Wikipedia talk:Deceased Wikipedians

Note this page was also once erroneously nominated at AFD and speedily kept on procedural grounds.

User:Sjones23

Despite being on Wikipedia for a long time, this is the first time I've been involved in this, so apologies if I do anything wrong here.

An anonymous person reached out to me and informed me that Sjones23 has passed away. I am a close on-wiki collaborator with him for a decade-plus now, so I could see why someone may notify me. But I've had no off-wiki connection with him, and no interaction with his actual identity.

That said, the anonymous editor did link me to an obituary, and the information in it does seem to match his on-wiki information. (Matching birthdate, living space, college, he hasn't edited since the date of his death, etc.)

Looking for help on how to proceed (or someone can take care of it on their own if they know how to.) Thank you. Sergecross73 msg me 20:33, 9 April 2026 (UTC)

I am wondering if someone who lived with Sjones23 might get access to this account to confirm the passing of the user, as sometimes trusted people who knew someone who was a Wikipedian can have access to accounts primarily operated by those who are deceased. E.g. I was made aware that almost six months ago, the married partner of the keen association football editor Struway2 used that account to confirm that particular passing with the cause of death stated after knowing the truth the day before. Iggy (Swan) (Contribs) 21:48, 9 April 2026 (UTC)

You could try sending him an email; maybe one of his loved ones has access to his email and can respond. Some1 (talk) 22:45, 9 April 2026 (UTC)

There is no question that this is the same person. He self-identified as Gregory James Jones II on earlier versions of his user page (before September 2008). All of the biographical information on his current user page matches the obituary exactly. ~2026-21994-09 (talk) 23:25, 9 April 2026 (UTC)

If you're looking to have User:Sjones23's account globally locked, I suggest posting a message to Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard with a link to the obituary. Some1 (talk) 23:40, 9 April 2026 (UTC)

My sole objective, upon learning of his death, was to advise an administrator with whom he frequently interacted of that fact, given that he was a prolific Wikipedia editor. I leave it to the editors and administrators here to take whatever steps they deem appropriate under the circumstances. If you think asking for a global lock is an appropriate step, please proceed as you seem fit. ~2026-21994-09 (talk) 00:02, 10 April 2026 (UTC)

Thank you for making the community aware of this. I'll go ahead with the steps advised at the guideline for deceased editors. —TechnoSquirrel69 (sigh) 00:10, 10 April 2026 (UTC)

I thank you so much for reaching out to me and letting me know. I'll make sure things are taken care of. Sergecross73 msg me 02:32, 10 April 2026 (UTC)

Who will add him to the page of which this is the talk? Begin a memorial, also for the Signpost? I'm just shocked at the moment, and know little. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 07:11, 10 April 2026 (UTC)

It looks like the anonymous editor has added a section at Wikipedia:Deceased Wikipedians/2026, thanks for doing that. I've taken care of all of the procedural account security–related things. Sergecross73, I think you knew him and his work on Wikipedia better than I did, so would you be willing to write up a blurb for the page and the Signpost? —TechnoSquirrel69 (sigh) 14:41, 10 April 2026 (UTC)

Yes, absolutely. Can you link me to sample ones so I get the format/content right? Sergecross73 msg me 15:47, 10 April 2026 (UTC)

Of course. The only other time I've interacted with this project was after the death of Vami_IV, and I think his contribution summary was nicely done. The 2026 page I linked above also has some examples. I wouldn't think that there's any wrong way to do it, really, as long as we're being respectful to the dead and empathetic to the living. —TechnoSquirrel69 (sigh) 16:48, 10 April 2026 (UTC)

@Some1 the account is now globally locked, meaning email sending is not possible anymore. Thanks for your reply anyway. Iggy (Swan) (Contribs) 15:52, 10 April 2026 (UTC)

Can it be verified that this user is actually deceased?

I don't have time for much digging, but can sources be provided to back up whether আমি রামের ভক্ত is deceased? A different user added that template without providing much sources, perhaps I am missing something. In any case, the Bengali Wikipedia may be a more appropriate place to memorialize this user than the English Wikipedia. Aasim (話す（はなす）) 22:54, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

I agree that this entry may be removed from enwiki. Jay 💬 06:39, 15 April 2026 (UTC)

Bassel Khartabil

I'm honestly surprised that Bassel Khartabil does not have an entry. We know he has passed, he has contributed to Creative Commons and Wikipedia, I feel like it would be remiss not to honor him. CharterDaGoob ✦ yer local goober ✦ yap? 17:22, 21 April 2026 (UTC)

@CharterTheGoob, do you know his username? WhatamIdoing (talk) 17:30, 21 April 2026 (UTC)

Currently looking for it, he might've been more prevalent in the Arabic Wikipedia. If he's already memorialized on their memorial page then I might just leave this as is. CharterDaGoob ✦ yer local goober ✦ yap? 17:31, 21 April 2026 (UTC)

Apparently no permanent username as per his friend at Talk:Bassel Khartabil § Wikipedia userpage. Jay 💬 05:57, 22 April 2026 (UTC)

Thanks. If someone wants to write an entry in Wikipedia:Deceased Wikipedians/2015 then we can link to the Wikipedia article. There's no rule saying that we have to link to an account. WhatamIdoing (talk) 16:32, 22 April 2026 (UTC)

Once I get to a good stopping point for part of a draft article I'm working on, I'd be happy to write it. CharterDaGoob ✦ yer local goober ✦ yap? 16:35, 22 April 2026 (UTC)

Thanks. A couple of sentences, a link, and maybe a photo is typical. WhatamIdoing (talk) 16:37, 22 April 2026 (UTC)

User:Acrom12

According to their userpage, the user was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia in September 2025 and seemed to infer that they were terminally ill; they stopped editing in December 2025. Reckon the user passed away? Nineteen Ninety-Four guy (talk) 10:47, 27 April 2026 (UTC)

Possibly, but a possibility is not enough. You could list the editor at Wikipedia:Missing Wikipedians. Alternatively, you could try contacting the editor at Special:EmailUser/Acrom12. WhatamIdoing (talk) 18:56, 27 April 2026 (UTC)

User:Martha Forsyth

The blog linked on her userpage ^[1] lists her date of death as September 24, 2023. EaglesFan37 (talk) 02:19, 1 May 2026 (UTC)

I've left a note for her son. WhatamIdoing (talk) 06:07, 1 May 2026 (UTC)

Her talk page has a lot of The Signpost: messages both before and after September 2023. I have no idea on how this can be stopped as this death does appear certain and therefore cannot see them. Iggy (Swan) (Contribs) 14:57, 2 May 2026 (UTC)

She was unsubscribed from The Signpost over a year ago. WhatamIdoing (talk) 23:17, 2 May 2026 (UTC)

Masood Masjoody

There is a single-edit user, User:Masood Masjoody, whose eponymous real-life counterpart was murdered in March 2026, allegedly by two Reza Pahlavi supporters according to what The Atlantic reported from what the police said to the Canadian media.^[1] There is a {{COI}} tag warning that the person, possibly Masjoody or else someone apparently supporting him, added the main text in the Twitter lawsuits list article, on Masjoody's lawsuits: list of lawsuits involving X Corp.#Defamation and conspiracy cases in Canada by Masood Masjoody. Given the info that we do have about the real person, it does sound credible that he was the actual one-time editor. Given the last six months and ongoing events in and related to Iran, there may be enough material to justify a WP:SPLIT.

If the editor was in fact Masjoody, he's definitely not a "hundreds of edits" editor (not under that account, anyway), but probably needs a template on his user page. People here know the guidelines and can decide whether to put the {{deceased}} template on his user page.

This might be the first case of a (one-edit-only) Wikipedian who gets listed at list of Iranian assassinations. Boud (talk) 10:20, 9 May 2026 (UTC)

What an edit, too.

Any account can be tagged and WP:GLOCKed. The "hundreds of edits" rule is only for writing a paragraph in the WP:OBIT page itself. If you're confident that this account was actually him, then please follow the directions in Wikipedia:Deceased Wikipedians/Guidelines for getting the account protected. WhatamIdoing (talk) 19:31, 9 May 2026 (UTC)

I'm just making a reasonable educated guess that the account was actually him. I put a suggestion for a global lock at m:Steward requests/Global. Someone would have to contact his family to see if they want a hatnote or not on the not-yet-created userpage. Seems like an admin should protect the (non-existent) page against creation. Boud (talk) 00:39, 11 May 2026 (UTC)

Seems that a global lock is not justified. I put a comment at User talk:Masood Masjoody. Anyone familiar with WP:DECEASED norms is welcome to fix it if there's a problem. Boud (talk) 19:47, 16 May 2026 (UTC)

User:RFD

I just learned of User:RFD's passing today. His wikipage lists that he experienced health issues and identifies him as Richard Frank Dungar, along with having a birth year of 1950 and being from La Crosse, Wisconsin. His obituary, which lists a death date of April 10, 2026, corroborates this information. As an editor, we frequently crossed paths on matters regarding state legislatures. Sad to see this. Jordano⁵³ 01:26, 12 May 2026 (UTC)

He was a prolific editor. With almost 226,000 edits, he was among the top 260 editors on enwiki. I just added the deceased tag on his page. Jay 💬 05:59, 12 May 2026 (UTC)

@Jordano53, since you crossed paths with him, would you please start an entry at Wikipedia:Deceased Wikipedians/2026? WhatamIdoing (talk) 01:34, 13 May 2026 (UTC)

Deceased temporary accounts?

Can there be temporary accounts on the memorial or is it only registered users? ~2026-30893-97 (talk) 07:41, 23 May 2026 (UTC)

If someone made enough edits with a temp account (or as an IP, pre-IP-masking) to become established as a community member, and we had conclusive evidence that they died, I don't see any reason they couldn't be listed here. Just like how we list some people who didn't edit much but were very influential to Wikipedia in other ways. -- Tamzin^{[cetacean needed]} (they|xe|🤷) 07:44, 23 May 2026 (UTC)

and can the IP be globally blocked if the user is deceased. ~2026-30893-97 (talk) 07:47, 23 May 2026 (UTC)

No, because after someone dies their IP will probably wind up being used by someone else. -- Tamzin^{[cetacean needed]} (they|xe|🤷) 07:50, 23 May 2026 (UTC)

Realistically, this is extremely unlikely to happen, because temporary accounts are only active for a maximum of 90 days, and it takes longer than that to become established as a community member. WhatamIdoing (talk) 18:58, 23 May 2026 (UTC)

My first thoughts are NO, because how can we independently validate that a specific person edited from any IP address??? How do we know if other people did or didn't edit from that IP address too? My view of the situation, if anyone wants recognition, then they should have created an account and edited while logged on to that account. • Sbmeirow • Talk • 23:37, 23 May 2026 (UTC)

User:Robertecoles

I stumbled upon Robertecoles this account while checking on an image recently added to the main infobox of Robert Coles (psychiatrist), but I'm wondering whether it might be one considered to be added to this page or whether the account should be marked with {{Deceased Wikipedian}}. Of course, I've got no information as to whether the two people are the same person; I'm just mainly asking out of curiosity. -- Marchjuly (talk) 06:48, 8 June 2026 (UTC)

Robertecoles joined Wikipedia and made 2 edits to Robert Coles (psychiatrist) in the next 2 minutes, to change the birth year. It could be the same person, but we won't know. Jay 💬 11:20, 8 June 2026 (UTC)

I don't know if we have a minimum amount of edits in order to be mentioned in our article, but two edits seems rather too little. Lova Falk (talk) 12:47, 8 June 2026 (UTC)

A few hundred is usually considered the minimum, but IMO the more important factor is whether an existing editor personally remembers that editor and wants to write something about them. WhatamIdoing (talk) 16:46, 8 June 2026 (UTC)

User:Ramdrake

Would anyone be able to verify if this is User:Ramdrake ? The name and location are matches, and the date of death is around a month after their last edit. However, not sure if there is anything conclusive enough to confirm it. EaglesFan37 (talk) 16:46, 28 June 2026 (UTC)

Hi, I am wondering if you've tried emailing this user in case a family relative may respond to confirm this is a true death? Around 8 months ago, an editor was able to email a different user to check if another editor had passed then a family member did confirm by email the passing was indeed true.

Ramdrake has been suffering from health issues and the name appears on the userpage so I think it seems a near certainty. Iggy (Swan) (Contribs) 19:17, 28 June 2026 (UTC)

@Iggy the Swan I haven't emailed this user. The potential date of death would have occurred 13 years ago, so I doubt their Wikipedia email is still being monitored by anyone. EaglesFan37 (talk) 19:51, 28 June 2026 (UTC)