The Court Demas Memorial Endowment

December 11, 1972 - July 28, 2002

Heifer Foundation is privileged to have recently received funds establishing The Court Demas Memorial Endowment. Court was - how does one summarize pages and pages of "love letters" and tributes? - a very special person: smart, gentle, passionate…He and a friend were murdered while hiking in the Andes Mountains. As we have learned this young man's story, we have been inspired by the way he lived, saddened by the way he died, and reminded that it is possible for one person's goodness to be felt around the world.

The more we read about Court, the more we think he would be pleased by this endowment and the purposes it serves. He truly lived the cornerstones of Heifer, such as sharing, caring, and believing in the goodness of others and our connectedness to the earth. And just as recipients of Heifer animals "pass on the gift" of a young cow or goat or duck to a neighbor, so, too, did Court "pass on the gift" of joy and hope and love as he traveled the earth.

The words of Court's mother and friends, taken from the program created for his memorial service, follow:

My son, Court Demas, came into the world the morning of December 11, 1972, at Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, New Jersey, weighing in at 9 lbs. 4-1/2 oz. He joined his two-year old sister, Lisa, whom he adored instantly.

Court developed an intense interest in computers when he was very young and loved math (he gave one wrong answer on his math SAT). His other interests while growing up included Boy Scouts, Chess, a few years of piano and violin lessons, camping and soccer. He's been an avid reader all his life. Court attended Ramsey High School, which he completed in three years by taking college courses. While in high school, he was in the Marching Band, playing baritone saxophone. Court was a band fag, a computer geek, brilliant, popular, and a cut-up -hard to categorize.

Court attended RPI and then transferred to Carnegie Mellon University his sophomore year and joined Phi Kappa Theta. Although he was a few credits shy of a degree in Math and Computer Science from CMU, he was hired to work in their Robotics Institute. (While there, he created a Java Tutorial and presented it at a conference in New Zealand at age 23.) He stayed with the Robotics Institute in Pittsburgh through 1996. He was hired by Trilogy in Austin, Texas in January 1997 and then by Kiwi Consulting in San Francisco in March 1999 where he lived until his move to Prague in February 2001. He then became a consultant for Komera and was able to work remotely from his laptop, allowing him to pursue his love of travel.

Over his lifetime, Court visited St. Croix, Mexico, Italy, including Sicily and Sardinia, New Zealand, England, France, Germany, Amsterdam, Prague, Nambia, South Africa, Brazil, Ecuador, the Galapagos Islands, Bolivia and Peru. He also traveled extensively in the United States (Grand Canyon, Arizona, Indiana, Nevada, Washington State, Washington DC, California from LA to San Francisco and north.) While overseas, Court learned a bit of Czech and learned to read and write Spanish while in South America. During his travels, he enjoyed living among the locals and avoided American tourists. He loved to dance, and the last time he was home (a surprise visit in January 2002 during his maternal grandmother's 90th birthday party), he and I danced the Salsa. Court loved the outdoors and enjoyed hiking, climbing, snorkeling and scuba diving.

Court had a special way with women - he loved them and they loved him. He was very respectful of women. He was gallant and chivalrous. While not ready for a permanent relationship, Court had several meaningful relationships with women during his life. He was honorable, honest and loving with his partners.

Most recently, Court was in Peru trekking in the Andes with Raquel Paredes, whom he had met while hiking in Ecuador a few months before. He was due home to New Jersey around July 29 to have a short visit and go on to attend the weddings of friends on the west coast. He was reported missing August 1 and an intense search effort for the couple began. All those involved with the search effort worked tirelessly for over one month (including his father, George Demas). Sadly, the bodies of Court and Raquel were found on September 2, two days after George returned home. They had been killed and robbed according to the Peruvian police.

We all hoped until the very end for another outcome, of course. To think of Court's having died this way is so incomprehensible; he was such a generous, sweet, peaceful individual who would gladly have given anyone anything they desired. For such a gentle life to have ended with violence is heartwrenching.

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