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Dr. GERT ROOSEN
September 23, 1969 – December 16, 2013, in Silver Spring, MD. Dr. Roosen was an avid soccer player and scientist. He worked with many friends and colleagues as a Bioinformatics Analyst for Computercraft Corp. to build and maintain GenBank for NIH. He is survived by his beloved wife, Dr Kara Goobic, a child psychologist and specialist in ADHD/autism; his mother, Lieve Rutten Roosen of and her partner Chiel Uijthoven of Tessenderlo, Belgium; his sister Lizzie Gulsen and her son Finn, of Sint-Joris-Winge, Belgium, and his father Robert Roosen of Antwerp. He is also survived by his Goobic family: parents Michael and Rita of Westfield, NJ; siblings Michael Jr. of Rochester, NY; David, Amy and Alexander Goobic of Richmond, VA; and cousins Peter, Timothy and Jonah Goobic. Gert’s gentle balance as an athlete, a scientist and a person made him an instant friend to many wherever he went. He is beloved to many in Belgium, where he grew up in Antwerp and studied biochemistry at Ghent in 1992; in Leicester, England, where he earned a Master’s Degree in molecular toxicology and pathology in 1995; and in Liverpool, England, where he earned a doctorate in molecular biology in 1999. He met his future wife in Chapel Hill, NC, where both were engaged in postdoctoral studies. For the past eight years, after suffering a stroke following brain surgery in 2006, his life was enriched and sustained by unfailing and constant encouragement and love from his wife, Kara, as well as the support of so many strong and loyal friends he made on playing fields, in academics, and in his work. Kara continued the blog Gert began before his first surgery, which he called “Gert’s Big Dig,” which became a wonderful way for friends and family everywhere to stay connected and supportive. At Johns Hopkins, Bayview as well as in rehabilitation and therapy programs in DC, Gert somehow managed to become everyone’s favorite, with his kindness, gentle manner, a lovely and brilliant mind, a keen wit, and a sixth sense for the ironic and absurd.
Friends and family may visit at Collins Funeral Home, 500 University Boulevard West, Silver Spring MD (valet parking), on Friday, December 20, 2013, from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. His Requiem will be celebrated at Augustana Church, 2100 New Hampshire Ave, NW, Washington, DC, on Saturday, December 21, at 10 a.m. Interment St Mary’s Cemetery, Rockville, MD. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Stroke Comeback Center, 145 Park St. SE, Vienna, VA 22180, or make a donation at PNC Bank “Benefit for AJ Pumilla”, a friend he met at Hopkins who has brain cancer and continues to endure numerous surgeries and challenges.
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