Tobias Wehr

Een privé bericht is achtergelaten door Jörg Langen

Dear Tobias, Your sudden passing is great shock for me. We have been working on EarthCARE project together since 2005. I recall many events with you, preparing workshop, discussing EarthCARE science at JMAG meeting, considering together for solving problem of the mission, sometimes confliction of each opinion was occurred. I also recall pleasant times with you, eating, drinking, and singing together at Karaoke. We all loved your hearty humorous character. I wish we could share joy to see first observation image of EarthCARE sensors after satellite launch. I hope you rest in peace.

I am so very sorry to hear about Tobias. I wish to express my deepest condolences to all his family in this difficult moment.

Een privé bericht is achtergelaten door Axel von Engeln

Dear Abby, Isabella, and Martin, I have had the pleasure of knowing Tobias for the past 10 years. He was a pillar in the satellite community. He had the ability to both enjoy detailed scientific findings, and see the big picture required to guide a large mission like EarthCARE. I very much admired Tobias’s inclusiveness; he treated everyone the same whether he just met you, or had known you for a long time. His engaging conversions and dry sense of humour will be greatly missed. I hope that you can find some consolation in that all his efforts towards helping address climate change issues through satellite observations will continue to bear fruit for many years to come, and that he will be fondly remembered as a thoughtful and kind person. Wishing you strength and comfort, Mark

We were shocked and saddened to learn of Tobias' passing. Tobias came to us in 2001 on his green Kawasaki ER5 for new tires. For the following 22 years we were happy to repair and maintain his cars and scooter. We got to know Tobias as a very friendly man. He was very much appreciated by us and we will miss him. On behalf of myself and all employees of Diesveld VMS we wish all his loved ones a lot of strength

Dear Abby, Isabella and Martin, My sincerest condolences for your sad and sudden loss. I have been working with Tobias since 2007 on the EarthCARE mission. We discussed the evolution of the various instruments’ developments and how the technical issues could be solved so as not to affect the mission science. Latterly we worked together to consider the overall mission performance and public outreach, particularly after launch. We have organised meetings, conference sessions and workshops, traveling to locations in Europe and Japan. Tobias was so happy and proud to see the satellite in the test facilities at ESTEC and take part in the group photo there this year. I will treasure the many happy times we have shared together, from small lessons in Japanese etiquette, bigger lessons in atmospheric science, to Tobias’s 50th birthday party. Tobias was honorable, gentle and kind. I can still hear his little chuckle and see the sparkle in his eyes as he cracks a subtle joke. It’s difficult to comprehend that he will no longer be stopping by my office door. Rest in peace Tobias, you will be missed.

Dear Tobias, I would like to express my sincere gratitude for your great contribution to promoting the EarthCARE project and the collaboration between Japan and Europe. We have strongly collaborated with you for more than 15 years. Taking over your will, we will strive to achieve the success of EarthCARE with all our efforts. Masaki Satoh The photo was taken in Kyoto after the EarthCARE workshop in June 2009.

Een privé bericht is achtergelaten door Masaki Satoh

Tobias, I was fortunate enough to know you for many many years. You have contributed so much at a professional level to our field of remote sensing and of course to EarthCARE. Equally, you have not only been valued for your professionalism but also for your personal qualities. You have always been a kind and gentle person with a dry sense of humour which carried through to your interactions with all your colleagues and made our days better. We will miss you - you have left us too soon. Go well until we meet again.

Een privé bericht is achtergelaten door Lex Hoffmann

Dear Tobias-san, I am so surprised to hear about your loss. We had so many discussions and meetings in the early era of EarthCARE project, which is the first ESA/JAXA joint project in Earth Observation. You had to see the launch of EarthCARE satellite, with me. Now I am just sad, and remember your positive attitude for new science challenges. Please accept my condolences. Toshi

Dear Tobias-san, I am so surprised to hear about your loss. We had so many discussions and meetings in the early era of EarthCARE project, which is the first ESA/JAXA joint project in Earth Observation. You had to see the launch of EarthCARE satellite, with me. Now I am just sad, and remember your positive attitude for new science challenges. Please accept my condolences. Toshi

Dear Abby, Isabela, and Martin, I was truly shocked to learn of the untimely passing of your husband and father. I had the good fortune of knowing and working with Tobias for almost two decades. We first met in 2005 and he was always a steadfast and avid supporter of plans and ideas coming from the entire Canadian contingent of EarthCARE. My lengthy association with him has been, for me, one positive outcome of EarthCARE’s many delays... had it not been for them, I might not have had the pleasure of his company for as long as I did! My fondest memories of Tobias include the EarthCARE meetings that were held, in-person, in the living room of my house. We canoed together during his stays in Canada, and he is fondly, and accurately, remembered by my children as an important and friendly foreign dignitary! Thank you, Tobias, for being a friend, colleague, and extremely able mission manager for so many years. Sincerely, and with a sense of much loss, Howard

Een privé bericht is achtergelaten door Peter Roos

Dear Abby, Isabella, and Martin, I had the immense privilege to work with Tobias over nearly a decade on the EarthCARE Joint Mission Advisory Group. Working under his leadership on this great project aimed to learning how to address key issues on climate change and to better anticipate the future of humanity has been extremely rewarding. Tobias has visited us in Canada on several occasions. At our institution, he will be remembered has a kind and respectful person, a model on bringing the community together toward a common goal. Thanks, Tobias, for all the expertise and guidance that you gave us.

Tobias will be really missed. I had the honour to collaborate with him as co-chair of the EPS-SG MWI-ICI Science Advisory Group, and I can say that we went from colleagues to friends over the years , he was always constructive and helpful, providing interesting insights, a real pleasure to work with, a real wise person. Thank you Tobias, I feel that it was a privilege to meet a person like you. May you rest in peace. My deepest thoughts and sympathy to his Family.

Dear Abby, Isabella, and Martin, I have been working with Tobias as a member of the mission advisory group of the ALTIUS mission. I am the youngest in this team, but he always treated me with the same consideration as our other, more experienced colleagues. All over the meetings we had together, I could measure his deep humanity, passion for his work, and kindness towards his colleagues. He will be missed for all that, and I still have not really realized that our mission will have to continue without his support... If this is of any consolation for you, be sure that he will be remembered as a great colleague, and person in general. I wish you a lot of courage to carry on. The Sky is probably higher than a satellite orbit, but still close enough to keep him alive in our memories.

Dear Abby, Isabella, and Martin, my deepest condolences for your loss, I am very sorry and sad. I worked with Tobias first on the ALTIUS mission and then on EarthCARE, and I appreciated him very much, both professionally and personally. Tobias will always be in our thoughts and hearts, especially when EarthCARE finally will fly.

Dear Abby, Isabella and Martin, The sudden departure of Tobias fills my wife Monique and me with great sadness, please accept our sincere condolences at this moment of tragic loss for you. We were both so looking forward to seeing Tobias again on his planned visit to Reading last week and spending Thursday evening with him for a chat and a drink together reminiscing about all the good times we have had together at various far-flung locations for the past 15 or so years. Abby, we met in Madison, Wisconsin in July 2009 at a picnic next to the Capitol building. You too must treasure your memories of Tobias, his tact, patience and understanding, his enthusiasm and generosity and the twinkle in his eye when making a humorous observation. It has been a pleasure and a privilege to work with him over the past 15 years on the EarthCARE satellite, as he guided it diplomatically through the various problems and challenges – when it is launched in 2023 it will be a lasting tribute to his inspiring leadership. May he rest in peace. Monique and Anthony Illingworth

Dear Abby, Isabela and Martin, May I express my heartfelt condolences for your loss - Tobias has been taken from us far too soon. As scientists working on EarthCARE we are completely indebted to Tobias's passion and wisdom - he has nurtured scientific collaborations spanning three continents and battled through uncountable challenges in getting the satellite ready for launch. I have know Tobias for 17 years and have always been impressed by both his masterful overview and his attention to detail. I was exchanging emails with him only the afternoon before his passing on the special issue of a journal which will be a lasting record of all the science he has supported, and which we will dedicate to his memory. My colleagues and I at ECMWF are also incredibly grateful for his unfailing support for our work. But my lasting memory of Tobias will be his warmth, laughter, and the twinkle in his eye as we settled down to a well-deserved beer after many long meetings. I will miss him immensely. With deepest sympathy, Robin.

Een privé bericht is achtergelaten door Markus Rapp, DLR

Een privé bericht is achtergelaten door Stefan Buehler

Een privé bericht is achtergelaten door Stephen English, ECMWF

Een privé bericht is achtergelaten door Matthias Gollor (ESA, EarthCARE Team)

Dear Tobias, I took this photo of you about two weeks before and I would never have thought that this was the last time we were meeting. We were looking one of your key projects: the EarthCARE satellite ready to be tested in the large vacuum chamber at ESTEC. Certainly you can be proud of this project and you see all these reactions from the worlwide science community how much your leadership of the JMAG (Joined Mission Advisory Group) was appreciated. - As colleague I will miss you, your engaged, friendly, committed and calm way of working. We both have a bond by having the same home heritage Bremen in Germany. Pity that we cannot attend together the next meeting in Tokyo together You will observe from far. Goodbye Tobias.

It is with immense sadness and a heavy heart that we learned of the sudden and unexpected passing of our colleague and dear friend Tobias Wehr at the age of 57. Tobias was a creative, inventive, engaging and passionate person, with a healthy dose of dry humour and irony. My lasting memory will be his warmth and his cheeky smile, along with his immaculately groomed long beard and stylish moustache. Beyond his deep scientific and technical expertise, Tobias was above all a valued colleague and friend within the Earth and Mission Science Division and Project Teams with whom he closely worked. His passing represents a loss that is deeply felt by myself, and amongst his colleagues and friends. My sincere condolences go to Abby, Isabela and Martin, and the entire family for their loss. May Tobias rest in peace. Mark Drinkwater

Don't remember any more the first time we met, 15? 16 years ago? I was still doing my PhD and started travelling around Europe. And I met Tobias... kind, gentle, good sense of humor and willing to smile and have fun with you at any moment. Then, two years of lunches together at ESTEC, many travels shared in Europe, Canada, endless meetings, multiple jokes on your dogs, and messages at my birthday every single year since then. I will miss you a lot, seeing you at ESTEC every year, the phone calls about work, the phone calls for fun... hope you rest in peace and I'm completely sure that you will remain not only in heart and memory, but in the ones from many many people. Abby, Isabella, and Martin my sincerest condolences for your unbelievable and unexpected loss. Take care.

Dear Tobias, It was just a few days later since we were exchanging e-mails on a new EarthCARE paper submission when I heard about this very sad and unbelievable news. I still cannot believe that you passed away so unexpectedly. We discussed so many times on the CPR Performance (especially on Doppler measurement accuracy) through the technical note submission, JMAG science meetings, CPR performance workshop and so on. We always had difficulties in reaching an agreement from the agency positions of ESA and JAXA and even cultural differences between Europe and Japan. However, you could always provide us with productive solutions which brought us fruitful outcomes with even comfortable feelings. I appreciate very much your great contributions and respect your never-ending "ENDEAVOR" spirit. This will be definitely inherited to us all. Now we cannot discuss together these important topics any more, but I believe you will keep an eye on the EarthCARE mission progress also above the Clouds. May you rest in peace. Hirotaka Nakatsuka

Dear Tobias, There are no words to express our sadness at the sudden news of your passing. I had hoped to see you again when you came to Japan. I would like to express my respect for your great efforts and contribution to the project. We were just about the same age, had children of similar ages, and talked about such things. Please be at peace in heaven.

Dear Abby, Isabella, and Martin, Japanese science team had a long standing very friendly relationship with Tobias-san on EarthCARE. Recently, I met him at Bonn the last May for the ESA conference, and at Noordwijk the last November for the EarthCARE meeting. I attach their photos here. I pray for his soul. Sincerely, Takuji

Dear Abby, Isabella, and Martin, we haven't met, and I can only shudder to think of the horror and loss that has come upon you. I knew Tobias in the context of his work for EarthCARE, one couldn't have hoped for a more noble shepherd, and when EarthCARE finally makes it to orbit, it will do so with the fire of Tobias' spirit. Reading through the messages below, one gets a sense of the lives and people Tobias has touched, and how much we all rue the fact that we won't be able to celebrate his accomplishments with him. The sparkle in his eye, one which shines through the many pictures, and illuminates my mind's eye when I think of him, makes me suspect that I only saw a small slice of his generosity and passion.

Dear Abby, Isabella, and Martin my sincere condolences for your loss! Shocked and saddened, at first, by the unexpected news, and then down the memory lane where I can only remember Tobias' witty remarks, his smirk and smiling eyes. We became colleagues in 2008 when I started working at the Mission Science Division and Tobias was fully involved in EarthCare. Tobias brought a different air in the division and every time he came back from a mission to Japan, I was so looking forward to his stories and the insight they carried. I would like to say good buy with a happy memory from a happy day back in June 2012, children were playing on the trampoline and adults were enjoying the good company.

Dear Abby, Isabella, and Martin, It is with great sadness that I express my deepest condolences on the sudden loss of Tobias. I had the privilege of working alongside him on the EarthCARE project since 2008, and more closely in recent years, as we guided the L2 team towards the launch and commissioning phase. Tobias was a remarkable person, always kind, proactive, and approachable, with a steadfast focus on advancing EarthCARE science. His loss will be deeply felt and he will be greatly missed.

Dear Abby, Isabella, and Martin. Mu condolences. I have worked with Tobias, since he became the EarthCARE mission manager. Over the years I came to consider him a friend. It is hard to believe he is gone. He will be missed both professionally and personally by many.

Dear Abby, Isabella, and Martin my deepest condolences for the sudden loss of Tobias. I have worked with Tobias for more than 15 years in several ESA projects directly related to EarthCARE and to other mission concepts. I have a lot of good memories with him at ESA meetings and even more at dinners and afterwards. Tobias has always been extremely supportive with us scientists and he has always worked hard to make progress even in the most critical moments (and many of us know how many we had during the EarthCARE mission preparation). It is certainly thanks to his support and his perseverance that we are now closer than ever to the launch of the mission. Tobias, auf Wiedersehen. I am sure that you will be keeping a keen eye on the mission also from above. With warmest sympathy to you all

Dear Abby, Isabella, and Martin, My condolences for the sudden loss of your husband and father, which is very very difficult to come to grips with as Tobias was full of enthusiasm. Having worked directly and intensely with Tobias from his first working week in 1998, (as we were both working on GOMOS) until his very last day (a meeting on EarthCARE, followed by a flurry of messages), he has been a reference point for me during 25 years. His calm humour helped defuse any tension build up. He personified Kindness and this is evident from the huge number of professional relationships he maintained. He was also eagerly looking forward to EarthCARE and I have fond memories of what would be his last moments near the satellite when he and I took photos of each other, and then went up to the top of the Vacuum chamber with Dirk to have a look from above. Further fond memories abound, also of our personal encounters , including Tobias' 50 years party and his presence at the 99 years party of Cecilia and me, and our many chats in Escape when Martin and Jan were doing Tae Kwon Do. I wish you all the strength to come to grips with this loss, and regret that due to a highly contagious condition I cannot attend tomorrow's funeral

Een privé bericht is achtergelaten door Shinichi Sobue

Dear Abby, Isabella and Martin, The sudden decease of Tobias still seems so unreal for me and my wife. Tobias and I became close colleagues in 2008 as part of the EarthCARE project and had together numerous meetings and business trips to Japan. Along these years, Tobias acquired a unique scientific knowledge; for sure his expertise, leadership and personality will be deeply missed within the scientific community supporting the EarthCARE mission. Beside work, Tobias and I discovered that we had many things in common such as appreciating the Asian culture and people as well as enjoying dogs companions. Till my retirement and moving to Switzerland early 2022, I regularly met Tobias with his two dogs, Yumi and Kyoko, in Warmond or Noordwijk-binnen forests, parks and these were always very pleasant moments. Our dear dog Avinia having passed away on Jan. 24, may I ask you , Tobias to take care of her as we am sure both of you are in heaven now. Michiyo and I will always remember the fantastic 50-year anniversary party for Tobias during which we met his lovely family. During these very difficult and sad moments, be sure Abby, Isabella and Martin that you are in all our thoughts here in Switzerland and that our friend Tobias will remain forever alive in our memories. All our sympathy, Damien & Michiyo Maeusli

Dear Tobias, We miss you. We miss you so much. It was my honour to work closely with you. You welcomed me warmly since I started working. You tought me to look beyond the positions of ESA and JAXA and to think what was purely the best for the EarthCARE science. I very much enjoyed our lunch and dinner every time we met in person at the Noordwijk and Tokyo. I wish we could have worked together after the launch, and share the joy of working on the data we prepared for years. I still cannot believe I cannot see you again. Please rest in peace. I will never forget our memories.

Dear Tobias, It is my deep moan that you passed away suddenly. I thank you for your strong enthusiasm and contributions to the EarthCARE project that is our great collaboration. I remember that you successfully managed many difficult project issues not in too much bureaucratic way, but rather by encouragement with gentle smile stemmed from a family ties feeling for the entire project team, which is very comfortable for a lazy, but careful, scientist of slow work like me. The satellite will soon go to space carrying our hope of getting data on cloud, aerosol, and radiation budget, which is important for the world community and society. We keep going on succeeding your wishes, so please have a nice peaceful rest. Teruyuki Nakajima, Former Japan-side EarthCARE project scientist Emeritus Prof. University of Tokyo

Dear Abby, Isabela and Martin, I can only attempt to imagine the hole this has left in your lives, and also for your sweet dogs. Since I heard the tragic and shocking news of Tobias passing away, there has not been a single moment that he and you have not been in m thoughts. I knew Tobias from when I was initially working at RIVM (NL) on GOMOS validation and we met at the first pre-launch validation workshop in ESTEC in 2001. I then later joined ESA in 2007 and worked together with him in the same atmospheric section both as mission scientists.He has worked on the agencies most challenging Earth Observation satellites, most notably ENVISAT with GOMOS and EarthCARE. Especially the latter one has his name all over the mission and I look forward to the day it will transmit its first data down to Earth in his honor. If I would describe Tobias in a few words from my own experience: friendly, 'nuchter', involved and passionate. We will immensely miss him! Thanks Tobias! May you rest in peace. All the best, Yasjka

I still cannot believe such a sad news. I never knew that conversations Tobias and I had at EarthCARE JMAG in November would become the last one. I will never forget his great leadership and passion for EarthCARE.

I'd like to say thank you to you, Tobias-san. You navigated us towards great success of the EarthCARE mission.

Een privé bericht is achtergelaten door Takashi Nakajima (Tokai University)

Please let me express my deepest sympathy for the loss of Tobias. We have been working together for the sucess of EarthCARE mission since 2008. During that period we had a lot of discussion on the mission and I do remember that his sincere attitude to harmonize the two different cultures between Japan and Europe. I am honoured to have known him. He was turely a great man and we will all miss him.

Dear Abby, Isabela and Martin, I was deeply shocked and saddened to hear about the sudden passing of Tobias. My thoughts and deepest sympathy goes to you in these very difficult times, following your great loss. Tobias and I were colleagues in the atmospheric section of the mission science division since 2004, and were working in parallel on the most challenging ESA Earth Observation missions, EarthCARE and Aeolus. The two were closely linked through technical challenges and delays, and we often exchanged information and hints in support of the missions moving forward, sharing both frustrations and successes. EarthCARE was very dear to Tobias, and thanks to his dedication and valuable contributions, it will become a true flagship mission for ESA. With warm regards,