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June 29, 2007

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Phil

What a great loss to the field. Very few speak with such authority for the public good. And he never failed to find a laugh in it too - those Mounted Police in their "great uniforms."

Stuart Johnson

An extraordinary man. Although he was never boorish, you could expect him to tell the hard truth about the field's people and its institutions. This is something very rare in a field where self-censorship is the norm and people amble about in the haze of middle class decorum.

Columbus

Joe was incredible. He had a smile that could charm you and the wit to keep you on your toes. The bottom line with Joe was that he cared about people. He touched so many throughout his life. I was one of the lucky ones who had the opportunity to grow up with him. Cousin Joe will me missed.

Albert Ruesga

Thanks for dropping by, Columbus. I'm very sorry for your family's loss.

A colleague and I were remembering a time when Joe flew into DC in his role as advisor to a national promotion of philanthropy initiative. We had booked him into the Mansion on O Street, a quirky B&B in an old Victorian townhouse. Joe's quarters were furnished by B&B staff with leopard print bedsheets, paintings of half-naked Amazons, and condoms in the night table. He told us he was convinced the room was channeling Barry White.

Doug Stein

Joe was a 1963 graduate of St. Charles Prep (where, I work as director of development) in Columbus, Ohio. His classmates are just now finding out about his death and they are stunned and saddened to say the least. SC had all of his contact information and some of his classmates knew a little bit about Joe's calling -- obvisouly I wish we had known more when he was alive. It appears he was a shining light in the philanthropy and non-profit world. Requiescat in Pace.

Stuart Johnson

It was Joe's moral leadership and intellect that commanded the respect of so many who worked with him. He was never a self-promoter, and he didn't suffer from the inflated sense of self that's endemic to our field. Neither did he suffer fools gladly. This particular quality endeared him to many who saw (and see) in organized philanthropy an overabundance of ninnies and narcissists.

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