Mario Jeckle, a valued contributor to a variety of W3C efforts, died in an accident on 11 June 2004. His loss is felt tremendously by the W3C community, particularly in his native Germany, where he was extremely effective in building awareness of W3C technologies.
Remarks: Steve Bratt, COO | Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director and TAG Co-Chair | Klaus Birkenbihl, W3C German-Austrian Office
I am saddened to report the accidental death of Mario Jeckle on Friday 11 June 2004.
Prof. Jeckle was an active participant at W3C in the XML, Web Services, Semantic Web, and Device Independence Activities. He served as W3C Advisory Committee Representative for DaimlerChrysler and in 2004 was elected for a two year term to the W3C Technical Architecture Group (TAG).
Prof. Jeckle authored many books on W3C technologies, such as XML Schema, and translated many other W3C specifications, encouraging their greater adoption in the German IT industry. His willingness to participate in many W3C events sponsored by the W3C Germany-Austria office contributed substantively to building both awareness of the value of W3C and of its technical achievements.
Prof. Jeckle served on a wide variety of boards, many of which may be found on his website, http://www.jeckle.de/
W3C extends its heartfelt sympathies to all who had the pleasure of knowing him. We are honored to have worked with Mario and will miss him greatly.
Steve Bratt, COO, W3C
21 June 2004
Last week, we received news that Mario Jeckle, the most recent addition to the TAG, was tragically killed in an automobile accident on June 11. We were all shocked, saddenned, and will miss him very much.
The following message was read, in translation, at his funeral service last Friday:
Mario's work in the World Wide Web Consortium embodied the best of collaboration; by volunteering his valuable time and talents he helped develop an environment that can be shared by people, and bring them together to learn, to grow and come to common understandings.
By applying his technical knowledge to a number of diverse work areas inside W3C, and then carrying it into other cultures through his translation and teaching, he helped open the world of Web development to ever more creative and gifted people. His recent election by his peers to our Technical Architecture Group was a recognition of the value of both his past and potential contributions.
The time I had to work directly with Mario was far too brief. Yet in that time, Mario applied himself to the difficult task of joining an established group with energy and enthusiasm. While we are not able to look at new future contributions from Mario, we can continue to see the fruits of his work as new developers read his books, develop new programs, and continue his legacy of building a World Wide Web. He leaves behind excellent work with value beyond today, and a Web Community who will both appreciate and miss him.
Please accept my sincere condolences to the Jeckle family, and to Barbara Zengler, his fiancee.
Sincerely,
Tim Berners-Lee
Mario Jeckle ist tot. Bei einem tragischen Verkehrsunfall kam er ums Leben. Mario Jeckle war W3C AC-rep von Daimler Chrysler Research und sicher das aktivste und engagierteste Mitglied in der deutsch-österreichischen Region. Er hat sehr viel zur Arbeit von W3C in der Region beigetragen: er entwickelte neue Ideen, arbeitete bei Übersetzungen mit, gestaltete Konferenzen und Workshops. Kürzlich erst ist er in die W3C-Technical Architecture Group gewählt worden, eine Aufgabe, der er sich ebenfalls mit viel Elan widmete.
Vor allem aber war Mario Jeckle ein guter Freund. Immer offen und hilfreich und immer dabei, die Dinge voran zu bringen: entweder in direktem persönlichen Kontakt, u.a. als Referent oder Professor, oder durch Einsatz der Technologie, zu deren Weiterentwicklung er so viel beitrug, durch zahllose Informationen und Hilfen auf seiner Website.
Unser aufrichtiges Mitgefühl gilt der Familie Jeckle und Barbara Zengler.
Klaus Birkenbihl