Thursday, January 4, 2024
I'm truly, truly saddened to hear of of Sean's passing.
I met him when I was the President of a union. Later, we worked together when I became the labor-relations specialist for our command. Working with Sean was always refreshing. I also come from a military background, where I spent the majority of my time as part of the special operations community. We shared a lot of common values. Regardless of how our perspectives may have differed, we always found a way to communicate with one another. It's fair to say that he was "gruff," but it's also fair to say that he was kind... and dedicated... and passionate about taking care of people.
He was a man that I trusted, and one whose opinion I valued. He had integrity. He worked really hard. Possibly even harder than he "had to," but he did it for all the right reasons. He never conveyed anything to be "knowledge" without being able to back it up with objective facts. Whenever he had to make his best guess, he made sure people knew that's what it was. I never saw him caught flat-footed, and I never heard him try to "blow smoke to convince someone it's a foggy day."
Since he left the command, I've missed his random phone calls (out of the blue and frequently while I was in the middle of discussions with other people). I've missed hearing the gravel in his voice as he worked through how to "do the right thing." He always found a way to be respectfully incredulous, when just a little bit of incredulity was exactly what the situation called for.
Sean was special. He was respected. I would even go so far as to say: He was loved by the people he worked with.
I will miss him very much, and I will remember his example.
My condolences to the family and friends he leaves behind.
