Community Corner

A Makeshift Memorial for Steve Jobs: A Visual Retrospective

The memorial at Apple's HQ started simply, but it grew and grew. This video shows the day-to-day changes and shares the tributes and mementos left by Jobs' fans as they came to pay respect and mourn.

The day Steve Jobs died, the city of Cupertino was still reacting to the horrific that started very early that day at Lehigh Southwest Cement plant. And when news of Jobs’ death came, the killer was still on the loose in a nearby neighborhood.

But that didn't stop Jobs' fans. Those that heard the early news of his death began arriving at Apple’s headquarters in the late afternoon. Their visits to a makeshift memorial at One Infinite Loop continued through the night and are still continuting today.

“It’s still here,” said a woman Monday who looked for a bouquet of flowers she brought days before this return visit. “It’s got to be under there.”

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A splay of bouquets lay at her feet; the display of affection, admiration, respect and love brought to the site—to Steve Jobs—by fans, mourners and employees alike.

Some, such as Eva Carabajal who works for a Cupertino dentist, said she didn’t even own any Apple products. And Diana Monica Rios of San Jose, not an Apple product to her name, came with flowers to pay her respects, she said.

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And others, such as graphic designer Suhita Shirodkar of San Jose, who stood sketching and painting images of the memorial before her said she’s a longtime Mac user.

“I don’t think I’ve ever felt that sad about someone I didn’t know,” Shirodkar said.

She spoke quietly as others did as they stood in a semi-circle before the memorial: hushed tones, quiet reverence, and then a step back to allow room for those who would step forward, place a tribute and snap photos. They would then, in common courtesy, step back and join the others.

Two benches are covered and flanked by a plethora of objects, some as simple as handwritten notes, such as the one left a few days ago by Cupertino residents Sangeeta Kopardekar and her children Rucha, 10, and Abhay, 7, both students at Faria Elementary School.

“I have to go home and make a card,” Abhay said tugging at Sangeeta’s sleeve. He wanted to make a card for Steve Jobs, his mom said. And in Rucha’s 5th grade class, the next day she said they would make a card and all sign it.

The Kopardekar family would return to the memorial to place it there on behalf of all the students, “because we live the closest,” Rucha said.

Every age group from everywhere in the world recognizes the loss of Jobs, Sangeeta said. Her 70-year-old father visiting from India reacted with sorrow.

“We live in Cupertino and feel some ownership, a personal connection. We feel like we know him through his products,” she said.

And so it is. From the three-by-three-inch yellow note the Kopardekars left to the three-foot tall vase filled with white orchids to the bitten apples, and everything in between, people have come to One Infinite Loop to pay respect. And plenty have posed before the memorial or the half-mast flags to record the moment in a photo.

It could be said that it’s just a bunch of flowers, apples and trinkets left on a bench, but stand for a moment with those who have left them and dwell in their hushed tones and those trinkets become monuments.


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