The Memory of Family Voss

Liz Voss

In September of 93 Bill and I were scheduled to travel to Riga, Latvia. I was to teach infant perfusion in heart surgery to the medical staff at a hospital there. We had been invited to come as we had developed techniques that had been successful in a then emerging field of complex infant and pediatric surgical open heart procedures. Bill always accompanied our surgical team as I was not expected to travel alone with all the other male doctors. Bill and I decided to visit St Petersburg and Moscow afterward at the encouragement of Dr. Doty. Before leaving on our trip, news of unrest in Russia and our inability to speak Russian caused me to call Dr. Hughs for advice. He recommended that we employ Egor Elagin as a guide while there in Russia. Egor needed the money and we needed an interpreter. Egor met us in St Petersburg. He was wonderful. He spoke English well and gave us a personalized tour of some beautiful places there.

Egor stayed with us all day every day in St Petersburg and Moscow - staying at night with relatives. We realized how remarkable he was early on as he told us so many insightful things as we toured around. When we said goodbye we told him we owed him dinner when he came to the US in 2 weeks. He did come to Sunday dinner and our family loved him. It became a pattern for him to come every Sunday, which required us to pick him up and take him home each week. This tradition evolved into even more family involvement as we invited him to come to birthday celebrations, summer picnics and family parties etc. He seemed to enjoy coming and we enjoyed having him. This continued till he moved to Los Angeles. We still kept in touch and asked him to come back for Christmas each year. He was happy to come, as he also spent Christmas Eve with the Hugh's' family. He usually arrived mid-morning Christmas day, stayed in our home through New Yearns Eve at least and returned home to L.A. on the Sunday following New Year's Day. Egor would go out to dinner or out with the Hughs sometimes during this period. He agreed to be on the exchange gift list but still often surprised us with special gifts over and above the name he had drawn.

He seemed to enjoy the comradely with all of the kids, especially those who would play chess. Brad and Dave were married already so Michael became the closest to him at first. Brad also loved chess and so he also played a lot with Egor.

Egor relished eating good food (as do all young men) and he seemed to love our dinners, often chicken, roast beef or turkey, foil course. I think coming to our house was an escape from his usual school and work routine. We all loved having him come, as he was good company.

We teased him a lot because he liked to stand and visit with us, refusing to sit at first. Bill and I recalled that we had a hard time finding a place to sit in Russia. Even eating places often had standing bars. At one point while we were there I was so tired. Bananas were expensive at $7.00 each. We told Egor that if he could find us a place to sit and eat we'd buy bananas for our lunch. When I thanked him for finding some chairs he said, "No, I'm the one who should thank you - I would never afford a banana."

Egor seemed to enjoy meeting all of our foreign friends from China, Scotland, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and India. He enjoyed talking to them about their countries, and eventually was able to visit almost all of these places.

Egor was always kind and respectful to my mother, who lived with us until she died in December of 1997. When Egor first came she was 87, but very alert, active and a dynamic part of our family. She loved Egor like we all did. He asked her questions about England and her past life there.

Egor was very competitive in every activity. At New Year's parties it was our tradition at midnight to bang pan lids outside on the porch. We have dents in many of our pan lids from Egor's intense enthusiasm for making the most noise. I'm sure our children also contributed to the dents.

We had fun competitions at New Year's parties creating the most unusual hat/shoes etc. Egor always participated with amazing originality, even shopping at a party store for components to use to make his hat creation. His was always one of the best and were always fun, making us all laugh.

Egor was amazingly good at Scrabble which surprised us as English was his second language. It was as if he had read the dictionary from start to finish and almost memorized it. He loved the game nights we had and excelled at all games including Cranium, Set, Cash Flow, Stratego, Scrabble, others and of course chess.

When it came time for Egor to graduate from the University he told us he would not bother with the cap and gown ceremony. He had come to parties of our other graduating children and knew we gave gifts for these occasions. I told him with a smile "Egor if you don't walk in the ceremony we don't give you a party." Egor did get a cap and gown and we all went to watch him get his degree and then had a family dinner and party for him. We felt that all graduates deserved the recognition of the cap and gown and ceremony and did not want him to be deprived of it. Egor was always very quiet about his own accomplishments and the few things we knew we had to pry out of him. He was very humble and modest - he never boasted about himself except in jest. Even now we have learned amazing things we didn't know before about things he has accomplished, respect and recognition he has received and never mentioned. We were honored when he gave us a copy of one of his patents. Egor has enriched our lives and given us much. His absence leaves a painful void in our family but we will always carry with us his memory. We feel confident that we will see him again.

Bill Voss

One humorous but frightening moment I recall was when I was teaching Egor to drive. We had just begun and we were on a busy road when I asked him to make a U-turn. Without hesitation, wanting to please me by responding quickly, he suddenly cranked the wheel to left, almost rolling the car (I'm sure we were only on two wheels). For a moment I thought I would never live to see my grandchildren! After I regained my composure. I calmly explained that one must SLOW DOWN before turning, not to mention looking for other cars and signaling. Even after teaching 30 other people to drive, this was the most frightening experience of all. Egor was a fast learner, however and mastered driving in a short time. Secretly though, he thought he was preparing himself for NASCAR racing! One Christmas a few years ago we had a power-outage that lasted for days-we thought it would never end. We were all so used to the conveniences provided by electricity that we were beside ourselves trying to entertain ourselves and our guests. I had often thought of buying a generator for possible situations like this but had never felt I could afford it. After three days of no power I brought up the idea of a generator. At the first mention of this possibility Egor jumped to his feet and insisted that we go to buy one so we could all watch a video. After much consideration we decided to go shop and see what we could find. Egor offered to pay for it himself, but I insisted that it was too much for him to spend on us. After much discussion he reluctantly allowed me to pay for half of it. I'm sure this will go down in history as the most expensive video anyone has ever watched.

Egor has been generous with us many times, offering to take us all out to dinner or a show. He has also been generous with his time-readily being here for our family's special occasions, eagerly participating in the fun, food and festivities as well as laboring with us in our quarter acre garden. One year he proudly helped plant 200 feet of potatoes. Often he has complemented me on being such a good 'cooker'. He always really enjoyed our dinners and spirited conversation. It is people like Egor who enjoy the food so much that encourage me to continue cooking. We are all going to miss him. Dear Valery and Galya, we loved Egor and want you to feel proud that you raised up such a fine son. Just as the vacancy in your family will never be filled, we will always feel the empty space in ours that Egor once occupied. We will always remember Egor and hope that you will find comfort and peace in your loss. We thank you for sharing him with us for a time, we felt privileged to know him. We have compiled these thoughts as a gift to you and a tribute to Egor.

(Each person wrote their own memories and perspectives, please forgive the duplications.) We would love it if you ever decide to return to America. You are more than welcome to be our guests at any time. We would also be happy for any level of contact you would like to keep with us.

May you find comfort in the kind of person Egor was and peace in the life he lived.
With Sincerest Sympathy,
Liz and Bill Voss

David & Janna Voss Family

(David and Janna lived in Michigan for many of the years in the beginning going to medical school and residency. So they missed out on many opportunities getting to know Egor the way the rest of the family did.)

David Voss I always enjoyed Egor's comedian acts and stories at family talent sharing events. Egor was boldly honest which may have seemed blunt or strong to some people, but I appreciated always knowing where he stood on things. He was open with me about his real-estate ventures and was willing to share with me strategies and tips he had found to work. He trusted me and let me drive his BMW sports car! I will miss Egor! Janna Davis Voss The first game that I remember Egor playing when he arrived here from Russia was Gestures, which is a charade-type-of-game. Even though he did not know all of the words, he was such a good sport and played anyway.

Egor loved Bill Voss' cooking! He could eat plenty of it, too.
Egor was always generous in the gifts that he gave at Christmas time. This past Christmas he gave everyone a gift that he had purchased in his many travels to other countries.
I was amazed that Egor could stay up through the entire night on New Year's Eve ~ that was his personal goal.
Every Christmas we all put on a talent show. Egor's talent was his VERY FUNNY and creative monologues! I always looked forward to those! Egor had a very dry wit, which I enjoyed immensely.
Egor loved sports cars, and he loved to drive fast.
I will miss Egor - he was part of the family!

Ruth Marilyn Voss (age 10) I remember at Christmas time when Egor was talking about all of the planets, and I remember the last part which was really funny. He said, " ... Put Pluto in Uranus" (pronounced "your anus"). And that was really funny to me!! He told about funny things over and over again at Christmas time every year, but about different topics. My next memory of him was when he was walking Noah around the house over and over because Noah would keep holding on to Egor's fingers and wouldn't let go. So Egor had to keep doing it. I miss Egor!

Caleb Joseph Voss (age 8) He was a good person. Rebecca Voss (age 5) Egor watched me dance.

Brad and Trisha Voss Family

I had an interest in Russia and took Russian classes before I married Brad Voss in 1990. I love Chekhov, Tolstoy, and Dostoevsky and I was very jealous when the Vosses got to go to Russia in 1993. When they came back they had to leave a collection of Ruble coins with a customs officer, and when Egor arrived in Utah he and I worked together to write a letter that we hoped would sufficiently impress the officials to release the coins. He wrote it and I typed it using a Cyrillic wordprocessor at the University, and then he had to correct my draft, and 1 remember in particular how he advised us that it had to have several large, colorful seals on it. We played a lot of chess back then, and while I sometime could beat various of the guys (Brad would not marry me until I beat him in a chess game) I don't think I ever beat Egor. Though I think Brad and Kirk sometimes beat him, so according to the property of transitivity, it was theoretically possible for me to beat him.

Egor was there every Christmas and for all of the wedding receptions of the Vosses children. He truly became like a part of the family, and when I told my daughter Rochelle he had died, she instantly teared up. I realized he had been at every Christmas for her 10 years. He was very generous, and even though we had a gift exchange list, he always cheated and got something for each person anyway.

I was very excited for him when he got his patents at his first job in California. It was for technology they were developing to have a customer service "avatar" relate to users, for ATMs if I remember correctly. He was to me a real example of how successful someone can be if they are talented and willing to work hard, coming from a different country as he did. That is what is truly meant by the "American Dream".

Egor loved to snowboard, and I think that definitely made his annual trips to Utah a highlight. The Utah mountains are beautiful places, bright and with clear air. He also liked to drive beautiful, fast cars that I wish I'd taken the opportunity to go riding in, I never guessed there wouldn't be a next time.

He often complimented our family and showed a genuine interest in our children (one of whom had passed away before he came to America). We had always hoped for him that he would get married and start a family, and I believe he was thinking of that as well from time to time.

Everyone will remember Egor's great sense of humor, and the comedic routines he used to perform for us on Christmas Eve. The hat he made for the 2003 New year's Eve party was really spectacular. I believe it was the all in one travel hat, with all kinds of tourist items affixed to it. I thought my electrical gingerbread hat was a shoe-in, but he gave me a good run for my money. He was very competitive, but also a good sport.

Egor will be very missed, and if it turns out we are wrong about the afterlife, I think he will put in a good word with management for us.

Brad had surgery and was unable to write his memory in time for this memory book. He will email Elagin family later.
Tricia Voss

Rochelle Voss Dear Mrs Eiagin, Hi, I am Rochelle Voss. I am 10 years old. I can't really remember anything from when I was really young but I remember Egor being a comedian. One joke I can remember is the Pluto talking to the Master of the Universe. It was funny. I can't believe Egor died. I wish I could come to the Funeral but I have school. I will pray for you. Signed, Rochelle.

Michael Voss

Dear Elagin family, I suppose the best way to describe what Egor means to me is to review my time with him. In my early high school years Egor began coming to our family home for dinner. In those earliest years he had no transportation and I would often drive to his home to pick him up on Sunday afternoons for Sunday dinner. Egor was always quiet and polite - especially in the beginning and I suppose, difficult to get to know at first. He had a pleasant nature though, and a good sense of humor - so it was easy to like him... Slowly, gradually, Egor simply became a member of our family. His face was as familiar as my own siblings and his presence just as expected on the weekends. Egor and I eventually became friends and played racquetball together many times, a hundred thousand games of chess and too many board games and card games to count. Eventually Egor got his own car and then he was much more independent. Sometimes this meant we would see him more on a Saturday too, sometimes, less on the weekends altogether. But always he was part of the weekend equation for us, even if he didn't join us. We were happy to see him and missed him when he wasn't there. Egor was a constant. Not just in his presence and membership of our family, but also largely in his manner. I am not sure I ever saw him angry. (I assume he got angry often enough. I just never saw it.) Always a polite and pleasant friend was Egor. He never really changed, we had a "standing joke" about his preference for standing always, as he would frequently do when at the house on the weekend. We just knew that Russians (or at least Egor), simply preferred to stand...

Even years after being in America and always working hard or harder than anyone we knew, he still never wanted to sit...
Always a calm smile and a welcome face was Egor. He then determined that he wanted to learn to ski. So, I took him to Park City and in one day he was skiing better than me! He learned quickly and he couldn't get enough. Then, he was skiing much more often than me and finally graduated to snow-boarding. He was fearless and loved the slopes. Always Egor was ready to try new things. He went to Hawaii for several months and learned to surf and boogie-board. (I was jealous about this development). He then started to travel around the world, going to places that I yet hope to see someday - Africa, Rome, New Zealand, Japan etc. I remember after Egor moved to California that I missed him often - especially the chess opponent! We emailed occasionally - but not often enough, but then he was always the same regardless of how much time that passed. He always came back to Utah for Christmas and sometimes in between. Then we would all want to hear about his work, his successes and his cars.

Once I went to Los Angeles for an interview for school and he met me and took me to his favorite Korean Barbecue restaurant. Always the same, Egor and I talked well into the night, as though we were brothers, until I caught my plane and came back to Utah... I got married and of course Egor was there. He was there for all my sibling's weddings actually, as well as several other family events. (In fact he made the best toast of all at my youngest sister's wedding, perhaps the most meaningful contribution anyone other than the couple themselves said that entire day...) He came to almost every one of the family events.

Egor and I spent long hours talking about women - that was always a good time with Egor. He had such a "unique" way of seeing things when it came to his relationship with women. We talked a lot and laughed a lot more. And he was always just as runny as before - always with just as brilliant of insights and always just as constant.

I don't think Egor ever really changed in the years that I knew him. Sure, his English got better and he learned to drive and then later on he made a lot of money. But Egor never changed. Always a great sense of humor, always a pleasant smile and always a kind nature. Egor lived well - making the best of every moment, and he remained loyal and kind to those he knew, without ever changing. Egor was a constant - not just for me, but for everyone that I knew that knew him.

So I suppose I will miss Egor more than I can write here, because he was always there before - even when he was away, and always the same. He was always my friend. Perhaps like you, I am not sure now how to fill the space in my life that Egor filled. I do not think I can in this life.

But I do believe he has moved on, to a better place. I do believe there is more to this life than this life alone. I will see him again, there, and he will still be Egor. And he will still be my friend. And I will be just as glad to see him there as I have been here...

For now, I am better because I knew him here - and I am grateful that I know him now.

May God be with you my friends, as we all mourn his passage to the next life. I know Egor, and I know that he loved you very much. And like Egor, that will always stay the same...

With my most sincere condolences,
Your son and brother's grieving friend,
Michael Voss

Julie Voss Ssejinja

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Elagin,

I am so sorry for your loss. Egor was a wonderful man, friend and brother to me and many others too. I deeply respected him for all of his accomplishments in school and work - especially all of his inventions and honors. Egor was very humble and only once and awhile would we learn of things he had done. We have hanging in our living room a patent of one of his inventions and I proudly show it to my friends when they come over.

My first memory of Egor Elagin was when he first arrived in 1994. He had just moved here from Russia and he was coming over for Sunday dinner. I remember that dad would go and get him to bring him over. Soon after he arrived, my dad started teaching him how to drive. Not long after, he bought his first car. He was so proud of that car! He then always drove over to our house for Sunday dinner and special family occasions. We wanted to include him in everything. He easily fit into our activities and traditions. He always wanted to do everything we did.

He often talked about home, his parents and sister. Fun stories and memories of you all. I remember in high school, I had to do an interview with someone, I chose Egor. I will try to locate the tape and send it to you as I recorded it. You may like to listen to it and remember his voice and memories. I am sorry that I don't have it right this minute. One story I remember the best from that interview is that when he was very young, he would for fun ride the bottom of elevators (holding onto a rope or bar under the elevator) up and down many floors. He loved doing that with his friends. He didn't want to tell you how often he was doing it, because he didn't want you to worry.

I remember another time a couple of years later 1 was offered tickets to go to a basketball game that University of Utah (U of U) was playing in the Huntsman Center. I asked Egor to go with me. He came in his black car (it seemed like he always had the nicest, newest, fastest cars - and always black) to get me. We drove up the U of U and we had a blast. The game was great, we (U of U) won! He was always careful on the road, but he always drove fast.

************************

Soon after, I think it was in 1996 or 1997, he moved to California. While I was in college - especially my first 2 years, Egor and 1 would write emails back and forth, keeping him updated with what the family was up to and what he was up to. He would always share funny stories about what he and his co-workers were doing while they were creating intelligent software for companies to have security for their computers. He worked for EyeMatic at the time. He sent a video clip one time of he and his coworker late in the night reenacting Frankenstein after a hard day. It gave me a great laugh seeing how easily he picked up so many aspects of our culture.

************************

Egor was always traveling. We had a hard time catching up with him, or remembering when he was on a trip as seen in this email response asking where he was and if he would come for Christmas (Every year he would come for Christmas).

«No wonder I don't answer the phones, I'm in Shanghai, China (remember, as planned?) I'll be back to LA in another week. Now, about Christmas... what do YOU think? Of course, I'll be there.»

Egor always wanted to be a part of our family traditions, and we always had so much fun with him. He would arrive around 10 am on Christmas morning and we were waiting for him. We would all sit on the stairs before going into the room with the Christmas tree (that is one of our traditions) and then we would all race in there to see what Santa had left us. Santa Claus knew that Egor spent Christmas with us so he always brought gifts for him there. He was always excited to be a part of the gift exchange too. We would all have a name and then buy a present for that one person we were given. Egor was always very generous with his gifts. (He often gave us things from the countries he had visited during that year. Although we were only giving gifts to one person (a drawing for one person each), he would always give something to each person. He often called me to see if someone in the family needed something.) But more than anything, it was so much fun to have him there. He would give us so many laughs and funny stories. He was very good with stand up comedy and always had us laughing so hard we would cry. He really understood our culture! He was very good at games too! Anything from chess, scrabble, Rummecube, risk.... anything, he was always a part of it.

One Christmas, we had a power-outage for 5 days, we had to cook our food on a wood burning stove, no TV. no movies. He didn't have to be there, he could have left us and gone to a hotel or back to California, but he wanted to be with us. Finally after 3 days, he said he wanted to buy us a generator (Dad wouldn't let him buy all of it), but Egor wanted a generator so he could watch a movie with us. We still talk about that Christmas! Egor and our other brothers. Kirk, Michael and Brad went around to several neighbors that Christmas and shoveled the snow off of their driveways. We had 3-4 feet of snow in less than 24 hours! They were all wonderful. Egor was very kind and generous to go around and help.

When I got married in November (18th) of 2005, I wanted to have Egor there. He was my brother and I needed him there. Even though he was going to be there a month later for Christmas, he still came. He helped with anything and everything that mom and dad needed. But more importantly, he was there all day long including on the Temple steps for pictures with family.

At Christmas time in 2005, when Egor was here, my husband and I took him to see the house we were in the process of buying. On the way back we stopped to buy some lunch. I had some excited news to tell him, I was pregnant. Besides my parents, he was the first family to know. I wanted him to know, as I consider him family. When I told him, his jaw dropped and his eyes bugged out. I had really shocked him. but he was very happy and excited for us. When I called him 9 months later to tell him that our baby was born, he teased me asking if she had 6 legs or something. Again, he is just like an older brother. A couple of months later at Christmas, we had her baby blessing and he came. He was so good with her. Elizabeth (my daughter) loves him and he loved holding her. He was a natural. For years, my family all commented on how wonderful he was with children. He would have been a wonderful father. In our faith and religion, we believe that there is a life after this one and that those who do not get a chance to marry and have children in this life will have a chance in the next. I know that Egor WILL make a wonderful father one day!

My husband has an orphanage in Uganda, in the village where he is born that he takes care of. We told Egor that we were going this Spring and he said he wanted to come. We were going to have a special traditional African wedding celebration for David and me. Egor was going to go and represent the family and give me away to David, this is what Egor wanted to do. While there at there, at the wedding celebration, Egor said many wonderful things about me and also he talked about our friendship (Egor and me). I will never forget the feelings I had that day. I was so honored and thankful for him. I felt so excited to have him there. I was honored to call him my brother everywhere we went. Not just on this occasion, but all the time I have known him, I would refer to him as my brother to all my friends. We had so much fun with him! He made the trip such a blast with his help, comments and attitude. He fit in there so well! He even went and bought a book on Swahili before we left America and he was learning the language! He and David's brother Richard spent a lot of time together traveling around. In the village, we are building a clinic and it is ready to open now. We wanted to put a water tank in next to the clinic and when we went to town to purchase it, Egor surprised us by insisting on buying it for us! Egor was so generous and the people in David's village will always remember him for this generosity. (As seen in the following email sent to us upon hearing of Egor's death.)

Subject: CONDOLENCE MESSAGE FROM UGANDA
Date: Fri, 18 May 200718:01:57 +0300
From: "Solomy Nasseje"
To: "David Ssejinja "

Dear David,
Please convey our condolences below;
We, the Members of the Ssejinja Foundation in Uganda have learnt with profound shock the death of Mr. Egor Elagin. We wish to convey our sincere condolences to his family and the Ssejinja Foundation. We have lost a great pillar in the efforts to help the suffering children in Uganda. We mourn with you in spirit and pray that the Good Lord rests his soul in eternal peace.
Solomy N Luyombo
SECRETARY,
SSEJINJA CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION, UGANDA.

ALSO SEE THIS LETTER
Subject: RE: Our Dearest Friend has died
Date: Fri, 18 May 200717:55:23 +0300
From: "Solomy Nasseje"
To: "David Ssejinja" , "Simon Kayiki" , "lucia "
Hello David,
I am sorry about the death of our Board Member. I never got the opportunity to meet him but I am sure we will meet in heaven. Please convey our condolences to his family and the Ssejinja Foundation.
May God rest his soul in eternal peace.
Solomy

While we were in Africa, he said he wanted to see the gorillas, so Richard (David's brother) took him several hours away to see them. Unfortunately, they didn't see any at the time. (He planned on going back to Africa with us next year and we were going to go on a safari to see many animals.) On the way back, it was late at night and they were both getting a ride on a motorcycle taxi. The police stopped them, and would have let Egor go because he was Maxongu (white), but they would have kept Richard and put him in jail or fined him. (They were not supposed to ride 2 people at night on a motorcycle). Egor insisted on not leaving him and he actually paid the bribe to the police to let Richard go. Afterwards he joked with the police saying "In America, we don't see police and I would like to show my friends a police car with police", the Policemen agreed and right before Richard took the picture of Egor and the police together, Egor put his hands behind his back (like he was going to be arrested) and the police happened to glance over and see this, they ran away VERY quickly! We all laughed the rest of the trip about that incident.

I will always remember fondly Egor and my many experiences with him. He was and is a wonderful man. I am better for knowing him. I know that I will get to see him again one day. I love him and look forward to that day.

Sinceirely and with Love Julie Voss Ssejinja

My husband David said of Egor that he was a wonderful man and full of compassion. He was grateful to have him in our family and for the friendship and acceptance he showed to David.

Kirk Voss

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Elagin, I am so very sorry for your loss. I can only imagine how painful this must be for you. Egor was a dear friend to me, and I have counted him among my brothers. I hope that what I share with you will be meaningful to you, as his memory will forever be meaningful to me. 1 remember Egor being like an older brother to me from the beginning of the time I knew him. He was very patient with the barrage of questions we constantly asked him about Russia and his life there. I remember how he was always very positive, willing to help, and patient with my constant interest in playing chess. Egor was in a new country, surrounded by a new culture, and speaking a second language, but he was very quickly at ease with our family. I remember how interested he was in learning. He was always willing to try new things, and he often endured long games and activities with us. At our sisters' weddings, Egor was very much a part of our family. He helped us prepare for the celebration, and he was in our family pictures on the wedding day.

I have countless memories of playing chess with Egor. He and I would play chess every Sunday afternoon when he lived in Salt Lake. I often looked forward to seeing him on Sundays as he came to our home for dinner. Egor played so well, and it was some time before I was able to win a chess game against him. He was very competitive, and he endured my competitive nature very well. For several years we spent New Year's Eve playing games through the night, and I remember many discussions we had about your family. I was very excited when he arranged for me to play chess with you, Mr. Elagin, through email. Egor often went to great effort to help us if we expressed an interest in something.

I remember Egor attending some church services with us. He was very patient with us, and he attended church to be with us, even though he did not share our beliefs. He was always respectful of our faith. I remember a couple of nights talking with him late into the night about faith, religion, and God. Egor talked with me for hours and invited discussion, even when our beliefs and views differed.

My brothers and I love to go fishing, and as Egor loved to try new things, he came with us on several occasions. I'm not sure that he enjoyed fishing as much as we did, but he wanted to be with us and share time together. In moments like those, I felt very much that he was a brother to me. As years passed, and after he moved to California, we tried to maintain contact with him.

Occasionally we would exchange phone calls and emails, and he wrote some letters to me while I was a missionary in Brazil. I will never forget his sense of humor. He was always very funny, and his grasp of humor in a second language really was incredible. He would often tell jokes, and I remember well the letters he wrote to me while I was a missionary. When his letters came to me in Brazil, I would often read them to my other missionary companions and we would laugh together. I knew that any letter from him would cheer me up when I was overwhelmed with missionary work. And his comedy "'routines" at Christmas were golden memories for our family, and we all looked forward to what he had prepared.

I think perhaps the most poignant memories I have of Egor were of the last few years I knew him. I feel that even though he has been living in California, I have been even closer to him than in years past. These past few years when he has come for Christmas, he has wanted to play group games more than the competitive games. He was more interested in the group activity than in the competition. He would read novels on the couch in our home, and he would have many discussions with me. And though his life was busy with work and new events, he would often talk about family and friends. Egor told me about his interest in marrying and having a family of his own, and I often told him that I believed he would be a good father. I know he would be. He had a kindness and compassion by nature. I recall each Christmas that Egor brought gifts that he had given great thought to. He was always very generous with us.

I am now preparing to get married next month. I had talked with Egor about it. and I know he was planning on attending my wedding. I will miss having him in our family pictures, but he certainly will not be absent from our thoughts. Mr. and Mrs. Elagin, I don't know what your own beliefs are about God, or the purpose of this life, or where we go after we pass away, but I firmly believe that this time we have in this life is not the end. There is purpose in our coming here, and in the family and friends that we meet here. I believe that God has sent us here to learn and to grow from each other, and that our most cherished relationships and memories can continue with us after we leave this life. I believe that we will see Egor again, and that he can be with you forever. I know God is real, and that He knows us individually. I pray that your family will be comforted. I pray that God will bless you with peace. Thank you for sharing your son with our family. He will forever be a treasured part of my memory, and I feel honored to have known him. I pray that God will be with your family, and that you might know how much he has meant to us. Sincerely, Kirk Voss

Memories by Stephanie Voss Klimpel "Our Russian Brother"

The first thing I think of about Egor is his great attitude toward life. He was a good sport and wanted to try everything. When he came to our house on Sundays for a few years, and then later at each Christmas, he was always ready to participate in whatever we did: games, talent shows (at which he did his comedy routines that everyone looked forward to), competitions and even in funny hat contests. So many times we would introduce a new game to him that we had been playing for a long time, and he would win on his first time playing it! I remember us staying up the whole night on New Years a couple of times because Egor was willing and excited to do it with us. We just played games all night long He, of course, was very "tough" about it-he had to show us that he wasn't even tired by the time morning came :)

When we first met him I was only 9 years old. He came to eat dinner at our house. As he was telling all of us what things were like in Russia, we were riveted, so anxious to know about another country so far away. We asked him question after question and we all loved to hear his answers. For some reason he came to tell us that he had never drunk tap water before usually they had pop or juice or something else. I was stunned and watched without blinking while he brought his glass of water to his mouth to take his first sip.....suddenly his eyes bugged out and he made some kind of choking noise on that gulp of water - I jumped out of surprise. A sly grin broke out on his face, he had caught me in his joke Everyone laughed out loud and I thought to myself "Ok, this guy is cool, it's gonna to be fun with him around."

When Egor was around, he was frequently standing up (especially for first several years) even when the rest of us were sitting around. I guess that was normal for him in his culture, while we Americans sit down quite often. We liked to tease him about it; we said he must be standing because he had to "hold up the ceiling" for us.

Egor had a great sense of humor. He laughed a tot. When he did, his whole face lit up, and one of his eyes always blinked, (in my opinion) revealing a bit of his gentler side underneath his "tough Russian guy" mentality.

Egor was smart. In addition to all of the talent he had at beating us in games and doing comedy routines, he also was top of his class. I don't remember much about him going to college way back then, but I do remember one time he was telling us about a little frustration about one of his grades being just slightly below what it should have been because of the mistake or pride of the professor or something to that effect. Up until then I don't remember him ever telling us much about how well he did, he never volunteered that, he was humble about it. So when he was talking about this one grade, we asked him what grades he was getting in his other classes. As far as I remember, his unassuming, indirect reply made us realize that he always got "A's!"

Of course with all of his later accomplishments, his intelligence and work ethic were very obvious. It only took him a few years before he had really built himself to success.

Egor loved taking us places in his sporty car, even just to run errands. He was happy to show off his stereo system and GPS to ail of us-we, of course gawked at it ail because none of us ever had anything like it.

One time Egor let me use all of his snowboarding gear! My friend from school offered to teach me a little snowboarding. I didn't have any equipment and didn't have the money to rent it, so I asked Egor tentatively if I could borrow his snowboard (he was in California by then, and just left it in our storage room for when he came) Without any hesitation he lent it and all of his other stuff to me and told me to have fun.
He even trusted me to drive his fancy car! That meant a lot to me. I had been driving for only a couple of years. I felt like I was a good driver, but no one had trusted me with their expensive car before. Because I was the youngest, I sometimes got overlooked and I usually felt insignificant compared to everyone else Egor treated me as if I was just as mature as all of my older siblings-that felt realty good. I was glad to have him as a brother.

Three years ago, I got married. I was honored that Egor came all the way from California to be there for it. In addition, after the reception was all over, I found out that Egor had been helping constantly. Apparently he had run endless errands for my Mom, carried heavy things to where they needed to go, helped dean up after it was over, and even helped serve the refreshments to the guests! He was always actively involved wherever he was, whenever he could be - my wedding is just one example.

Egor was also generous. During the last 3 or 4 years, when he was traveling all over the world, he brought a little something for each person at Christmas from the places that he had visited. (By the way, I remember that he learned as much of the language as he could of each place he visited. He could usually have a basic conversation or ask questions etc in the language of the place he had most recently visited). The most recent thing he gave to me was a beautiful Jade (?) elephant. It was carved in India, and was done to show a baby elephant carved inside of it as well-it is all one piece. And he gave something completely different to each person, always choosing something to fit their personality. He was so kind to remember all of us with these priceless gifts.

In our family we have done an "exchange" with gifts at Christmas time. This meant that everyone was assigned to give to just one other person. Well, Egor was of course one of our "brothers", so he was part of this exchange. I remember that one year I was the lucky person that Egor was assigned to give to. Usually the gifts we gave each other were nice but simple. However, when I opened my gift that year it was a DVD player! I can't tell you now excited and stunned I was at this gift! (And I know that everyone else was jealous) Our family didn't have a DVD player and he had given one to ME! I know that I was not the only one to receive something so generous from him. That year though, I was the lucky one.:) Our family used that player until a couple of years ago when I got married and moved out. I was happy to remind everyone that it was mine, so I got to take it with me. I still use that DVD player in my home. This last Christmas was the last time. I got to see Egor. I remember giving him a hug to welcome him and a hug to say good-bye when he left (After all of these years, he was finally used to our family's traditions of hugging when we greet. By now he just expected it and even initiated it with us.)

The most meaningful thing about him this last Christmas for me was him walking around with Noah, my son who was 10 months old at the time Every time I turned around, Noah was holding onto Egor's fingers and walking from room to room. Egor was usually smiling from ear to ear. Noah had just begun this stage and he often exhausted me as he insisted on walking back and forth with me across the room. I often had to refuse when Noah wanted to, or at least stop before he was finished Egor, however, had endless patience for Noah. I think that Noah walked a couple of months earlier than he would nave because of all of the time Egor spent with him. Egor was adventurous, curious, optimistic, seemed to have the motto "take the bull by the horns," wanted to try everything there was to try and see everything there was to see. I also saw him as being respectful and considerate of others. I know that I, along with the rest of my family, will miss the man we liked to call "Our Russian Brother." Stephanie Voss Klimpel

From Guido:

This is sad to hear! Man, Egor really was so much fun to be around and now hes gone! I can't believe it.

Here is what I remember about Egor, if you would like to include it:
Egor was one of the people I really enjoyed hanging out with. He was always open, warm and friendly to me and everyone else around him. There was always fun to be had with him, and he was also open for more serious discussion. Christmas and New Year's at the Voss home would not have been the same without Egor. I also enjoyed skiing/snowboarding with Egor. He was and will remain part of us. I will be glad to see him again someday.
Greetings from Germany,
Guido Klimpel