In Memoriam

Toomas Paiste

The following information was sent out by the Paiste Cymbal Company:

To the world wide music community

It is my sad duty to inform you that my father Toomas Paiste had a terrible accident last Friday night (Aug. 9, 2002). While taking an evening walk at the ocean in

Spain, he fell off a shore wall onto the rocks. He did not regain consciousness and could not be revived at the accident site. He died from his injuries.

For all of us, this is a sudden and unexpected shock. We cannot find adequate words to express our sorrow. To be sure, this horrible turn of events could not have come at a more significant time in his life. Toomas was getting to a point where he was starting to enjoy the fruits of his life. His preparations for passing on the affairs of our company were nearly completed. He would soon have been ready to lean back and to begin watching his legacy unfold as our family business moves on to a new generation. This happened much too soon.

Because of his careful preparations and his longstanding willingness to foster independence and to delegate authority to our managers and myself, our companies today can continue without interruption. We do not foresee the necessity for any changes. I am assuming all his responsibilities without further delay.

It is hard to describe Toomas satisfactorily, but if you have met him, no further explanation is necessary. If I were to pick but a few of his qualities, I would have to start with his generosity. His greatest joy was probably to see the success and happiness of the people around him. He was bursting with love, and warmth, and caring. His capacity for giving was extreme to a fault.

He was a strong and determined man, who was always fair and consistent. He was very direct and never left you doubting the meaning of his words. If you ever got on his wrong side, you knew it. If you did him right, you had a friend and comrade for life. Those of us who worked with him all came out of the experience a better and cleansed person.

Even though he was a tough businessman, he continued to surprise with his playful and fun-loving approach, which got us through many a rough spot with ease and a sense of adventure. Wisdom, honesty, dependability, and trustworthiness, as well as attitude and style were the key elements of his trademark character.

His strong sense for uncompromising excellence manifested itself in the quality of our products and the image of our company. He deeply loved what he was doing and the people he did it with, all of them equally, from the craftsmen and staff to the tradesmen and artists.

In his capacity as the supreme ambassador for Paiste, he traveled extensively all over the world. During his more than 40 years of service in our industry he had become one of the few living icons of the music business. It is impossible to count all the people whose life he touched.

Toomas was born 1939 in Tallinn, Estonia. During his infant years he lived in Poland, where his family was forced to in war time. From 1945 he lived in Germany, where he completed his schooling. In 1960, he started to work for the company. Thereafter, he spent his time alternating between Germany and Switzerland, for various lengths of time. In the early 1980's there was an interlude, when he lived in the USA to established Paiste America.

With his wife Ingrid, he had two children, Erik and Irina, and in recent times he was able to cherish his grand children Patrick, Jacqueline and Josephine. He is also survived by his mother Lilla, his brother Robert, and his sister Kitty.

His funeral will be held in a private family circle in Germany, where he will be laid to rest next to his father. We will also honor his life at a memorial to be held in Switzerland.

Since Toomas was very interested in music education and planned on being active in supporting under-privileged young and aspiring musicians as his growing free time would allow, we have established the Toomas Paiste Education Fund, which may be contributed to in lieu of flowers and such. Please contact Ted Voellmy at Paiste Switzerland (fax ++41-41-9393366, tvoellmy@paiste.com) or Andrew Shreve at Paiste America (fax ++1-714-671-5869, ashreve@paiste.com) for details.

Toomas, we miss you very much and wish you a good journey.

Erik Paiste