MADISON (WKO) — A Milwaukee-area native and UW graduate has been identified as one of the Americans killed incoordinated attacks in Sri Lanka.
The Easter Sunday attacks have killed at least 290 people.
Dieter Kowalski, originally from Greenfield, was among the victims. According to his LinkedIn profile, Kowalski graduated from UW-Madison in 2001 with a degree in international relations and German.
Kowalski was based in Denver and worked for Pearson, an educational products and services company.
In a statement from the company Monday, Pearson CEO John Fallon said that Kowalski had just arrived at his hotel on a work trip when he was killed in an explosion.
Fallon described Kowalski as “big-hearted and full-spirted.”
“We mourn Dieter deeply today. We pray for his soul, and for his family and friends. We pray, too, for our colleagues in Sri Lanka, and Denver, and Boston, and in Pearson offices around the world,” Fallow wrote in the statement posted to the company’s LinkedIn page. “We’re angry that a good man, who took simple pleasure in fixing things, has been killed, along with many others, by evil men and women who know only how to destroy.”
The full statement:
Dear colleagues,
I’m sorry to have to share the awful news that our colleague, Dieter Kowalski, was killed yesterday in the Easter Sunday atrocities in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Dieter had just arrived at his hotel, where many of our colleagues have stayed over the years, when he was killed in an explosion.
As a senior leader of our Operation Technical services team, Dieter was looking forward to an action-packed week, working with our local engineering teams to troubleshoot some difficult challenges that were important to our customers, and with whom Dieter regularly engaged. He was excited about the chance to meet again in person, some two and a half years after his last trip, with Sri Lankan colleagues who had become good friends. Our Sri Lankan colleagues were very much looking forward to seeing him, too.
Colleagues who knew Dieter well talk about how much fun he was to be around, how big-hearted and full-spirited he was. They tell of a man to whom we could give our ugliest and most challenging of engineering problems, knowing full well that he would jump straight in and help us figure it out. Dieter, they tell me, was never happier than cheer-leading for our customers and our company and inspiring people in the best way he knew how – by helping them to fix things and doing it with joy, happiness and grace. He was a man who took great pride in the purpose of our company – helping our students progress in their studies and their lives mattered to him.
We mourn Dieter deeply today. We pray for his soul, and for his family and friends. We pray, too, for our colleagues in Sri Lanka, and Denver, and Boston, and in Pearson offices around the world. We’re angry that a good man, who took simple pleasure in fixing things, has been killed, along with many others, by evil men and women who know only how to destroy. But in our anger and despair, we remember the words of Queen Elizabeth II in the aftermath of 9/11. Grief, she said, is the price we pay for love. Let’s remember the love that Dieter had for his family, friends and colleagues – and the love they had for him. Let’s remember his love of life and his love of solving people’s problems. In these desperately difficult days, let’s honour Dieter by showing that love ourselves, by taking extra care of each other – at work, at home and in our communities.
We are doing all we can to support Dieter’s family, colleagues and friends. We’re also supporting our 800 colleagues in Sri Lanka, who do so much to support our company and our customers every day. We’ll share further updates with you in the days and weeks ahead.
Very best wishes,
John
More at WKOW 27 News