You have probably noticed David's absence from our forums. A month ago, his eldest son passed away from a rare form of leukemia at the age of only 21.Here is an excerpt of the email he has just sent me : "I'll try to come back to Avsim soon to take my mind off things. Virtual or not, I'm very fond of our little community"Let us hope it will be soon.

That is way too young. My condolences. :(

Thank you for posting that Jean-Paul, even though it's such dreadfully sad news. There is little comfort any of us can offer for David, and any healing process from grief such as he must be feeling will be for him and his family to bring about. However, if he does find time to briefly check on these forums, I'd like to be one of many to assure him that his loss does resonate in our community and that he and his family are in our thoughts.Brian Wilks

That is indeed a terrible blow to David and his family. Their needs will remain in my daily prayers.

My thoughts and sympathy goes to David and his family.

For many weeks we'd been missing him in Avsim's french forum where he usually posted daily before his son became sick. It's terrible that he lost his (so) young son. It ain't supposed to happen that way. David had also lost a loved one in a bomb blast, he once had mentionned to us; and as a soldier he'd seen things that no man ought to see in a tormented part of our world. Avsim is so fortunate to have him on it's team: not only is David brilliant, he's got a very good sense of humor and he's a good man. May the sould of David's son rest in Peace. ben

Indeed, a huge loss for the Roch familiy and their loved ones... My thoughts are with you.David my dear friend, my deepest condolences, I have often thought about your son and prayed for his recovery ever since you told me of his illness. May he rest in peace after enduring such hardship. :(

I've just read this after reading about the death of Aidan's father in a thread in the PMDG forum - to have tragedy at both ends of life in the forums is so sad.David and family, my thoughts and prayers are with you.Mark

My sincere condolences David to you and your family.May God's peace be with you and your son.You all are in my prayers.

We are here with you, David.

Sorry for your loss David. My heart goes out to you and your family.

David,May God be with you and your family during this very difficult time.

My condolences and God Bless, DavidRegards,John

To all of you, thank you for your kind words and thoughts.I apologize for not answering to all the emails and messages I received.I would like to say here how much I was touched by your friendship.Once again in its long history Avsim has shown that we are a small and fantastic family.Again thank you very much.Yours,David

I feel bad for not noticing this post earlier.Like everyone above I would like to offer my sincere condolences as well.I have spoken to David a few times via PM and he is such a nice fellow, the type of guy you would like to be friends with and hang out with on the weekend and invite over on the holidays. I am very sorry for his loss.Regards,Sean