RIP Pete Power
RIP Pete Power
1969-2018
AMK 2005-2018
On the 31st December 2018, I attended the funeral of my friend Pete Power. During the funeral I heard many of his close friends and family mention how proud he was of AMK and how much he loved his long association with the company. If only we could tell him now how proud and privileged we all were to have worked with him all these years.
Pete first visited AMK some 13-14 years ago, and it was love at first sight between the two. He loved the idea of a business enterprise working on achieving real social impact. I remember in the early days seeing clearly how it got his creative juices flowing. When it was his chance to work at AMK as its CEO a few years later, it was a perfect match. He brought his brilliance to bear on all aspects of the company and it would bring the best out of both AMK and Pete in equal measure. His drive, energy, problem solving instinct, fairness and professionalism were such that he was loved and admired by everyone he came into contact with.
When he finished his stint as the CEO of AMK a few years later, he had instilled his mark on it forever. As its Director thereafter, Pete continued to guide the company through various phases of its development, and was instrumental in so many aspects of AMK’s success that it will be futile to try and recount them here. He was proud of many things about AMK but more than anything else, he was immensely proud of the team at AMK and all that it continued achieving after he had transitioned from CEO to a non-executive Director.
Pete and I spent many countless hours and days together in Cambodia and elsewhere over the past many years. Our evening hangouts in Cambodia would be much fun, usually preceded by long hours in meeting rooms. The evenings spent with friends in Phnom Penh would see Pete in his elements, with his wit and banter often coming at our expense. In the past few years we would go to Siem Reap with other friends once a year and participate in the annual biking event. While all of us would be content after a few hours of biking, Pete would promptly sign up and participate in the 10k run the following day as well. We would joke with him that he was still trying to impress his wife Moire.
More than anything else, Pete found his purpose around his family. Moire, Aran and Cahal were the fulcrum of his existence and all his plans were made with them firmly at the centre. My thoughts and condolences go out to them at this moment. It is a loss that cannot be reconciled with, however they know as I do, that beneath this genius of a person was the most loving, kind-hearted and fair human being one can come across. I wish I never had to say it in this manner, but it was an honour to be his friend and colleague.
Tanmay Chetan