter.
The boy was placed with a foster family last year and Poindexter said Ray was thriving in the home.“He grew being there, emotionally. He also grew up physically. He doesn’t fit in my car anymore. He grew up so much there. He felt at home and everything just took off from there,” said Poindexter, who works for Adoption Links Worldwide, under a grant from the Dave Thomas Foundation in a program called Wendy’s Wonderful Kids.Poindexter said his new foster mother was perfect for Ray and the woman planned to surprise him at Christmas with the news that she wanted the boy in her home permanently.
Ray was featured in a KETV Newswatch 7 report two years ago as part of a project to recruit families for older children.“I want to be adopted,” he said in an on-camera interview, leading horses inside a barn at Omaha’s Cooper Village and talking to the animals in a gentle voice.Social workers talked about his manners and kindness.In a letter to his caseworkers, Ray expressed his wishes to find an adoptive family, requesting a parent who was strict and who would love him and care about him and not get mad at him when he did something wrong.”He was starting to understand what love was. He would ask his foster mother, ‘Is this was love is?’ And she would say, ‘Yes, that’s what love is,’” Poindexter recalled.
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We Use To Be Safe At Church
You can’t turn on your television, open a newspaper or go on the internet without being reminded of the needless trageidies that occur on a daily basis. Below you will see the most recent example of the madness that permeiates our society.
According to Covington Police, just before 11 a.m. Saturday, Donald Fairbanks Sr., Senior Paster of the New Saint Paul Missionary Baptist Church in Cincinnati’s West End was killed.
Fairbanks arrived to the Ninth Street Baptist Church in Covington to attend a funeral. Before entering the funeral, he was allegedly shot by Frederick Davis.
According to court records, Davis has made multiple threats to Fairbanks and his family.
Saint Paul’s Associate Minister Dowdell Cobb was also wounded in the shooting. Police say Cobb was taken to University Hospital in stable condition.
Fairbanks was pronounced dead at Saint Elizabeth Medical Center.
Fairbanks’ friends say they’ve lost a mountain of a man.
“In an area where others who have churches down there are trying to get out of that area and move somewhere else, he was dedicated to the community and building it up and he was building the people up,” said local Pastor and friend Peterson Mingo.
“He would always give any part of himself if he saw someone in need. That’s the kind of individual that he was,” said Cincinnati Council member and friend, Cecil Thomas.
Church members say throughout his 22 years at Saint Paul, Fairbanks helped countless people.
“Through our outreach ministries, shared with people, via the word of God. Also food ministries, our educational ministries,” said church member Angela Williams.
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Dove Release
Funeral planning has become more open to new ideas as mentioned above in video tributes. Another trend that does not increase burial costs substantially is doing something as simple as dove release at the conclusion of the funeral ceremony. The release of white doves at the conclusion of a funeral service is lovely metaphor for the release of the spirit into heaven. This service can be provided for a nominal fee. Most funeral homes and funeral planners can assist the family with this warm and touching service.
At the end of the graveside service, family members release the doves from beautifully decorated baskets. The flock ascends into the sky and circles the area awaiting the spirit of the loved one to join them. Moments later, a single white dove, representing your loved ones spirit, is then released by a family member. The spirit dove joins the flock of “Angels” and all together they make the spiritual flight home.
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Video Tributes
Video Tributes are becoming more popular with funeral planning guides and planners. This is a great way to allow out of state family and friends to share in a final farewell to a departed loved one. Sometimes loved ones can’t attend for any number of reasons. Video tributes allow family and friends to celebrate the life of a loved one from long distance.
Given society’s mobility and the new model for the “extended” family this service is invaluable! Burial costs and well as expenditures of family and friends who now live on the other side of the county now have a way they can participate. Video tributes and be broadcast via web conference or recorded on to DVD for later viewing or can be uploaded to a website for viewing worldwide! As families become more disbursed and mobile, this method of memorializing will continue to increase in popularity.Send well wishes
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