Our beloved David is in God’s Arms now!
As the harmonious and beautiful chanting filled the Cathedral during that celebratory Funeral Mass, I could see Angels carrying David’s soul up there. In a place, “where there is no pain, no sorrow, no sigh, but life eternal.”
I loved David! We all loved David! All of us, young and old, who were so fortunate to have had him as our teacher. He was filling the classroom with grace and by his charismatic personality had a great effect on all of us.
His enthusiasm for teaching, his knowledge, his generosity towards his students, his kindness and Joyful approach to everything, were perennially admired and cherished by them.
We, the older ones, were rewarded with his friendship. In his person we found warmth, truthfulness, beauty, and love!
He was a beautiful person, internally and externally.
I had the privilege to be both his student and his friend. I have the most wonderful memories studying under his guidance, and later on, working with him in the Philosophy Society.
I experienced the greatest joy going to the university and meeting with all these interesting and inspiring people. David was the main source of inspiration.
His hard work all those years has left a great impact on the Philosophy Dept. of the University. There will never be another David Goicoechea. He was our prince of philosophy! His was the Golden Age of the Philosophy Dept.
He had brought Joy, optimism and enthusiasm and a new yearning for learning. Attending all those wonderful Conferences that he was organizing was a most fantastic intellectual experience for me, and I would try to attend all of them. The socializing after them was a great fun as well.
David’s Persona was always shining through . He stood there, tall, elegant, Joyful, always with a smile on his face.
These are wonderful memories of times spent with a gentleman that I admired, respected, and loved.
I have met David in the fall of 2001 as a fresh, international graduate student of Brock University. It is no exaggeration to say that he immediately took up the role of father and mentor, both of which roles he fulfilled gracefully, unconditionally, and gratuitously. He found a place for me to live, fed me on a regular basis, and introduced me to the fascinating undercurrents that connect Kierkegaard, Buddhism, and postmodern thought. I have been his teaching assistant, too, and thus, witnessed the seductive nature of his speech. He seamlessly navigated through Western and Eastern ideas and desperately, though always lovingly, showed students why philosophy and breathing are equally necessary to survive. David's love for and celebration of, this life and this world is and will remain a vivid memory. I had no idea that the same person could inhabit both Christian eschatology and Nietzsche's apostatic vitalism with the same ease and dedication. Moreover, it is as part of the absorbing joy he took in this life that he was not afraid to praise the powers of eros and to insist on the convergence between mundane attachments and celestial fidelity. And since laughter was one of his greatest gifts, I'd like to reminiscence a particular event which may give us a glimpse into his nature. As a graduate student I joined him in long walks to the classroom he was lecturing in. David spared no moment in trying to bring up one philosophical problem or another, and test my (always disappointing) intellectual skills. On many of these journeys we came across two beautiful twin sisters, whom we later found out were Russian. As a 25 year old I could not help noting their arresting looks and immediately interrupt whatever it was that we debated. We encountered them several times and I confessed to him that meeting any one of them would be sheer utopia for me. As time passed, our current prime-minister, back then just Trudeau Sr.'s son, gave a lecture on his father's legacy. David insisted I'd come to broaden my tragically limited East-European horizons. I remember meeting him in front of the hall and asked where he sat because I'd like to join him. We found some seats and then, he disappeared for whatever reason. Just a short while later, I heard him calling my name from the top of the stairs. He screamed so loudly that I am sure that was the only time Justin Trudeau would ever hear my name wherever he may have been. I turned my head and saw David waiving desperately to come to him. His face was all red and excited. Intrigue does not even begin to capture my state of mind. So, I went as quickly as my youthful legs allowed. Once outside I instantly saw him (with an unmistakable smile on his face) standing by one of the "Russian twins." I'm sure that if he won the Trojan war, his face couldn't have been more triumphant and ecstatic, as he most deferentially introduced me to her. That is how David was, making sure philosophical knowledge, politics, and the call of eros can be experienced within the span of just a few hours. I forgot to mention that on the same day, we discussed the nature (and ultimacy) of the mystical union with God; which adds religious love to the aforementioned mix. In short, David was and will always remain the father, the teacher, the friend, the confidant, and most importantly, the spiritual master who practiced neighbour love daily and with a passion impossible to imitate. Words are powerless in consoling us over his departure. May he rest in peace and finally witness what he always wanted, that reconciliatory oneness with the divine he aspired to throughout his whole adult life!
I have met David in the fall of 2001 as a fresh, international graduate student of Brock University. It is no exaggeration to say that he immediately took up the role of father and mentor, both of which roles he fulfilled gracefully, unconditionally, and gratuitously. He found a place for me to live, fed me on a regular basis, and introduced me to the fascinating undercurrents that connect Kierkegaard, Buddhism, and postmodern thought. I have been his teaching assistant, too, and thus, witnessed the seductive nature of his speech. He seamlessly navigated through Western and Eastern ideas and desperately, though always lovingly, showed students why philosophy and breathing are equally necessary to survive. David's love for and celebration of, this life and this world is and will remain a vivid memory. I had no idea that the same person could inhabit both Christian eschatology and Nietzsche's apostatic vitalism with the same ease and dedication. Moreover, it is as part of the absorbing joy he took in this life that he was not afraid to praise the powers of eros and to insist on the convergence between mundane attachments and celestial fidelity. And since laughter was one of his greatest gifts, I'd like to reminiscence a particular event which may give us a glimpse into his nature. As a graduate student I joined him in long walks to the classroom he was lecturing in. David spared no moment in trying to bring up one philosophical problem or another, and test my (always disappointing) intellectual skills. On many of these journeys we came across two beautiful twin sisters, whom we later found out were Russian. As a 25 year old I could not help noting their arresting looks and immediately interrupt whatever it was that we debated. We encountered them several times and I confessed to him that meeting any one of them would be sheer utopia for me. As time passed, our current prime-minister, back then just Trudeau Sr.'s son, gave a lecture on his father's legacy. David insisted I'd come to broaden my tragically limited East-European horizons. I remember meeting him in front of the hall and asked where he sat because I'd like to join him. We found some seats and then, he disappeared for whatever reason. Just a short while later, I heard him calling my name from the top of the stairs. He screamed so loudly that I am sure that was the only time Justin Trudeau would ever hear my name wherever he may have been. I turned my head and saw David waiving desperately to come to him. His face was all red and excited. Intrigue does not even begin to capture my state of mind. So, I went as quickly as my youthful legs allowed. Once outside I instantly saw him (with an unmistakable smile on his face) standing by one of the "Russian twins." I'm sure that if he won the Trojan war, his face couldn't have been more triumphant and ecstatic, as he most deferentially introduced me to her. That is how David was, making sure philosophical knowledge, politics, and the call of eros can be experienced within the span of just a few hours. I forgot to mention that on the same day, we discussed the nature (and ultimacy) of the mystical union with God; which adds religious love to the aforementioned mix. In short, David was and will always remain the father, the teacher, the friend, the confidant, and most importantly, the spiritual master who practiced neighbour love daily and with a passion impossible to imitate. Words are powerless in consoling us over his departure. May he rest in peace and finally witness what he always wanted, that reconciliatory oneness with the divine he aspired to throughout his whole adult life!
For David Goicoechea
May 4, 2017
Dear Johanna, Josje, Scotty, Charity, Crystal,
Dear Friends,
I wanted to write something that would be worthy of David’s memory; that would show my gratitude to the creative uniqueness of his life, thought and work.
The right words escape me here.
I owe so much to David. I thank him for his generosity, his guidance, his lucidity and to the gentle force of his thought that wove together the religious with the philosophical and the poetical.
David changed the course of my life by introducing me to Suzanne. He said she would be perfect for me and he was right.
In a second year philosophy class, David taught me about memory and the importance of remembering, so he had the class memorize 100 Aquinas definitions and 100 Augustine definitions and all the proofs for the existence of God. At the time I thought the approach was medieval but he was teaching us about fidelity to philosophy and how the best fidelity is to keep the memory of the other alive.
David loved us as we loved him.
He addressed us, each of us, in the singularity of our being.
David was a unique friend and professor, irreducible to any mere description and today, especially today, it is difficult to find the right words to express my love for him, my admiration for his work and my grief for all that we have lost.
I first met David when I was nineteen. We have been in conversation for over thirty years. We would speak together almost each week and now in the sorrow of these citations, there is no more response other than the ones he already gave.
For three decades, I knew David in an alliance of gratitude, respect, affinity and creativity.
His death, which came abruptly, shows us how fragile and porous our lives are and really at the end of the day, if we are honest, how useless philosophy is, even as it remains the best thing to pursue.
Mourning is the grieved act of loving that gives time for silence and reflection. We take this time reflect on his name.
In English, “Goicoechea” means “the upper house” and David followed the legacy of his Basque name as he bore witness to the interplay of philosophy and theology, philosophy and poetry, wisdom and love. He among all others, tried to live on all three levels of the Kierkegaardian house at once by bringing the Symposium of Plato and Socrates into the many roomed heaven of Jesus and his Father.
As an American living in Canada, he brought the Bible into dialogue with the Gita, Islam into dialogue with Taoism and in his unique way showed that all these different paths were really Catholic and Franciscan.
These thoughts are for him.
I send them to him, even as I know they will not reach him.
David traversed so many lives; he had so many personal, historical, religious and philosophical adventures. He started many of us on our own quests, pilgrimages and walk-abouts.
During a trip to a philosophy conference in Kentucky, we stopped to visit the Abbey of Gethsemane and David recited a line from Thomas Merton, “Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone - we find it with another.” I think that this quote captures his life’s work.
David influenced so many of us with his conferences, his books, his papers and his multi-faceted questions that showed the depth of his thought without measure.
We know in many different ways that David suffered the trials of Job and like Job, he affirmed life in the face of suffering and as Nietzschean he could say, “Was that life? Well then- Once More!”
As a Basque he was inspired by Duende, that Lord of the House, the imp spirit who dances on the coffins of death.
I remember David taking me to see a Flamenco performance after we had attended Ivan Khan’s Kierkegaard Circle meeting. It was a perfect way to end the evening- first wisdom, then wine, then truth.
David was tireless in his pursuit of wisdom and love. He continued to write until the end.
Mourning is such that we speak of him rather than to him and with him.
But David believed in the possibility of the impossible and on one trip to New York, as we recited and mediated upon the Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious mysteries of the rosary, he prayed for and spoke to all the persons in his life that had died. It was the longest prayer I ever heard recited. He even prayed for the police officer that gave him a speeding ticket.
His absence remains for me forever unthinkable in the depths of my sorrow.
But I would like to believe that he left me one final gift; a Nietzschean one of joyful sorrow. On the night of his death I had a dream that David, Josje, Scotty and I were together at the hunting lodge.
David gathered us together in a Shamanic circle and then looked back and smiled as he departed on his canoe, alone, into the wilderness that he loved; reciting a poem from Hopkins, “Glory be to God for dappled things….”
Posted by Catherine Finch Leighninger | 04-May-2017
Dear Johanna,
I am sorry I am not able to be there in person to celebrate the life of your beloved David. From our Finch family(s) to you and yours, I offer you our deepest condolences. Know that you are being held in prayer during this sad time.
Requiem aeternam dona ei,
et lux perpetua luceat ei.
David brought back to philosophy not only the philia but the agape of love of wisdom. St Ignatius of Antioch Church remembered him at the Divine Liturgy on April 30 and will do so again on May 7, 2017. May his memory be eternal.
David 's love of life, his faith and his passion were evident in every conversation I had with him. Whether he was sharing ribald jokes or speaking fervently of his philosophical convictions, David exemplified a rare sincerity.
Condolences to Johanna and David's family . He will be missed.
I first met David when he came to Brock in 1967. He was one of the few people at the University who sort of ‘floated‘ down the halls. We had many wonderful discussions in those halls. I also enjoyed the many colloquia and seminars which David initiated. Perhaps most importantly I believe David contributed substantially to the intellectual life of Brock and in so doing contributed substantially to my intellectual life. For his contribution I am extremely grateful.
I was shocked when David told me about his hunting big game. That's a side of him that I had not seen in this kind and caring man. We spent hours talking in his car on the occasions when I would speak at other Canadian Universities after I was involved in one of his annual conferences or when we had meals together and spent evenings sharing a glass or two. But hunting in the, to me, far North where moose and bear live? Seeing my surprise he just laughed, as you know him to laugh, with the delight of being surprising. Delight was certainly among his most endearing qualities -- delight in other people, delight in his own unconventional ways...delight in life itself and with lives whether or not they were conventional. I was shocked again when I heard of his death. I thought of David as someone who is always there.