SECBH%CUNYVM.BITNET@mvs.oac.ucla.edu (01/10/91)
BOB CECCHI
April 26, 1942 - January 9, 1991
Bob Cecchi died yesterday evening in Roosevelt Hospital in New
York City of an AIDS-related infection. His close friends were
with him through the evening.
Bob was diagnosed with HIV in 1981. He was one of the founders
and original members of the Gay Men's Health Crisis in New York
City, which was the first AIDS volunteer agency in the country.
He worked for GMHC until about a year and a half ago when his
health prevented him from continuing there.
After Bob's diagnosis he devoted all of his time to AIDS-related
work. He also enrolled in college and earned his undergraduate
degree during this time. Prior to this he had worked as a handiman.
It was frequently said of Bob by people working in the AIDS epidemic
in New York that he had done more than any other person to change the
quality of care provided to persons with AIDS in the early years of
the epidemic.
In his first months working with GMHC he happened to be the person
who picked up a phone call from an AIDS patient who had not had food
for three days because the hospital staff was leaving his food trays
outside of his room and he was unable to get out of bed to get them.
Similar complaints began pouring into the organization, and Bob pursued
them with a tenacity which made him famous or notorious depending
upon which end you were on. He organized the Ombudsman's Office
of GMHC which investigates complaints filed by PWAs against medical
practictioners and facilities, governmental agencies, etc.
The work of this office changed the face of AIDS care in this city
and made GMHC a potent force.
As a result of his work, Bob was appointed to several AIDS-related
bodies by Governor Guomo. The day before his death he received a
letter of thanks from the governor.
Bob had an extremely zany sense of humor combined an implacable
stick-to-itiveness which made friendship with him something of
a roller-coaster ride. He could have you literally rolling on
the floor with laughter one minute and trying to restrain yourself
from wrapping your fingers around his throat the next.
He was one of the most remarkable people I have ever known, and for
more than a decade, a close friend and neighbor.
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Jack Carroll "Love...must it come so cruel, must it be so brave?"
<SECBH@CUNYVM> Leonard Cohen