MILWAUKEE, WI (WSAU) -- A Wisconsin man has been identified as one of the victims in the Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka.
Dieter Kowalski originally from Greenfield was killed Sunday shortly after arriving at his hotel in Colombo Sri Lanka according to Pearson CEO John Fallon. Kowalski was a Wisconsin native and UW graduate according to Milwaukee news outlets.
Kowalski was in Sri Lanka on a business trip for the education company Pearson. He currently lived in Denver where he worked for Pearson. Kowalski was in Sri Lanka as an engineer for Pearson to troubleshoot problems for customers in the area according to Fallon.
Fallon posted a letter on LinkedIn that he wrote to Pearson employees about Kowalski's death.
Fallon wrote, "Colleagues who knew Dieter well talk about how much fun he was to be around, how big-hearted and full-spirited he was. They tell of a man to whom we could give our ugliest and most challenging of engineering problems, knowing full well that he would jump straight in and help us figure it out. Dieter, they tell me, was never happier than cheer-leading for our customers and our company and inspiring people in the best way he knew how – by helping them to fix things and doing it with joy, happiness, and grace.
We mourn Dieter deeply today. We pray for his soul, and for his family and friends. We pray, too, for our colleagues in Sri Lanka, and Denver, and Boston, and in Pearson offices around the world. ... In these desperately difficult days, let’s honour Dieter by showing that love ourselves, by taking extra care of each other – at work, at home, and in our communities."
At least 290 people died and 500 were injured in nine bomb blasts on Sunday. Sri Lankan officials say the coordinated attacks were carried out by seven suicide bombers from a local militant Muslim group, according to the Associated Press.
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