René Fichtmüller

Fearghas was my second father. He took me under his wing in the NOG world and taught me that the real protocol is trust — his own concept: "Social Peering." The belief that networks connect because people connect first. He built relationships across every continent, spoke at more than 25 NANOG conferences, chaired the RIPE EIX Working Group for fifteen years, and was one of the driving forces behind peering communities in Africa, Europe, and beyond. He was named an Africa Peering Champion. He was a RIPE Atlas Ambassador. But more than any title, he was the person in the room who made everyone feel like they belonged there — and he made me feel that too.

Susan was warmth and precision in equal measure. She became a network engineer in the 1990s at Boeing and Microsoft when almost no women worked in that role — and then spent decades making sure the next generation didn't have to fight the same battles. At Hurricane Electric she helped manage peering for AS6939, the world's largest IPv6 backbone. She served on the NANOG board, mentored engineers who would go on to run networks across the globe, and was — to me — like a second mother.

Erik was my mentor in the most personal sense. He taught me about living with ADHD and impulse control — not as something to be ashamed of, but as part of who I am. He showed me, by example, that every person deserves to be treated with dignity and equality, regardless of how their brain works or how the world has treated them. His NLNOG 2019 talk "Working in a Toxic Environment" changed how I see the tech community — and I carry that work forward in his name. A pillar of the RIPE community. Generous beyond measure. Always ready to help anyone who needed it.