Jude Melton-Houghton (TurkeyMcMac / jwmhjwmh)

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Jude Melton-Houghton (TurkeyMcMac / jwmhjwmh)

by rubenwardy » Post

Hello everyone,

It is with great sadness that we report that Jude Melton-Houghton (aka TurkeyMcMac or jwmhjwmh) has died aged 20.

His family has provided us with the following:
Jude William Melton-Houghton, age 20, died suddenly on February 1, 2023 after an excruciating mental health struggle. He had a brilliant mathematical, scientific, and philosophical mind and was valedictorian of the Brattleboro Union High School class of 2020. Jude also had a beautiful heart. He was surpassingly kind and thoughtful, and he had a delightful and quirky sense of humor. Jude was a talented visual artist as well as a creative and innovative software developer, and he had been working in the software field since the age of 15. He kept his light under a bushel, but everyone who knew him could see it and feel it blazing.

Jude was skilled but not competitive. If he did something it was because it was interesting, not because other people would be impressed … Jude always, always did the right thing. This was part of what made life hard for him: his anxiety that he might do something wrong, even with the small things. It was private torture … But through it, Jude was unfailingly kind, attentive, and thoughtful. I don't know anyone, ever, who disliked Jude. Throughout his life he had very few friends. Many would have been willing. He did not seek them out.

Image

Here is the most recent photo of Jude. It is a few weeks old, taken on a walk with his father through the woods to an enormous oak in a hilltop cemetery. The purpose of the photo is the walk, the tree, and the view, not the cemetery.
Jude was a very active programmer. While he was only a core developer for a short time, he made a huge impact on the Minetest project. Jude introduced more robust and feature-complete mod storage, dependency handling, cleaner mapblocks, and so much more. You can find his own projects on his repository page and his numerous contributions here (sign in to view).

“He didn't work on Minetest for recognition, but because it was fun.”

-----

I will personally miss his insights and the polite/friendly manner he always communicated with, he was a pleasure to interact with. He was talented and took pride in his work. I enjoyed what little time I had working with him and regret not having the chance to know him better.

If you would like to share anything, please post below. His family will read this thread. They also encourage making a charitable donation in his memory. The 988 Suicide and Crisis Prevention Hotline (988lifeline.org) works to prevent lives like Jude’s being cut short.

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Re: Jude Melton-Houghton (TurkeyMcMac / jwmhjwmh)

by jordan4ibanez » Post

My condolences. May Jude rest in peace. We will never forget you, Jude.
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Re: Jude Melton-Houghton (TurkeyMcMac / jwmhjwmh)

by ROllerozxa » Post

I had been worried about him ever since on Thursday when he was moved to the "Previous Core Developers" list in the credits. Rest in peace Jude, may you forever be in our hearts and in the Minetest credits.

I appreciate not only his many contributions that made it into the engine, but also the ones that had not yet gotten there. Most importantly, his implementation for the SSCSM. I don't think we have ever been closer to SSCSM being a reality, and that was purely thanks to him.

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Re: Jude Melton-Houghton (TurkeyMcMac / jwmhjwmh)

by LMD » Post

I'm at a loss of words here. Jude was one of the smartest and most selfless people I ever met and a pleasure to work with. May he rest forever in our hearts. My condolences to the family.
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Re: Jude Melton-Houghton (TurkeyMcMac / jwmhjwmh)

by mrkubax10 » Post

Very sad to hear indeed.

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Re: Jude Melton-Houghton (TurkeyMcMac / jwmhjwmh)

by Festus1965 » Post

RIP

a big lost for us all - far over minetest itself

may we all be aware of our limited time
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Re: Jude Melton-Houghton (TurkeyMcMac / jwmhjwmh)

by debiankaios » Post

I'm really sorry about him.

He was a fairly new guy coming into the core minetest team, so I didn't get to see what he did. But any core minetest developer lost is bad, a nightmare.

Rest in peace.

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Re: Jude Melton-Houghton (TurkeyMcMac / jwmhjwmh)

by jp » Post

debiankaios wrote:
Sun Feb 05, 2023 14:28
But any core minetest developer lost is bad, a nightmare.
Any loss of a life endowed with intelligence and wisdom is a tragedy, we do not qualify the value of a life to being a core-dev. It's a great loss for someone who has barely explored his life, his great potential, but it's also a loss for the wider human community.

This news squeezed my guts out. The family will thus be able to read that we are in solidarity with them and that we appreciated Jude's work and personality.

Please do mind that this journey with Minetest should be more than just a software's story. It is, first and foremost, a story of human relationship and improving people's quality of life. We, developers, design software to achieve the ultimate goal of making people's lives better.

I'm almost 35 years old, I'm probably close to the ages of Jude's parents, so please allow myself to speak like the big brother here: I know that in this community, there are people (especially young people) who are in psychological distress and who use the internet communities as a mental health shelter as was my case when I was younger.

If things are going badly, I simply implore you to talk to someone who seems compassionate to you, whether on the internet or in the real world. I can be at your listening myself by private messages, if you ever feel the need.

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Re: Jude Melton-Houghton (TurkeyMcMac / jwmhjwmh)

by TumeniNodes » Post

This is a horrific tragedy, heartbreaking, and hits close with me as I have a child who is diagnosed with severe anxiety, and severe depression with a mix (tendencies) and has been in and out of facilities and hospital often for years.
I have also known people in my life I was close to who have fallen prey to such ailments and torture, and it leaves no option for healing, understanding... only to carry on as best one can, and remember the best moments.
Try to celebrate the life, more than you mourn the loss, but only when you are ready. And most of all do not torture yourself.

It is heart wrenching, very painful to have a child who lives with this, and it is the scariest situation one could ever imagine. But it is even scarier for the individual, and they often never even understand why they feel the ways they do, when thoughts race into their minds.
It is also a common affliction of a brilliant, and /or creative mind.

This is such a deep loss to himself and his family, and I am so very sorry.

I fully, deeply echo what jp stated above to any and all who deal with such despair within this community.
I wish badly I could offer the same as he, but to be honest, I am definitely not the best at it and often struggle to be of help to my own child as sometimes even the deepest love cannot console, and also things said can easily be conveyed or perceived in a way not intended, due to the interference from emotions in one or both minds
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Re: Jude Melton-Houghton (TurkeyMcMac / jwmhjwmh)

by DELTA_FORCE » Post

There is not a single human here today who can look back on Jude with anything other than the most pleasant of memories with conversations, ideas, and encounters. Jude was the most polite community member I have ever had the pleasure and honor of knowing in my close-to-five years here, always keeping a sense of professionalism and always bringing something insightful and new to the table. I can only extend my deepest condolences.
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Re: Jude Melton-Houghton (TurkeyMcMac / jwmhjwmh)

by Zughy » Post

It really saddens me to hear the news, as Jude was one of the most human people this community has ever had. Not once I've seen him misbehaving, always setting a good example of kindness and professionalism in a place where contrasts can happen. I offer my most sincere condolences to the family, and I renew the proposal that jp has made today on IRC: to dedicate the upcoming Minetest release to Jude, as it's the least we, as a community he's been and still is part of, could do. May we learn from his kindness.

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Re: Jude Melton-Houghton (TurkeyMcMac / jwmhjwmh)

by Desour » Post

I can only confirm all the things said here about TurkeyMcMac / jwmhjwmh / Jude. He was outstandingly productive and talented. His early death is a sad tragedy and a loss of incomprehensible scale.
I wish I had expressed more appreciation to him for all his nice work when it was still possible.
May he rest in peace.
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Re: Jude Melton-Houghton (TurkeyMcMac / jwmhjwmh)

by Komodo » Post

Rest in peace, jwmhjwmh.
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Re: Jude Melton-Houghton (TurkeyMcMac / jwmhjwmh)

by silverfang789 » Post

Deepest condolences. My thanks to Jude for helping make this such an awesome game.

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Re: Jude Melton-Houghton (TurkeyMcMac / jwmhjwmh)

by runs » Post

Oh, terrible tragedy. In the prime of life, such a young and handsome lad. My condolences to the family and may he rest in peace.

This reaffirms my belief that we should create more humane communities and look beyond the superficial, to try to help vulnerable people (we all are to a greater or lesser extent).

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Re: Jude Melton-Houghton (TurkeyMcMac / jwmhjwmh)

by freshreplicant » Post

I read this the first day it was posted, but haven't quite been able to find the right words. The shock I felt reading this was not just because of the tragic circumstances, but I was surprised to find out that Jude/TurkeyMcMac was so young. He always came across as a very mature, no-nonsense individual, not in the the least prone to the dramatics that for better or worse crop up in communities such as this. His contributions also seemed very well thought out, impactful and precise. It had me thinking he was perhaps in his late 30s or 40s, a developer by trade, just spending his downtime. I am saddened by his loss and for the loss his family must be feeling now. My condolences and empathy go out to them.

Due to the nature of open source software, some part of him will live on in this project through his contributions, adding to the joy of play, exploration and creation this project brings to so many, now and for years to come.

It is clear he had a lot to give, and if you are reading this too, you also have something positive and unique to give to the world. I firmly believe that. If you have trouble realising that, I strongly encourage you to reach out to friends, family or professional resources or any combination of the former.

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Re: Jude Melton-Houghton (TurkeyMcMac / jwmhjwmh)

by grorp » Post

Rest in peace, Jude Melton-Houghton.
Rest in peace, TurkeyMcMac.

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Re: Jude Melton-Houghton (TurkeyMcMac / jwmhjwmh)

by Wuzzy » Post

I … I don't know what to say. This is really sad.

R.I.P.

:-(

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Re: Jude Melton-Houghton (TurkeyMcMac / jwmhjwmh)

by TenPlus1 » Post

The world just lost someone special. Rest in Peace dude.

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Re: Jude Melton-Houghton (TurkeyMcMac / jwmhjwmh)

by Getsuga » Post

Very sad news, may he rest in piece.

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Re: Jude Melton-Houghton (TurkeyMcMac / jwmhjwmh)

by SuperStarSonic » Post

As I am new here, I never met him, heard of him, or anything else. It is too bad that things like these happen and sometimes people are completely oblivious to what they have lost.

How horrible, RIP.

(I hope you understand me, I'm not trying to be disrespectful.)

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Re: Jude Melton-Houghton (TurkeyMcMac / jwmhjwmh)

by c56 » Post

SuperStarSonic wrote:
Thu Mar 16, 2023 18:51
As I am new here, I never met him, heard of him, or anything else. It is too bad that things like these happen and sometimes people are completely oblivious to what they have lost.

How horrible, RIP.

(I hope you understand me, I'm not trying to be disrespectful.)
yes i also never knew many people here but i am also here to give my condolences
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Re: Jude Melton-Houghton (TurkeyMcMac / jwmhjwmh)

by BigBear » Post

I found him incredibly helpful, supportive, and smart. I didn't post right away because i was a bit in shock. I didn't know him well, (just had some conversations with him and he helped me out with a few things), but this news still hit me like a ton of bricks.

I recommend browsing his github repositories. They are a treasure trove of cleverness and whimsy, and I think a lot of his amazing ideas and personality came through in this code.

What a cool guy. Huge loss to the world.

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Re: Jude Melton-Houghton (TurkeyMcMac / jwmhjwmh)

by Midnight » Post

May Jude's soul rest in peace

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Re: Jude Melton-Houghton (TurkeyMcMac / jwmhjwmh)

by c56 » Post

Rest in peace
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