Facebook Funeral for Computer Game Enthusiast

Computer Gamer Mourned on Facebook

TOLEDO — Zed Rigby, 65, a life-long computer game enthusiast, died in his home in Toledo, Ohio last Monday.

Mr. Rigby leaves behind no family or actual friends, but a number of his virtual friends are now engaged in virtual grieving.

Several of Zed’s Facebook Friends have taken the time to “Like” his Funeral page. A few have even added Comments including “Condolences man,” “Zed’s dead,” and “Sorry Dude!”

Rigby’s demise has also not gone unnoticed on Twitter.

“I’m sitting shiva for #Zed!” tweeted Maury Yablonovich (@MaurWaste), a fellow World of Wastecraft enthusiast and Rigby’s closest virtual friend.

Rigby left instructions in his will for a Funeral Facebook page, which has already been created by Mr. Yablonovich. Rigby’s all-time WasteCraft high score (Seniors level) and many other gaming triumphs, some going back to Atari days, have been immortalized on his Facebook tribute page.

Rigby earned second place in the 1999 International Video Games tournament in Baltimore, Maryland.

He worked for many years as a computer games tester, but had been unemployed for the last seven years, before formally retiring earlier this year.

According to his employment records, Rigby started out playing Pong in 1975, at the age of 27. After buying his first Atari system in 1980, he quit his job to devote his life…