Author’s Note: Regrettably, The Costa Rica Star did not know about the life of Matthew Kritzer, a gentleman from the United States, until it was too late. We first learned about his tragic demise from a report filed by the medical examiner. While conducting research for the news article, we came across Mr. Kritzer’s digital footprint, which paints the picture of an amazing human being who left us way too soon. As such, this is not so much an informal obituary as it is a recounting of what we have posthumously come to learn about this dearly departed man; in a way, we wish we could be entitled to write an obit notice on Mr. Kritzer and the lives he graced.

Author’s Note 2: The use of the noun and adjective “American” in this article conforms to the definition in Princeton’s WordNet: (A native or inhabitant of the United States), and the recommendation by the Associated Press Stylebook: (An acceptable description for a citizen of the United States). Natives and inhabitants of North, Central and South America are also Americans.

Good people pass away;

the godly often die before their time.

But no one seems to care or wonder why.

No one seems to understand

that God is protecting them from the evil to come.

For those who follow godly paths

will rest in peace when they die

Isaiah 57:1-2

One of the earliest articles published by The Costa Rica Star was about the sad passing of the British thinker Christopher Hitchens, followed by the heartbreaking loss of Carmen Naranjo, one of Costa Rica’s most important literary figures.

In 2012, we learned about Staff Sgt. Andrew Trevor Britton-Mihalo, a soldier from the United States Army 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) was killed during a “green-on-blue” incident at the Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan. We learned that he was born in Costa Rica and left behind a widow American soldier. Then we covered the terrible murder of biologist Jairo Mora, who died while protecting our country’s living treasures.

It was but a couple of months ago when we published an obituary about Amanda Hellman, another kind soul who left us entirely too soon. On that occasion, we commented:

we did not learn much about the woman who tragically left us. It so happens that Amanda Jayne Hellman was someone whom anyone would have loved to know and spend time with […] beloved wife, daughter, sister, outdoor adventurer, world traveler, marathon runner, amazing cook, and Harley enthusiast […] volunteered and worked closely with Second Harvest Foodbank, where she also was an integral part of forming the program, HungerCare Coalition.

And so the wisdom of the Bible passage above rings very true as we learn about the dearly departed whose lives were certainly not in vain. That they pass away in a beautiful land such as Costa Rica is of no comfort, although we may argue that passing away in Costa Rica, and specifically in the pristine Osa Peninsula, may have been a wish of Mr. Kritzer, who not long ago wrote:

I hadn’t been looking forward to starting a quest toward wholeness, this late in my life; recovering lost moments in time and letting go of others. I couldn’t have remotely imagined building a home and starting a new life in Costa Rica. I couldn’t have dreamed that these splendid jungle-draped mountains even existed, laden with fruit trees and sparkling waterfalls, much less the magnificent ocean views; and yet while I was standing in the midst of it, it had all virtually found me.

Eventually, I became Costa Rica’s lover. Though she has had many others, I believe that she loves me more than the rest of her suitors. From my vantage point, 1000 feet above the South Pacific, I can clearly sense her sweet spirit…it reverberates through me when I look across her sky and water every evening at sunset.

The above is from an article penned by Mr. Kritzer for the website BallenaTales.com. If you read the entire story (and you should), you will learn that Mr. Kritzer was a war veteran who saw combat in Vietnam. With a little more Internet research, you will find that he was assigned to the 25^th Infantry Division (Tropic Lightning), a decorated unit of the U.S. Army, and that he even recorded music about his wartime experience.

We learned many nice things about Mr. Kritzer from his Facebook Timeline. He helped his fellow Americans as a counselor at the New Haven Vet Center in Connecticut. He was an avid and talented nature photographer whose work could easily grace Audubon guides. He was an avid birdwatcher, which is an activity that Costa Rica deeply appreciates. In terms of political views, Mr. Kritzer was deeply concerned about the rise of American oligarchies; to this effect, he was of strong opinions, but he also exercised proper social media etiquette.

One of Mr. Kritzer’s final musings on his Facebook Timeline is a quote by Albert Camus about beauty:

“Its presence is a torture for the eyes and for the soul, because beauty is unbearable, drives us to despair, offering us for a minute the glimpse of an eternity that we should like to stretch out over the whole of time.”

Seeing what an excellent American expat Mr. Kritzer was, we hope that Costa Rica’s natural beauty, which he so adored in life, may accompany him in peaceful eternity.