OT: HF Moderator/Admin Fugu has passed away

[Blackhawkswincup]

I'm sad to report that Barbara passed away at around 4am PDT this morning. I've been told that she did not suffer in her final days, and that she appreciated everyone's friendship here.​

I've also been told that when she was told about all of the activity here including the fundraising for BCRF, although she was heavily sedated her breathing changed and she squeezed her hand tightly, so she definitely knew and understood (and I assume, appreciated).

She'd be embarrassed by the attention here, undoubtedly, but I think she'd be proud of how many people she's touched here.

I'll mention our fundraising link here one more time:
HFBoards Donation to BCRF in Honor of Fugu/Barbara.

You don't have to give anything, and certainly don't give more than you can. If our collective donation makes a difference in the life of just one person suffering from breast cancer, I think Barbara would really appreciate it.

Sad day for HF

Fugu was a pillar of this site for so long and helped a lot of people on this site and was honestly one of the kindest and most friendly posters on site

She was instrumental in me becoming Mod (And eventually Global Mod) and was always willing to be an ear when someone wanted to talk about problem on site or in life. She seems to have touched so many on this site thru years especially those who were blessed to be Mods or fellow Admins with her and the lucky few to know her in person

f*** Cancer!

HFBoards Donation to BCRF in Honor of Fugu/Barbara.

Click to read more...

 

[ChiHawks10]

RIP Fugu. f*** cancer.

 

[CallMeShaft]

Damn, I don't remember the username too much, but she was always easily recognizable to me due to her avatar. She will certainly be missed by this community (HF). R.I.P.

 

[ChiHawks10]

RIP Fugu. I've said it a lot, but f*** cancer. It takes too many good people way too soon.

 

[DisgruntledHawkFan]

Awful news. Fugu was a very grounded person and was very good at seeing both sides of an argument. The rarest type of leader. She’ll be missed.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

Foogs was one of the best. Her impact on the site was absolutely enormous.

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

Hi all. I am Phil, Barbara's husband, and I just joined the forum. I never was part of HF during the time Barbara was involved, but she told me a lot of stories about the great discussions, arguments and friendships she had there. I told one of her friends on the forum earlier today, that she would probably ban me right away anyway, since she was much more diplomatic than I am about certain hockey topics. I can't overstate how much I appreciate all of the statements I am reading about her intellect and good humour in her interactions with the community here. We are planning a celebration of life for her in Bellingham at 3 p.m. on October 8th. I know many of you are too far away to join, but if you are in WA or BC, and want to join us, that would be great. PM me, or email me at [email protected] and I will send details. Thanks to all of you for your kind words about my wonderful wife.

Hi all. Phil here again. I thought I would share a little more ancient history on my wife Barbara and how we first met as it (of course) involves hockey. She had recently moved to Madison, Wisconsin, where I was a student at the university. We each had friends from schools who worked together in Michigan and they decided to road trip to Madison. We met, and shortly after that, I called her up and invited her to join me at a Wisconsin Badgers hockey game. At that point, I didn't know if she even liked hockey, but I was a big fan and thought I could educate her a bit. As we sat for the pre-game skate, I started to explain the off sides and icing rules, to help her enjoy the game more. She quickly informed me that she had been following the NHL since she was 7 years old and that of course she knew about icing! Wow. The first hockey date I ever had who knew the game. We went on to 32 years together, including a great many Red Wings games, where we were season ticket holders. Bear in mind, converting her to be a Red Wings fan was no easy feat, since she had grown up a Blackhawks fan in Chicago. Working on my side were the fact that she was still mad at Bill Wirtz for taking the Hawks off broadcast TV, the fact that the Wings had a solid line up of Russian players, and that the Wings had just signed Chris Chelios (a former Wisconsin Badger and of course famous for saying when he was with Chicago that he would never play for Detroit!) I think she always had a soft spot for the Hawks, but we were happy Wings fans for many years.

Thanks to all of you for the kind words. It's great to hear about her friends and interactions here on HF, and I hope you can also get a glimpse of what a great person she was IRL.

Phil

Completely forgot her being Hawk fan and our conversations around that

Fugu was just one of many Bill Wirtz ultimately drove away

As said if your in WA or BC area and want to attend celebration of her live details/contact info are in 1st post from her husband

 

[Jeffrey Lebowski]

RIP Fugu.

You were a person i always enjoyed reading when i went into a thread, and certainly a person that i trusted when i read your opinion. When it comes to a message board, that's a huge accomplishment.

I didn't know her personally, but I can assume that if she was that wonderful on a forum, that she must be a pretty special person in real life.

 

[Blue Liner]

This may sound weird, but you almost forget the posters here are.....people? You see an avatar and know the personality a bit and stuff and it's almost this alternative world while you're here and you forget that the person on the other end has a job, family, life, etc. Maybe that sounds really stupid but when something happens to someone in one of these communities it kind of hits you in a different way. It's a reminder that we're all humans here and not just some entity on the internet. This may make no sense to anybody else and is hard to put into words but just something odd about online communities.

 

[Masao]

I just saw this topic...
Omg... I can't believe this.

RIP Fugu

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

I love the banner for site right now

 

[RayP]

I love the banner for site right now

Didn’t even notice, excellent touch. The fish at the least should stay permanently.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

Yeah, didn't even notice that until today as well. Great tribute.

 

[hisgirlfriday]

Love that graphic for Fugu and the tribute to her in the new name for the Business of Hockey Forum. That was where I had the most interaction with her outside of being a mod. This board lost a great poster/mod with her passing and her family lost a great lady.

 

[ChiHawks10]

Never noticed the banner until you all mentioned it. Love it.