With tremendous sorrow, we’ve learned that we’ve lost one of this community’s greatest members: Roger “Ralff” White passed away at his home in Maryland.
To a person, everyone who knew Ralff had a great friend in him. Ralff was, as Scott Johnson put it, “not just an online friend. He was *the* online friend”– someone who was always available and always awesome. In addition to serving the community as a Council Officer since that rank was created, Ralff was a long-time, stalwart member of AIE’s Over the Hill Gang. So long in fact, that when he started, they’d not yet crested the hill. All of AIE sends its warmest condolences to everyone in the Over The Hill Gang, as well as the literally hundreds of people he befriended.
Mainly, and this can’t be stressed enough, Roger was the nicest, most helpful person anyone has ever known. That’s just a fact.
This wonderful, global, online community that he supported every single day … has lost its Ralff.
He is irreplaceable, but we should all try to be like him. You and I and everyone can make the world such a better place by simply emulating Ralff. He was overflowing with unlimited kindness and friendliness. He’s the perfect inspiration for us all.
Never forget that, and he’ll live forever.
Ralff was one of the kindest and most generous people I ever met. He also had a clever wit. I could go on and on with stories from gaming together but I’ll stick to sharing one time a couple years ago not in game. I got to know him a bit early on in AIE and we first met in person at a previous Nerdtacular while playing Magic the Gathering in the hotel lobby. I’d see him every year. I remember at the last Nerdtacular we were hosting a small Magic tournament and Ralff planned to join. He ended up having other commitments and couldn’t play, however. I mentioned to him later that we were short on land cards for a “draft” and Ralff handed me his hotel keycard and said “Just go up to my room and grab whatever cards you need”. He had complete trust and was absolutely unselfish. I tried returning the cards later and he told me to just keep them or give to someone else. This was totally in line with his character.
Ralff, you are already missed by so many people. The world isn’t as good of a place as it was with you in it.
I don’t want to believe he is gone. There are very few times when online life crosses over to become so real, I don’t think its possible to prepare for it. I am so sorry for all his family, friends, both irl and iol. His voice and presence is and will be missed so deeply. I still can’t believe he’s gone.
-Vanflicke, Dcay, Allygray
Your memory is in all our thoughts, Brother.