Photos from Rwanda 2010

Greg is Missed in Rwanda 2011

Last year, Greg traveled to Gitwe, Rwanda to work with Medical Missions for Children. Greg’s friend Shannon, whom he met in Rwanda last year, is there now and sent this note:

. . . Just wanted to send you a message from Rwanda. Today is the last day of surgery in here. Greg has been here in spirit with us the whole time. I know you will be receiving this picture soon. It is a picture of the plaque that now hangs in the operating room here in honor of Greg. MMFC has put it on our facebook page.  . . . 

Greg is very missed here in Gitwe. Many have asked for him here. Just planted a tree in his memory in front of the hospital. The workers here said they will take good care of it. Will tell you more when get home. . . .

In my thoughts,

Shannon

And here is the note from MMFC’s Facebook Page:

We love and miss you, our dear friend and colleague, Greg. This mission was for you. The ceremony, the river rock, the prayers, the tree, the plaque and a piece of every one of our hearts will remain here in Gitwe – where a part of your spirit will sleep peacefully – forever.

And a letter to the family and friends of Greg from Denny at the MMFC.

Dear Judith, Rhoda, Howard, one and all:

This past Friday, March 19, our team had a memorial service for Greg it Gitwe, Rwanda.

The service was outdoors, in front of the Gitwe Hospital, where we planted a tree in Greg’s memory.
The tree is the only tree in this yard, and we will watch it grow and grow it all the years to come.
The minister present even introduced us all to the gentleman who will care for the tree.
It was a beautiful and very moving time for all of us…all the team was in Rwanda after dedicating our mission to Greg.
Ready for this…traffic on the fronting road came to a full stop.

We completed 77 operations on the poorest and most desperate of children and adults.
It seemed as if he was with us the entire time.

When the ceremony was completed, we all saw the full moon break through…although still daylight, he showed up to shine on Greg’s tree.

Next year of course we will look for the balloons, and now we have a recipe for the date( and a beverage of choice!).

With love, admiration and peace, to one and all.

Denny

 

 

From A Friend: Erica Simmons

The first photo is of the two of us sometime Junior Year in high school, the second is senior year after the Music Man, which is why we’re both looking pretty silly.

From A Friend: Ellis Verosub

I am a friend of Greg’s from his early days in San Francisco, and I was deeply saddened to hear about his passing.  Greg and I met through Noah Feinstein in 2000, and we shared our Jewish heritage as well as a love of music.  We jammed together on a few occasions.  We also went hiking together in parks around the Bay Area.  In later years I didn’t see him as often as I wished, mostly at events that Noah hosted, but I always enjoyed spending time with him and watching how he brightened every room he entered.

I would like to contribute these photos to Greg’s online memorial.

From A Friend: Bethany Slater

This is a picture of Greg winning the vascular resident of the year (pictured with Dr. Lee, vascular surgeon at Stanford giving him the award). He was so unbelieavably talented and this shows recognition of a portion of that talent from the Stanford vascular department. All of us at Stanford will miss Greg tremendously and will never forget everything he gave to us and all of the lives he has touched.

From A Friend: Leticia Mendoza

I was very fortunate to have known Greg for the past 5 years. Greg’s charm was undeniable, as was his humble and kind heart and I will always cherish every moment spent with him.

I met Greg during the summer of 2005, when he was a brand-new intern at Stanford. I worked in the cardiothoracic intermediate ICU and we frequently shared patients. I thought I was helping out by “translating” for the patient and Greg in Spanish. He let me do this for about 5 minutes before he started speaking his eloquent Spanish. I was amazed, and embarrassed at the same time (that his Spanish was so much better than mine, and I’m a native speaker)… This was my first encounter with him and I always joked and reminded him about how he made me suffer through my terrible Spanish in front of the patient.

A few images of Greg