In past posts, I've talked about bereavement leaves and the passing of notable individuals, but one topic that I've not written about before is the death of a co-worker.
That changes today, unfortunately.
Last Wednesday, we lost one of our beloved co-workers, David Deresienski, who was Shipman & Goodwin's Senior Director of Human Resources. Dave passed away unexpectedly and his passing has been tough for all of us to deal with.
While Dave was with Shipman for just the last few years, Dave has had an outsized influence in the sphere of Human Resources — and therefore, employment law — here in Connecticut for a long time. Dave's distinguished career as a strategic Human Resources and Transformation leader spanned three decades at such companies and firms such as Aetna, The Hartford, Day Pitney, Travelers and Xerox. He established HR Performance Consulting in 2018.
His full obituary can be found here. Calling hours are set for this Thursday afternoon with a funeral mass on Friday morning
As a blog that addresses human resources issues, it would not surprise you that I knew David for many years prior to his arrival at Shipman. While a bit soft spoken at times, he had the widest smile imaginable and the warmest of hearts. I've described him as a gentleman, in the best sense of the word. He was kind and considerate and always thoughtful as to the decisions he was making. Prior to his arrival at Shipman, we had talked about why I loved working here and hoped he would find that same joy that I had.
A few weeks ago, Dave came up to me and asked to join a dinner I was helping set up for some firm personnel. He had this enthusiasm about him that was contagious. If Dave was excited about it, I knew that I had a good idea. I'm sad that he won't get to see it.
I'm sure there are many readers who knew Dave too that will also have similar memories. Already, you can find many tributes to him here.
In his memory, Dave's family has asked that you do an unexpected and unsolicited act of kindness for a stranger. What a wonderful idea and I hope each of you can do the same. I extend my deepest condolences to his wife Linda, sons Brett & Blake, and his other family members.
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