Martin Kemmish 1982-2014

[LadyTevar]

Martin F. Kemmish, 32 of Charleston, WV passed away on Tuesday, June 17, 2014 at CAMC
General Hospital after an accidental fall at home.

He was born in Manchester, England and grew up in Norwalk, Connecticut. He met the love of
his life and settled in Charleston, WV.

Martin was a Boy Scout (Life rank) and a member of the National Honor Society. He was also a
member of the Society of Creative Anachronism (SCA) in the Barony of Blackstone, Mountain.

Martin Kemmish was very intelligent and unique guy. He was very British and proud of his
heritage, as well as proud to be called a Geek. He loved books by Terry Pratchett, Douglas
Adams, and was a player of RPG’s, Video Games, Online Games, and anything that challenged
his mind. He was the administrator to many of his online forums and was well-loved by people
he had only met online. His wit and knowledge and debating skills challenged many and gave
him great renown amongst these forums.

Martin loved Jimmy Buffet’s music, and learned to share his wife’s love of Southern Rock

He is survived by his wife and best friend of 14 years, Kathy Kemmish of Charleston, WV; his
parents, Fran and Geoff Kemmish of Boston; sister, Ruth Kemmish of Washington, DC; Uncle
Dove and Aunt Diann Fletcher, of England; Uncle Lawrence and Aunt Jo Kemmish of France;
mother-in-law, Marilene D. Bibb of Ansted, WV; cousin and his wife, Mathew and Karen
Fletcher; brother-in-law, Tom Bibb and wife, Cheryl Perdue and family; brother-in-law, Dean
Bibb and sons; Brett and Dorrane Bernard of Ansted, WV and Janice Wagoner of Charleston,
WV and many online friends.

Celebration of Martin’s Life will be held from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. Saturday, June 21, 2014 at
Barlow Bonsall Funeral Home, Charleston, WV.

In lieu of flowers the family request donations may be made to: West Virginia Literacy
Program Building 6, Room 304, 1900 Kanawha Blvd., East. Charleston, WV 25305-0330
or University of Virginia, Transplant Center, Health System Development Office, P.O. Box
800773 Charlottesville, VA 22908-0773.

You may send condolences to the family at: http://www.barlowbonsall.com

[Josh]

I didn't know Martin as well as I would've liked. We chatted on and off through here and SDN over the years, but always in the public forum. I don't know if we ever really PMed or IMed or anything like that, maybe a little bit way back in the day.

But like I said down in the other thread, what I admired most about him was his strength of character, his willingness to be clearly defined about what he felt, believed, and said. He didn't equivocate and he didn't hold back. He wasn't going to shy away from something he believed in regardless of its general popularity.

As well, he was a man who never kept you guessing- he was entirely forthright in his relationships and if he was being nice to you, you knew it was because he wanted to be nice, not because he felt obligated or was afraid to say what he thought.

He was a very intelligent man, quick with his wits and with a rapier wit. Maybe not something you appreciated so much from the sharp end of it, but he didn't cry and get huffy when you went back at him, either. There are too many people who can dish it out but not take it, but that wasn't Martin. I can recall us getting into it one time, full bore. Can't even remember what it was about, don't even care. No hard feelings on either side- we called each other some names, we worked it out, we went back to business as usual.

I do remember that he called me 'kid', as was his smack-talking habit back then. Given that I had about eight years on him, I told him if I was a kid he was still in diapers. I dunno, maybe not funny to anybody but me, but I just laughed when I wrote that out because what I do remember of it was the pure 'arguing with Martin' buzzsaw that I remember seeing a lot of other people walk into. He was a fierce fucker in a debate, and I say that with pure affection and respect.

We're all going to miss him. He was a presence, a unique and distinctive presence that couldn't help but stand out.

I liked him. I liked him a great deal, and I'm going to miss him.

[rhoenix]

My experiences with Martin were mostly peripheral, compared to most of you. I didn't personally get into debates as much on SDN, though I did enjoy watching his mind at work through his posts, and particularly the debates. He would come at you correct in a debate, and heaven help you if you fell for his tactic of getting under your skin - the instant you started getting mad, he'd come in with stilettos, an anatomical chart, and a big smirk. I could practically see that smirk on his face as he led people cheerfully into the woodchipper in debates.

To be bluntly honest with myself and everyone else, I probably annoyed him more than I impressed him - however, how he carried himself whenever he spoke to me or anyone else conveyed his incisive intelligence quite well. I am honored to have known him, even in the limited capacity that I did.

[frigidmagi]

Martin and I meet after I returned from Iraq. He like a number of people were important in helping me over a number of rough spots as I dealt with it. He was always honest, sometimes brutally so and took no shit from me. On the flip side he was willing to help when I truly needed it and gave me no shit about it. In alot of ways he was one of the guys who showed me the ropes of this whole debating thing. As I mentioned he had his flaws but his virutes outweighed them in my eyes. The fact that I never got a chance to meet him face to face and shake his hand will remain a regret in my life. That said, I am glad that I got to know him in any compacity.

Adios Martin.

[Batman]

We didn't talk much directly, and when we did, we usually disagreed,but it was never personal, he just thought I was wrong (and he was right more often than not) I wouldn't call him a nice guy because Nice Guys are, well Nice. If Nit thought you were a miserable piece of shit, he told you so. Nit wasn't Nice, he was Honest. And I think that's something far more valuable.
Hell I've been around long enough to remember congratulating them on their engagement. I expected Nit to die because of his malfunctioning liver and hoped he'd die of old age. Nit refused to die from his medical condition year after year after year. Him dying because of a stupid accident isn't fair.

[Dark Silver]

Martin was a friend, not as close as I would have liked, but he was so. He was a great guy - no matter what I always knew where I stood with him, and hopefully vice versa. We got into our fair share of arguments here and IM, but at the end of it, I still respected him for who and what he was.

We had fun, when we talked, throwing and spit balling theories about shows, movies, and occasionally potential plot points in games that either we were playing, or that was always "to be started". He was one of the few minds I could call upon to give me ideas, or to fire back and let me know how retarded or how potentially cool a RPG idea would be - or help me embellish it to the point that it would never live up to what we had constructed in our minds...

I regret several things in my life - one of those things is when he'd come to me, saying how much he missed playing on the board. He wanted a new game to pop up - be it in a world we had already visited, or one waiting to be explored. I always told him I'd try to get one started again, eventually....

Eventually will have come to late my friend. Where ever you are, save a seat at the table for me. I'm sure I'll have a couple of ideas you can help destroy or refine by then.

[LadyTevar]

One of Martin's gaming and online friends, who had been trying to find the words to say how she felt.

CONVERSATION
(For Martin Kemmish)

Not so long ago when you were ill
Hospital-bound and cranky
I told you this: that you were not allowed
To predecease me
That I would drag you back
Just so I could yell at you
And throttle you properly myself
For daring to leave us before your time.

Forgive me my friend
For this broken promise:
That this limited, mortal body
Cannot transcend time and space
Impotent fists beating, futile
At the barrier between us
Thin as gauze, impenetrable as sorrow
Where you stand –
So near, yet so far
Your outstretched hand
Passing through my clenched one
Like a sigh in a storm.

[Norseman]

Deepest condolances.

[LadyTevar]

Really missing you a lot, lover. Two years gone by, and I only just removed my wedding ring from my finger. I wish you could see all the new releases out in vidgames, TV shows, and movies that came out after you were gone. Although, sometimes I think you had a hand in them, like the new HomeWorld and Civilization games. You loved them so.

I sent Tevar-kitty to you not long ago... I hope she and Star-kitty are keeping you company. Mal's doing his best to keep my spirits up, he's been very cuddly since Tevar left. This is good, since I'm still trying to find a job. Thank you for the money you left, it's all that I've been living on these last two years. A pity, that was supposed to be our retirement money, for us to travel on when we got old.

Most of all, I miss the little things -- like being able to look over my shoulder and see you sitting in your chair as we gamed online. Or the in-character innuendo our Sith would exchange as we carved a path across worlds. I miss how we'd come out of a movie, brimming over with all we had to say about it, giving our own little Siskle and Ebert in the car. Or, the simple pleasure of IHOP on the weekend, followed by a road trip to wherever the road took us as you'd read me BBC news from the Kindle.

So many memories........ and all the things I've not been able to share with you...... It's so hard without you, but I'm trying. I'm still fighting, I'm still moving forward. It's what you told me to, so many times. Just forgive me when I get a little weepy, a little lost. I'm not as strong as people think I am, and I really wish I could tuck myself under your chin and hide for a while.

But I can't, and I can't break down every single time a milestone shows up like your birthday, our anniversary, or the day you left. Maybe, next year.