We, as a community, pay tribute to our fallen comrade.

Mitchell "Mitch" Lee Stuekerjuergen, also known as "Kuja105" on GameFAQs as well as on our TUS Forums, passed away on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2006, at St. Francis Hospital in Peoria, Ill. He was twenty years old.

A regular to both communities, he was well known for quickly becoming a friend to everyone who knew him. A sophomore journalism major from Ft. Madison, IA, he was an avid gaming and science-fiction fan, with a talent for inspiring discussion among his peers and an endless appreciation for Calvin & Hobbes. Formallities aside, Mitch was one hell of a guy -- I first met him a while back, when I was running one of my first websites. He quickly gained my respect and became a moderator. That community survived as long as it did because of his work.

Outside of the internet, Mitch was a person who cared about his family more than anything. Though he may not have talked much about them, it was clear that they were at the forefront of his thoughts and his heart. I'm going to miss talking to him every day, and this community will never quite recover from the loss.

Truthfully, there is no way for me to properly express this alone. The following are comments from his friends within the MGSTUS community. More will be added as they are sent in --

Aero, of TUS Forums:

"I still can't believe that you have actually gone. Every time I get reminded of you - in whatever way that might be - I think that you would come online and just tell everyone it was a big joke. I think all this, even after seeing the evidence of your passing.

In a way, I am also glad. Not glad that you passed away; far from that. I am glad that - even while it was short-lived - I have been able to get to know you. You were a great friend, even for someone who you only talked to over the Internet. I started seeing you as a part of my family, like I did with other TUS members. And that is how I will remember you. Not as a stranger; But as someone who stood close to me, who in a way lived in my heart.

And that is where you will live on. Everyone who loved you will remember you, and you will never truly die. You will continue to live on within all of us, as long as we remember all the times - may it be good or bad - we had with you.

I love you, bro. Rest in peace."

Solid -- Snake, of TUS Forums:

"Mitch, your presence here at TUS has been Godly. We had poked fun at you but you still stood tall and educated us and supplied us with stuff that some could not. It's truly been a pleasure."

Error1355, of TUS Forums:

"I first met Mitch in GameFAQs, the year was 2003.

We knew each other just as our names, and never really talked outside of the forums. It wasn't very personal, and I never found out much about him. It was only in TUS when we started to get to know each other more, we all did too. He fit in very well in our "Regulars" group in the forums, and he was the guy we always played around with, making him the butt of the internet jokes. I remember the best laughs coming from topics which we poked fun at him. Nothing was personal though, and he would play along with it. He was always the guy with video game soundtracks, and just a few days before what happened, I bugged him about getting me some from Metal Gear Ac!d, which was really the last time I really talked to him, I wish I would have known him better than I have, he was a great guy. He would always keep me up to date with the going ons with GameFAQs and LueLinks, he was the guy I looked up too on those sites.

I miss you being in the IRC chat, always yelling at me to call it an IRC channel... Well, I hope you're up there looking down on all of us, becasue we'll be looking up for you.

You get my saLUEte -- Sleep well."

Solomon Snake, of TUS Forums:

It seems like a few days ago that I had joined this place and Mitch was the guy you looked up to. His experience and wisdom was apparent from his first post, and his insight into anything was an opinion worth gathering. His calm ways, patience with new people and sense of humor made him a step apart from the rest. In short, he was the best of us.

IndiviD, of TUS Forums:

A lot can be said about the Internet. It’s where we steal our funny jokes. Our incorrect information about the american revolution. Our knowledge about kissing french girls. But - in addition to all this - it’s where we meet the rest of the world. The world we didn’t even know existed. To me, Mitch was that world. To me, the apocolypse is now.

Mitch was a beautiful person. We had endless discussions about periods and comics. Television and hidden treasures. Bill Waterson and bills requiring payment. Hemmingway and hemoroids. The universe and his umbilicus. I never - ever - thought I would feel so empty because I wouldn't get the chance to talk to another male about his umbilicus again.

He once promised me he would never tell my story about the turtlewax.
I guess this shows he was a man of his word.

Sleep now, Mitch.
And leave that umbilicus alone.

LoneWolf, of TUS Forums:

"Kuja, you were an amazing person. I wasn't here long, but you always seemed happy and willing to take or give a joke. I wish I had gotten to know you even better and I felt I would have, but our time was cut short. This community will never be the same without you here -- but we know that you are now in a better place, looking down at us -- reminding us that it's not a "chat", it's a "channel" and that Final Fantasy 7 Advent Children is art! Art!!!

God bless you, Mitch. Hopefully I will see you again some day."

Snake Plissken, of TUS Forums:

"As much as the shock and pain has passed I feel now that I have some closure finally. We finally know now for sure beyond the doubt and confusion that he is now at peace. As stagnant as this sounds, Mitch is free now where he is. Free from the hurt and worries, or even within his own mind to that extent. We know for heart he is no coward (and he really knew this too), and as that may be belated when we share this with the other members, Mitch gave all that he could give for this world. He went out with honor, without the temptation of living something he just couldn't see through. He was always true to himself in this light, and most of all, honest with his feelings.

He came to people who cared about him, and he knew we'd be here for him through this. As also, it will never be sad to know that we meant as much to him as family, for a friend isn't just someone you can see everyday, but someone you can also hear or touch distances away. Thus is why he will never die truly. Mitch is now apart of us all, he's inside of us, for every bit of what he's offered in our hearts and friendship. And with this, he will now live on vibrant through our subconscious, and our actions to life, like a symbol or nepotism in our thoughts, or a character relative in our own dreams or memories.

For all that we see or seem is but a dream... within a dream."

Semper fidelis, buddy -- we'll miss you.

 

-- Article by Ryan "Nitroid" Kincaid