David died on November 25, 2022, at the age of 83.[1] He was a prolific editor and a self-declared gnome who added to articles on Philadelphia, United States, and created many new articles.[2] David lived inFairmount, Philadelphia. After earning a degree atLafayette College and serving for two years with the US Army in West Germany, he worked for 27 years as a computer programmer forSunoco.[2][3]
David began his post-retirement Wikipedia career on March 13, 2008; five years later, he had made 100,000 edits, mostly throughwikignoming. As of this issue, he is the52nd-most-active editor in Wikipedia. David was a member of theGuild of Copy Editors, and took part in its monthly drives and blitzes. He was also part of theArticle Rescue Squadron, saving uncited-but-promising articles from deletion.[2] David was openly proud of his Wikipedia-editing activities, and he even designed his own Wikipedia-themed caps, which he wore to Philadelphia wiki-meetups and gave away to his fellow Wikipedians.[2] Outside Wikipedia, David was a member of theHistorical Society of Pennsylvania.[3]
Dthomsen8 has left an indelible legacy at Wikipedia, and the encyclopedia and editing community are poorer for his loss. Messages of condolence can be left on histalk page.
Wikimedia Tanzania andJenga Wikipedia ya Kiswahili havepublished a tribute toUser:Kipala, a much-loved German Wikimedian who – as a fluent Swahili speaker – was particularly active in the African Wikimedia community (see alsoWikimedia-l thread).
Ingo was an important stakeholder of Swahili/Kiswahili Wikipedia whose immeasurable contribution will not be forgotten. We will always remember our beloved Ingo Koll for many things, especially his significant contribution to editing, building, and maintaining Wikipedia Kiswahili, Wikimedia Tanzania and Jenga Wikipedia Kiswahili. He was a selfless person who gave his all whenever needed. His sudden death is a big blow to the Swahili/Kiswahili Wikipedia community and Wikimedia Tanzania.
He was a wonderful teacher who wanted to see Kiswahili grow and be increasingly used in education. He was committed to spreading free knowledge through Wikimedia projects and programs. His exemplary work is seen in radio programs such as “Macho Angani” and his remarkable production of Astronomy topics into Swahili language “Astronomia kwa Kiswahili”. Ingo loved everyone who fondly called him Babu Ingo or Kipala. We will honor him by keeping his values of hard work, selfless spirit, truthfulness and going all the way always. May he rest in eternal peace. Amen.
–AK
I was lucky enough to meet David Thomsen in 2012, at an NYC event. A great editor and a great person.The Blade of the Northern Lights (話して下さい)13:55, 17 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]
