COLOMBO, SRI LANKA — A Wisconsin native was among the more than 200 people killed Easter Sunday as a series of bombings rocked churches and luxury hotels in or near the Sri Lankan capital. Dieter Kowalski, 40, whose social media pages list him as a Milwaukee native and University of Wisconsin–Madison graduate, was reportedly killed just hours after checking into his hotel.
A manager at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel in Sri Lanka on Sunday originally said that Kowalski, who most recently lived in Denver, was missing, according to Fox affiliate KDVR. A man who said he is Kowalski’s brother confirmed his death Monday.
“It is with great sadness and deep regret that as Dieter’s brother that I confirm that Dieter was among the victims that passed away in Sri Lanka,” Derrick Kowalski said in a comment on his brother’s Facebook page. “As we know that Dieter saw his friends as family, we would like to share our grief over this tragic incident.”
Kowalski was traveling for his job as a senior technical operations lead with Pearson, a company that creates educational and assessment tools for preK-12 and higher education.
The company also confirmed Kowalski’s death, saying in a statement, “We grieve the loss of our colleague Dieter Kowalski in the Easter Sunday atrocities in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Our thoughts are with his family and friends, and with our 800 colleagues in Sri Lanka.”
John Fallon, CEO at Pearson, also reacted to Kowalski’s death on LinkedIn, saying he had to share the “awful news” that Kowalski was killed just after arriving at his hotel.
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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. He was a man who took great pride in the purpose of our company – helping our students progress in their studies and their lives mattered to him. 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. We’re angry that a good man, who took simple pleasure in fixing things, has been killed, along with many others, by evil men and women who know only how to destroy. But in our anger and despair, we remember the words of Queen Elizabeth II in the aftermath of 9/11. Grief, she said, is the price we pay for love. Let’s remember the love that Dieter had for his family, friends and colleagues – and the love they had for him.
On Friday, Kowalski posted on Facebook about his trip, writing, “And the fun begins. Love these work trips. 24 hours of flying. See you soon Sri Lanka!” In a comment on the same post, he wrote that he had arrived in Sri Lanka at 3 a.m. local time Sunday.
Along with Kowalski, several other Americans were among the dead in the blasts, the deadliest violence the South Asian island country has seen since a bloody civil war ended a decade ago, according to AP.
Defense Minister Ruwan Wijewardena described the bombings as a terrorist attack by religious extremists and that most of the blasts were believed to have been suicide attacks.
The explosions rocked three churches and three hotels, collapsing ceilings and blowing out windows and killing hotel guests and worshipers.
President Donald J. Trump on Sunday reacted to early reports of the bombings, saying on Twitter, “The United States offers heartfelt condolences to the great people of Sri Lanka. We stand ready to help!”