I’m not used to death. My sister passed away from cancer in 2002 and to this day, it’s hard to believe that such a familiar person is no longer here.

So it was a bit disconcerting that two well respected men in the Twin Cities business community, Eugene Sit and Dennis Anderson,  should die four weeks apart from each other, both from horrible diseases. I didn’t knew either particular well; in fact, aside from a few phone calls, I never met them in person. Nevertheless, I find their deaths quite upsetting.

I  felt a closer connection to Gene, the son of Chinese immigrants who literally went from nothing to one of the most successful investment mangers in the city. I frequently interviewed Gene for our Quarterly Money Managers Report because A) he provided good insight and B)  he always returned my calls. His daughter Debi regularly participates in our annual end of the year Investors Roundtable discussion.

Every conversation with Gene began the same way. Knowing that I’m Chinese, Gene would ask me when I would visit China. He had a big laugh that coming from any other mouth would be annoying but always seemed to crack me up. Ironically, I did go to China last month and looked forward to telling Gene all about it. I guess I’ll never get the chance.

“He was a very caring man,” Roger Sit, his son, told me. “He was a successful person who lived the American Dream.”

I told Roger about my China trip and how Gene always bugged me to go. Roger then peppered me with questions about my background. Despite the death of his father, Roger seemed genuinely interested in my story.

Just like his old man.

Dennis I knew even less. A few months ago, my editor suggested that I get to know Dennis, who built a career of advising startups and match making CEOs to the right companies. He also started a new venture capital firm called Pelegrin Partners, which would invest in life science and technology startups.

I made and then canceled two appointments with Dennis because of scheduling conflicts. When I returned  from China in late May, one of the first things I did was e-mail Dennis to set up another meeting. A day later, a reply popped up in my in-box from his e-mail address. It was his son Ty, who told me that Dennis had passed away.

Everyone who knew Dennis  said the same thing about him:  that he was the person to know, the ultimate networker.

“He knows everything that is going on,” said Mark Kroll, a principal at Pelegrin Partners. “He was a truly kind, receptive, objective, people person.  I miss the guy.”

In case that quote doesn’t quite sum up Dennis, here’s the tribute his colleagues at Andcor Companies posted on their website:

Friends and family will remember Dennis’ zest for life and competitive spirit. He loved to regale his daily push-up and sit-up totals to anyone who would listen. Dennis and his late wife Suzy traveled a great deal, and he continued to travel the world until very recently. He was also an avid skier and boater. And last but not least, Dennis would want everyone to know that he had been named “Best Groomed” and “Athlete of the Year” from various groups and associations.

Rest well gentlemen.

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