It’s happened again.
Yet another friend from work’s passed away. And yet again I find myself writing about someone I’ve known for many years. Four in this case.
Chris Fenton was known by all as “Sonic” due to an unfortunate incident in early SpinVox history when he brought down the office network from a Sonic Firewall misconfiguration. 
In all thy humors, whether grave or mellow, Thou'rt such a touchy, testy, pleasant fellow, Hast so much wit and mirth, and spleen about thee, That there's no living with thee, nor without thee. - Joseph Addison
Sonic was a mysterious character and certainly “unique”. A tireless worker. A technical genius far exceeding me. A right bastard sometimes but always funny as hell.
Nobody who is afraid of laughing, and heartily too at his friend, can be said to have a true and thorough love for him; and, on the other hand, it would portray a sorry want of faith to distrust a friend because he laughs at you. Few men, I believe, are much worth loving in whom there is not something well worth laughing at. - A.W. Hare and J.C. Hare
A lover of music and for some odd reason – cheese.
This was a winning picture of a caption competition we had in the IT department.
And some day, a mighty fine dancer. 
I’ll leave this post with something Chris had been working on for around a year. On IRC at work he would regularly change the topic and with all the recent events in the company, he decided to end the story. This was the last one:
Mahabharat Episode 72. Sonic is the last to go. Smiling fondly, he touches the last side of the cube still lit, and disappears from the temple. As to the location of the snowy path he finds himself on, the identity of the young woman beside him, or where he’s headed, the epic of Mahabharat does not tell…
Journey well my friend. You’ll be missed.
Source and Destination? I'll get back to you on that sir.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
I am in total shock. Vic called me and I had to call him back as I had not heard a word he said to me after the first few words.
I am angry, I am sad. And I feel so helpless.
I heard the news. Terribly sad. I spent some wonderful time with him (and you) and remember the long and lengthy discussions we used to have. May we all die in peace.
Utterly shocked. I spent last night re-reading the mail about it again and again….
He will be missed and I know little else to say at the moment.
Chris was the ONLY technical guru whereby it was his way or no way and project managers would ignore this at their peril:) He was one of the most talented and funny people I have ever worked with. Above all he had one of the rarest attributes of all, he was genuine. A very, very sad day…………….
A true friend, cheese-guru, *the* most helpful colleague and a wise and patient mentor – Chris will indeed be sadly missed by all of us who knew him…
Fare well on your Journey, my Friend.
Sonic was one of the best! We had great conversations about working at 3UK as well and knew many of the same people there. Nomatter how stressed or what kinda pressure he was under, he’d talk to you with a smile on his face and you knew he was a passionate and caring person. I was devastated and like Matt kept reading it because I wanted to convince myself we were talking about someone else. I could never ignore advice from Chris because he knew his stuff and I considered him a friend. He also had a way of making a bad idea sound very perilous but had an ability to pull cats out of bags very regularly. I remember when we spent two months trying to have the right conversation with an operator and when we got the right people on the phone, Chris has the problem sorted in about 15 minutes. He loved a challenge and lit up the office when he was around. I also remember a pretty good plastic boomerang fight after the Telstra launch which Chris and I both started taking too seriously! See you all on the 7th.
Lovely tribute. Brought tears to me eyes and I never knew Chris.
What can I say, I am completely shocked when I saw the group created by by Jon Pasco on Facebook. I thought no it was one of these jokes that we use to have in the office. It took a while to to read all what was written in the group to realise what happened and hopping that I will find a sign of a practical joke in it, but sadly none was there and it was true. What a loss, I will forever miss Chris’s discussions on theoretical physics, the origin of the universe, the existence of God and why we all are here. I remember once we touched on the subject of death and how he expressed no fear of it at all.
I am sure Chris will be missed by many as he was liked by many. What a sad day indeed.
I will not be able to attend the memorial day in person but my heart will be with you.
Spirited articulate human being (or Alien) and when anyone was in troubled waters he was always there to help day or night and get things sorted. He will be greatly missed by all that knew him.
Chris was a great guy and will be missed by all at AnlX who had the pleasure to meet him.
Richard Sierakowski