While I am honored to be among those who contribute to this legacy, it saddens me that it had to come so soon. I met Maurice and Marcia as they were leading a team of friends and family in Abu Dhabi to lend a helping hand in emptying the home of one of our dear friends, Neville Bryan who left us too soon. No sooner had we begun to roll up our sleeves, and Maurice and I found out he had been instrumental in the life of my Department Chair's son! What a small world. Maurice's funny personality was an immediate hit and from then on, I was blessed to visit Marcia and Maurice often, even when Maurice had to be hospitalized. Sitting in his hospital room, listening to him cracking jokes, and craving arabic breads, I will not forget those moments. Suddenly we just seemed like family, and we kept it like that. Maurice was instrumental in helping me organize a field trip for my students in Environmental Policy, to learn about the government, and they enjoyed every bit of it, to date, faculty remembers that wonderful gesture from Maurice, to make sure our students were exposed to experiences they otherwise would not have had. I am not the only one who thought so...
As my Department Chair said when I broke the news of Maurice's passing to her "Thanks for letting us know about Maurice, we were devastated by the news and Wilhelm, my son who has had Maurice as one of the biggest role model since he was very young, has got to experience a real sense of loss. Maurice was one of his anchors during his entire childhood, and thanks to him, Wilhelm learnt not only to play football but also to be a good human. He was a man of honor, and extremely funny!"
So Maurice my brother, I used to tease you in that now that we are family, I am allowed to tell you what to do LOL! and I treasure the moments we had in Abu Dhabi. May the gates of Heaven receive you with warmth and fun, your job here on earth was short in our eyes, but God knows he has greater days for you. Well done my brother, well done. With much love from the U.S.
Ludmilla & Bryant