Barb73 Posted August 29, 2009 Share Posted August 29, 2009 http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art ... wD9AC8IR80 Obituary: . . . . . . . . . BOSTON — Richard Egan, who rose from street kid to the U.S. ambassador to Ireland after making millions of dollars founding data storage giant EMC Corp., died Friday after a battle with lung cancer. His family issued a statement Friday night saying the longtime suburban Hopkinton resident died at his Boston home after being diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer in May. The family said he also suffered from emphysema, diabetes and high blood pressure. "This is a great loss for our family, and we are terribly saddened," the family said in a statement announcing his death. Egan, 73, was an electrical engineer and a former U.S. Marine Corps helicopter pilot who worked at Lockheed Martin, Honeywell and Intel before he co-founded data storage technology provider EMC in 1979. He sold most of his shares in the tech boom, shortly before the bubble burst. The self-made billionaire, who raised seed money for his business by selling office furniture, was a key fundraiser for the Republican party and former President George W. Bush, becoming a Pioneer fundraiser for the president in 2000. He stepped down as EMC chairman in January 2001, about three months before Bush nominated him to be the U.S. ambassador to Ireland. Egan got a bachelor of arts in science degree from Northeastern University and a master of science degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was part of the MIT team that developed the Apollo Guidance Computer, which provided reliable real-time control for the Apollo spacecraft that carried U.S. astronauts to the moon. Egan never forgot his hardscrabble roots and was a major donor to Northeastern University, where a research center is named in his honor. Egan leaves behind a wife and five children. The family did not announce funeral plans. . . . . . . . . . Google News, Boston, August 28, 2009) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandyW Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 This is something else i found and makes this just so much sadder !! Richard J. Egan, the billionaire entrepreneur who confounded EMC Corp and served as US ambassador to Ireland killed himself with a gun at his Boston home on Friday. It is unknown why he decided to commit suicide. But Egan, 73, was reportedly diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer in May, his family was cited as saying in a statement. Lung cancer hits 219,000 people in the U.S. and kills 159,000 each year in the country. Stage IV lung cancer means malignant growths may be found in more than one lobe of the same lung or in the other lung or cancer cells may be found in other parts of the body such as brain, adrenal, liver or bone. It is the most advanced stage. According to an article published on Sept 4, 2008 in the New England Journal of medicine, about 16,000 people of all ages in the United States die from self-inflicted gunshot wound, accounting for 53 percent of all suicides completed in 2005. Suicide was the second-leading cause of death among Americans 40 years of age or younger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barb73 Posted September 1, 2009 Author Share Posted September 1, 2009 Yes, Randy, that does make it doubly sad. Barbara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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