# Día de Muertos

**Remembering PHP community members who have died**

By Ben Ramsey

Published on November 1, 2015


I'm fascinated by the Mexican traditions observed on [Día de Muertos][day-of-dead], or Day of the Dead. It's a time for celebrating and remembering friends and family who have died.

This year, we have lost a few members of the PHP community, and on this Day of the Dead, I wanted to take a moment to remember some of the PHP community members who have died over the past few years.

If I am missing anyone, please use the comments to remember others, and leave your own remembrances for these.

Richard "Cyberlot" Thomas
: I met Cyberlot first online in the `#phpc` IRC channel on Freenode. I saw him at occasional conferences, and I was sad to hear of his death in November 2010. He was an active contributor to the Solar framework project. Shortly after his death, [Jeff Moore wrote a post remembering Cyberlot][cyberlot3].

Nick Jones
: Nick was founder of the [PHP-Fusion](https://www.php-fusion.co.uk/) project. The PHP-Fusion project maintains a [book of condolences][njones] remembering his life and contributions.

Jeff Surgeson
: Jeff was a contributor to the Aura and Solar framework projects.

Richard Lynch
: Richard was one of the first people I met in the PHP community, having interacted with him a great deal on the php-general mailing list. He [founded the Chicago PHP user group](/blog/2015/07/chicago-php/), and was always willing to help newcomers with questions.

Jefferson McCree Jones
: I met Jefferson first on IRC in the `#phpc` channel. He attended the second PHP Appalachia, and I began taking him to Atlanta PHP meetings. We were roommates at a number of conferences, and his enthusiasm for technology and jovial attitude touched many. Jefferson was a great friend. I miss him dearly.

Mike Dugan
: Mike was an active member of the PHP community and frequent blogger. [Kayla Daniels](https://twitter.com/kayladnls) set up a [memorial fund for his family](https://web.archive.org/web/20150327201224/http://rememberingmikedugan.com/) in his memory.

Alex King
: Alex was a contributor to WordPress, having begun working with the project in its early b2 days. [Matt Mullenweg wrote a post remembering him][king].


[day-of-dead]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_the_Dead
[lynch]: http://richardlynch.blogspot.com/
[lynch-archive]: https://web.archive.org/web/20151029172826/http://richardlynch.blogspot.com/
[lynch2]: https://www.facebook.com/ramseyben/posts/10153847849785702
[lynch2-archive]: http://web.archive.org/web/20151029173120/https://www.facebook.com/ramseyben/posts/10153847849785702
[jjones]: http://pondersfuneralhome.com/mr-jefferson-mccree-jeff-jones/
[jjones-archive]: https://web.archive.org/web/20151029172711/http://pondersfuneralhome.com/mr-jefferson-mccree-jeff-jones/
[jjones2]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_ZLFJmg8-4
[njones]: https://www.php-fusion.co.uk/infusions/book_of_condolences/condolences.php
[njones-archive]: https://web.archive.org/web/20151029172403/https://www.php-fusion.co.uk/infusions/book_of_condolences/condolences.php
[dugan]: http://rememberingmikedugan.com/
[dugan-archive]: https://web.archive.org/web/20151029172318/http://rememberingmikedugan.com/
[cyberlot]: https://www.phparch.com/2010/12/the-community-mourns-the-passing-of-richard-cyberlot-thomas/
[cyberlot-archive]: https://web.archive.org/web/20151029174130/https://www.phparch.com/2010/12/the-community-mourns-the-passing-of-richard-cyberlot-thomas/
[cyberlot2]: http://paul-m-jones.com/archives/1708
[cyberlot2-archive]: https://web.archive.org/web/20151029175046/http://paul-m-jones.com/archives/1708
[cyberlot3]: http://web.archive.org/web/20101216031515/http://www.procata.com/blog/archives/2010/12/10/richard-thomas
[king]: http://ma.tt/2015/09/remembering-alex-king/
[king-archive]: https://web.archive.org/web/20151029174017/http://ma.tt/2015/09/remembering-alex-king/
[wallsmith]: http://kriswallsmith.net/donate
[wallsmith-archive]: https://web.archive.org/web/20151029180443/http://kriswallsmith.net/donate