Last night the EVE community was saddened with the news that one of its leading characters in the Open Fleet (or NPSI) Community had passed away. A message posted on reddit by the wife of the late Spectre FC Ashurman announced his passing. This follows on from a message from Ashurman himself only 23 days ago his situation was dire.
Ashurman was a prominent Fleet Commander for Spectre Fleet which is a Not Purple Shoot It (or NPSI) organisation has been leading the way in running open fleets since January 2014. Originally conceptualised to fill a gap in the open fleet community when the most prominent open fleet community was Bombers Bar. Understanding that there was a place for more varied fleets which would accommodate small and large numbers of participants the Spectre Fleet Public Fleets were set up. It wasn't long before CCP ran a community spotlight on the group. As the months progressed Spectre Fleet built up a reputation for more relaxed style with loose, all inclusive ship doctrines and a goal of providing an evening of fun PvP.
Ashurman played a important part of the growth and success having organised dozens if not hundreds of fleets. He also proved to be a charismatic and charming Fleet Commander with a penchant for quirky, fun all inclusive fleet compositions including the amusingly named 'Anal Atrons.'

 
A message posted to reddit earlier today was posted by Douglas Aurelius:-

For those of you not aware, last night long time Spectre FC Ashurman passed away from cancer. He was one of the original FCs of our community and his contribution to its growth and success is something that cannot be understated. Every FC has their niche and Ash's was fun. From new bros to vets giving Spectre a shot Ash would throw them a dirt cheap t1 frig then roam till they'd all whelped into a provi response gang, but not before taking more than their share with them. They'd all pod back to Amarr and do it all over again. Its fleets like his that grew the community and gave community to many just finding their start or a fresh start to those that were in search of something new. Ash's toon can now be found in Doomheim, having stripped every one of his nearly 7yr toons for their SP that in turn was donated new players. That is the kind of person he was and one those fortunate enough to know him will miss dearly.
As is our Eve tradition we will remember him by the way he flew and go blow up as much as we can, then do it again till we?re out. This is currently my hanger in Jita with more on the way to keep things going for the night. So what you need to know if you want to join in:
Join the in-game channel: "Spectre Fleet" to X-up for fleet when its ready
Comms: Mumble, information on how to join it is listed in our MOTD
FC: Douglas Aurelius
Stage: Jita/Torrinos
Initial form: 02/05 - 23:00
Doctrine: SPP Frigs: Rifters, Herons, Atrons, all T1/meta fit handed out free at start of fleet
PS: /u/AshurmanThe very least we could do for him