You don’t expect colleagues who go on holiday to not return. You don’t expect them to pass away in an elevator in their hotel whilst enjoying quality time with their families. And still it sometimes happens.

How swift the night that steals a comrade’s breath,
When youth’s bright vigor once so plainly shone;
In holiday’s embrace, he found his death,
And left us stunned, the morning hope now gone.

He loved to race the wind, to grill at dusk,
While children’s laughter lit the fading day;
Beside his wife, he shed all worldly husk,
As love’s warm glow kept every care at bay.

Within these halls, his humor eased our gloom,
He guided us with words of steadfast cheer;
A throng now grieves, assembled in one room,
Where memories unite, so bright and dear.

O sorrow’s hush, how swiftly good men part—
We hold his memory deep within the heart.