In a standard biographical sense, Stan lived a pretty intense life, and died at 32, just 2 months before his 33rd birthday. In a true, spiritual sense, Stan was an incredibly loving human being whose short life was filled with real friendships, love, adventure and constant exploration. He left a legacy of so much love and joy in the hearts of so many, that his spirit will never truly be absent from our lives.
But to put the details of his life in perspective, here is his story....
Stan was born in Kiev, Ukraine in 1975 and immigrated with his family to the United States in 1980. A major reason for the journey was Stan's congenital heart defect which was repaired in 1981 at Cedars Sinai by a fantastic pediatric cardiac surgeon, Dr. Burton Fink. Stan was given an excellent prognosis, and was advised to live a full, healthy life.
And a full, healthy life is exactly what Stan lived. The turning point of his childhood was an admission to Stratford Preparatory High School, where he encountered incredible teachers who inspired a life-long love of learning. Physics and Chemistry appeared to be his forte, and after graduating with honors, Stan was awarded a scholarship to visit Japan. Stan later remembered that being in Japan on his own, at the age of 16, was his most profound coming-of-age experience. On this trip, he befriended people from all over the world, and for the first time realized the joy of travel and discovery which was to become his life-long passion.
After graduating from UCLA with a biochemistry degree, Stan went to work for Baxter Pharmaceuticals where he worked with blood plasma producs and research. He subsequently moved to Amgen where he worked on anemia medications used for cancer and kidney failure patients. Sounds like serious business, but Stan always joked his way out of explaining the complexities of his job by simply stating that he "saved lives". Not in an egocentric way, but in a simple, self-affirming fashion, Stan was proud of what he did for a living, and always gave his very best.
In his personal life, Stan was a life-loving, generous, kind and incredibly adventurous force of nature. There is no other way to think of him. As his friends described him, he was always running on "nuclear energy". He was absolutely tireless in his zest for new adventures and explorations, and always had time, energy and wisdom for his friends and family.
Stan passed away in Laos, doing what he loved best .. traveling and exploring the world. In his short life, he had traveled to more destinations and lived more adventures than most people would in a few lifetimes. From Pantagonia to India, Russia to Thailand, he had seen it all, made friends along the way, and immersed himself in cultures and lives of others all over the world. From each trip, Stan came back a little more wordly, more spiritual, more aware and a bit more in love with life.
I hope many of Stan's friends will have an opportunity to write and share their memories. Because in Stan's case, the most important part of his biography is the huge legacy of love he left in the hearts of his family and many friends. In the end, he was not and could not be defined by his education, his job or even his status as a world traveler. In the end, he is ultimately defined by the love he gave to others and the great love he left in our hearts.
Born: Feb 01, 1975 in Kiev
Died: Dec 03, 2007 in Laos
Obituary Stan suffered a heart attack and died on December 3rd, 2007, at 7:30 in the evening, while traveling through Asia.
Through the kindness of people he befriended while on tour, we were able to piece together the events of his last day. Apparently, up to the last few minutes, Stan was in great health and spirit, enjoying a day of hiking to a waterfall in Laos and subsequently meeting with friends for dinner. While at dinner, he reported not feeling well and within a few minutes lost consciousness and apparently suffered a heart attack. A physician who was present on site administered CPR and Stan's friends drove him to the hospital, but he passed away on the way to the hospital.
In our time of unimaginable grief, we would like to extend our deepest gratitude to those who were with Stan during his last moments and tell you that your kindness and caring meant a great deal to us and was a source of great comfort during this awful week. There is nothing more unbearable than thinking that your child or brother died alone, far away from you, in a foreign country. Just knowing that in his last moments he was with kind, wonderful people who stood by him and cared a great deal for him, made our suffering somewhat more tolerable.
With the help of the US Embassy, Stan will be brought back to Los Angeles on Friday (12/7/07) evening. Memorial service was held on Sunday, December 9, 2007.
We thank all of you who have called with condolences and offers of help. Thank you so much. Stan was a lucky man to have had so much love in his life and we are all lucky to have had him in ours. He will be in our hearts forever.
With love,
Edward, Nina & Galina,
Stan's Father, Mother & Sister.
