My boss passed away suddenly. What do I do next?

Posted by Lonecoon@reddit | sysadmin | View on Reddit | 226 comments

I was awoken last night at 11:30pm by my CEO telling me my boss had died unexpectedly over the weekend. I've worked with this guy for almost 20 years at this point and I'm obviously a bit distraught. I think most of the technical aspects are covered (backups, logins, etc) since I'm in charge of them anyway. I'm trying to make a checklist of things to do, but I need another set of eyes. Am I missing anything obvious? * Change logins * Secure Email * Secure files * Secure workstation * Secure credit card * Inform Vendors

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226 Comments

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Krigen89@reddit

Sit in it for a minute. Take things slow. Don't do anything out of your usual job description without approval by the higher ups. Ask his boss who should get delegate access to his mailbox. Go from there.

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Kittamaru@reddit

I'll second this - If you don't already have it, get access to any admin panels/functions/etc that you didn't before. Check with the CEO if you are going to be interim VP/CIO/Whatever and how far he/she wants you to go in securing access to such things. Also make sure to acknowledge how you feel and communicate that with whomever is next up the chain (be that CEO or otherwise) - yes, you will have things that *must* be done ASAP, but you have to remember that you are human and you will feel some kinda way about this.

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SanFranPanManStand@reddit

> Check with the CEO if you are going to be interim VP/CIO/Whatever Don't ask this in this way as they probably don't know and it's not needed for you to know formally. Instead, inform the boss "Hi <name>, We're really going to miss <name> - he was a great teacher/whatever and he always <insert behavior>. We're taking some time this morning to verify we have all his credentials on hand to access our systems ensure there are no operational gaps. Please let me know if you have any specific areas of concern."

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Kittamaru@reddit

Agreed 100% - my wording was pretty poor, and for that I apologize; was meant to be about making sure you could access what was needed rather than looking for promotion!

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UnassumingDrifter@reddit

Consider sometimes you must be an officer of a company to execute contracts or some other things that are routine business transactions. So entering into a new SLA or making alterations to existing contracts all might require some sort of authorization. I say this because when you’re in a time crunch adding this to the mix can cause issues. I don’t know your situation but I’m sure you can come up with some scenarios where your authority runs short and needs to be extended to fill a gap. Unless you are not capable as you see it I would assume you will be the new boss and certainly start looking for a new number two. There may be a reason you stay number 2 and a new number one is hired and again you’ll know is this some kind of public facing role that maybe your not adept at or whatever. Anyway think of the business and what it needs and come up with a plan. Don’t sell yourself short I would assume your inheriting the reigns and say “I’m going to need to train someone to help me with this” as though it’s a foregone conclusion because it is. Right now you are the sole operator. Sorry to ramble, I’m sitting on the throne at work so….

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RubberBootsInMotion@reddit

Yes, step one is to take your bereavement leave. If you worked with someone for 20 years you have every right to take a break. If the business can't survive a few days, then that's the fault of management for not staffing properly.

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Hina_is_my_waifu@reddit

Hahaha bereavement leave. My job told me only next of kin counted for that. We've had 2 employees die last year.

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RubberBootsInMotion@reddit

Tell them to pound sand then. Nothing is going to change if people just roll over and give up every time.

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WildManner1059@reddit

Yeah, if everybody quits we'll all be together. On the unemployment line, hoping/wishing for UBI.

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RubberBootsInMotion@reddit

Wow, such amazing defeatism. Good job

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miker37a@reddit

Step 1 is disabling the account in AD, not deleting just disable it. Make sure with HR someone has his equipment secured, obviously very politely and do it through HR not direct questions to anyone else, they can handle that. Then yes do normal human stuff but those 2 items I think I would do and ask first just because of the huge security risk for that VIP account. Sad but that's reality these days people will take advantage any chance they get..

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jmbpiano@reddit

DON'T disable that account and then *immediately* go on leave, though. That's just asking to be bitten in the behind by that one business-critical scheduled task that was set up to run under his credentials (and promptly forgotten about 10 years ago). The chances of someone breaking into the account in the immediate aftermath of an event like this shouldn't be appreciably greater than they were in the days leading up to it. It can probably sit safely unused for a couple days, if necessary. It's not like a disgruntled employee scenario where you need to lock down the account before they even know they've been dismissed.

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miker37a@reddit

Idk man disable is very easy to undo and can be done up on request. If it needs to be re-anbled someone will let you know and go through correct steps for what they need..

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jmbpiano@reddit

This was a two-person IT team. That means if something goes pear-shaped as a result of disabling the account, that's going to toss a bunch of stress and frayed nerves onto an already stressful situation. OP needs to take care of themselves first. The systems will keep.

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miker37a@reddit

I guess.. over the years it's literally first step for our previous team, disable the AD account. Emails still pile up, everything for a normal account still operates in the background it's just disabled...

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NoSelf5869@reddit

You don't seem to understand they had two person team, one died and other should go on leave so there's not exactly anyone who can easily enable it.

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RubberBootsInMotion@reddit

If there are only 2 IT people and a CEO is directly calling someone, it's probably a small business. Remote access might not be available, and random people likely have no idea how anything works. OP is probably looking at a never ending pile of spaghetti and duct tape.

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Resident-Artichoke85@reddit

I would not disable the account. Reset the password and MFA tokens. Track if there are any logins occurring or attempting. Unfortunately, some admins have a bad habit of having scheduled jobs using their personal credentials instead of a service account. After two months of no logins, disable the account.

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jmbpiano@reddit

I have to slightly disagree here. In the event the person used their personal credentials somewhere critical and something breaks, it's a lot quicker to re-enable the account temporarily while you track down the exact system where they got (mis)used. Changing the password takes that option off the table.

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hardolaf@reddit

Yeah, OP has the right idea of what to do technically. Secure all company assets to ensure preservation and ensure continuity of the business. After that's done, you do the human stuff of grieving once you've ensured that nothing bad will happen immediately due to their passing. You sometimes just need to compartmentalize feelings for a bit to be able to make sure continuity and security occur.

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notHooptieJ@reddit

> step one is to take your bereavement leave. your what? Unless its a household family member you arent likely to get any in the US

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RubberBootsInMotion@reddit

Do it anyway. Or they can lose both IT people. Quite playing their game.

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HotTakes4HotCakes@reddit

I mean, step one is first making sure the place can operate without both the boss *and* you. You can't just bail out without getting everything squared away first, if for no other reason than because if you do, you'll be getting calls the whole time and come back to a place in chaos.

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RubberBootsInMotion@reddit

We have no idea what kind of organization this is for, or how critical anything is. For healthcare or something like that? Perhaps. For some mundane office work, nah. It can wait. There will always be more emergencies and critical things. Plus, we don't know how much OP knows about the work the boss was doing. We can infer that it's probably not very much since they're here asking about it. It might take them weeks or months to pick up everything. Are they going to get a raise or promotion for doing two people's worth of work while neglecting their own mental health? I doubt it.

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My_Big_Black_Hawk@reddit

^as someone who went through something similar not long ago - this is the right advice. Take it in and be mindful that everyone could be hurting right now. No need to rush things. Wait for leadership.

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leob0505@reddit

This. And if you are in Europe, go get a sick leave. It is hard

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JazzlikeSurround6612@reddit

Bah now is the time he needs to step up for the good of the company! /s

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Few_Mouse67@reddit

Let's be honest, a sick leave when the boss just died and OP probably being the only IT guy left, is probably a bad idea. Right now the company needs him to be available more than ever. It's not a nice world out there.

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deadstarsunburn@reddit

This. You're human, no reasonable person expects you to handle this like a robot. I've worked with my boss for almost 10 years and I would be devastated if he suddenly passed away. There's zero chance I could handle much else outside of giving someone mailbox access, probably disable logins to CYA. Otherwise, take what you need to grieve.

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darthmaverick@reddit

Yep. Get clarification on what needs to be delegated, have them define it. Odds are something he handled that wasn’t completely documented will break in the next few days. This isn’t to suggest anything malicious in this, we all have roles where it’s just known “I’ll do this and delegate the rest.” Main thing is take it smooth and steady. You sound like you two were close. Be kind to yourself because the workload for a bit is about to not be.

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kenfury@reddit

http://gomerpedia.org/wiki/Laws_of_the_House_of_God At a cardiac arrest, the first procedure is to take your own pulse.[1]

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Lord_Saren@reddit

WTF Did I Click on?

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kenfury@reddit

It's a novel written by a doctor in the 70s on self care and avoiding burnout. Very good book

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HotTakes4HotCakes@reddit

The book, sure, but what is that site?

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kenfury@reddit

Get out of my emergency room. As in the person who isn't really having an emergency but just kind of loves making everything an ER visit. Think of the user who is always calling help desk on how to forward an email and submits a ton of tickets but never produces anything. The one who pages you at 9pm on a Friday because they can't work but you find out their Internet is down so they can't VPN in.

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MalwareDork@reddit

Jeez, after seeing the _House of God_ title and the first thing I saw was the nurse getup and misreading the word "gomer" with gooner, I thought this was one of those weird 90's smut websites. Was just about to question your tastes in bereavement mechanisms.

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devloz1996@reddit

This feels like r/shittysysadmin for doctors

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jmbpiano@reddit

> [Information Technology](http://gomerpedia.org/wiki/Information_Technology) (also known as IT or F**king IT! ) is a department within your health institution whose sole purpose is to ruin your productivity whether it's by introducing computer upgrades during the worst times ever, making you change your password every 20 minutes, or making computers explode if you guess your password wrong twice. Seems legit to me.

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I_Say_Damn_Girl@reddit

It's a good read, available from the Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/ShemSamuelTheHouseOfGod >There are six no-patient-contact (NPC) specialties: Rays, Gas, Path, Derm, Ophthalmology, and Psychiatry.

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usernamedottxt@reddit

This. His death doesn’t mean anyone and everyone has access to the credit cards. Take a minute and make an actual plan. Include the higher ups and other coworkers. Unlikely he was single handedly holding the network up with his personal accounts.

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Comfortable-Web5178@reddit

First off, my sincere condolences. That's an incredibly tough and shocking situation to be in, both personally and professionally. It sounds like you have a great handle on the immediate technical lockdown, which is a huge credit to you during such a difficult time. Looking at your list, the main area that comes to mind is the "knowledge and process" side of things, since you mentioned it's all falling on you now. You might consider adding: * **Review his calendar (past and future):** Look for recurring meetings, upcoming project deadlines, or appointments with vendors/clients that you might not know about. * **Check for automated reports or scripts:** Were there any daily/weekly reports he was responsible for sending out? Any cron jobs or scheduled tasks running under his credentials? * **Map out project responsibilities:** Make a quick list of the projects he was leading and identify the key stakeholders for each. This will help you manage their expectations. Your technical checklist is solid. These are just the "what was in his head" things that can often get missed. Take care of yourself through this process, that's the most important thing.

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Reasonable_Bridge859@reddit

Step 1. Take a step back, chill out, take a few edibles and have a drink, and let yourself grieve the loss of someone you saw every day and didn't dislike too much. Whether you were close or not, that's still a shock to anyone. Don't feel bad or weird for having feelings about it. Step 2. Ask his boss if you are filling in for your boss for now & authorized to try to gain full access to everything he ran. Since he's above your level, they may be planning to replace him promptly or have some MSP on retainer. Don't try to break into shit that's outside your job description until you know you're now supposed to. It could look opportunistic and shitty if you start calling around to service providers implying you're the new IT manager or his successor in some way, if you ain't been told you are. Step 3. If the answer in step 2 was yes, ask the boss if he has any passwords or any materials your boss told him to hold onto for emergencies. If he was the sole person with access to something & was responsible about how he handled that responsibility, he left break-glass credentials with his boss (not for his boss to use, but to hold onto in some sealed envelope) or else he hid them somewhere in a physically secure location (server room / datacenter, maybe in a fireproof safe). If the answer in step 2 was no, go about your business as usual, and expect your boss's boss to hire a consultant to replace your boss in the interim. Step 4. Call around to vendors/service providers, starting with the most mission critical, where you don't have access and were unable to get access in step 3. Step 5. Read documentation and learn anything you don't already know so you can handle these things as they come up. Step 6. Career stuff. Find out from your boss's boss, what the long term plan is. Be tactful, but find out if you are the new top guy & a new junior position is being posted, or if your boss's position is being posted & they will have you step back to your original role and report to a new guy. If the former, ask about pay. If the latter, and you're inexperienced / relatively new, roll with it. If the latter, and you have a lot of experience, ask yourself why you aren't next in line & update your resume & start looking.

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Muted-Teacher707@reddit

Omg I’m so sorry. I know that he was your boss but you’ve been working with this human for 20 years and it was just you two! I hate that you have to immediately think about work and making sure nothing falls through the cracks rather than taking time to process this loss. I hope you take care of yourself through this time.

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Electrical-Hotel-649@reddit

Sure. How bout call their spouse and give them your condolences. Something like "I'm sorry about Bill. He was a great guy and friend."

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come_ere_duck@reddit

Hope you have the 365 Global Admin/Owner account credentials. Had this happen to customer years ago and it was an absolute pain in the ass trying to regain Global Admin control of the 365 tenant by informing Microsoft that the owner was deceased and telling them we didn't have the credentials. Best of luck.

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darklightedge@reddit

Really sorry for your loss - that’s a tough situation. Your list is solid; maybe also check email forwarding, internal notifications, and any accounts or scripts they managed. One step at a time.

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dbh2@reddit

I am sorry for your loss. Do the emergency tasks but take time today to reflect on the person and to process the grief. The tickets will still be there tomorrow.

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Hacky_5ack@reddit

Why is nobody is else saying this? Like dude just lost a boss who he worked with for 20 years, so obviously they had a good relationship. Wtf is wrong with everyone? Take a step back take some time to process this all.

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HotTakes4HotCakes@reddit

Because they came to a sub full of professionals asking a specific question. >I'm trying to make a checklist of things to do, but I need another set of eyes. Am I missing anything obvious? Taking some time for themselves is obviously important but that isn't what they asked. Before they can even begin to think about taking a break for themselves, they have to get everything squared away so the place doesn't collapse while it's missing both their boss and themselves.

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WildManner1059@reddit

Well said, thank you.

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iam8up@reddit

Because this was already said. Why repeat it. Just upvote it...

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Hacky_5ack@reddit

Yes mam!

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lost_signal@reddit

Send condolences to spouse or next of Kin, and make sure HR follows up on them for any company life insurance plan. If this is a tech company there may be RSU acceleration (If I die my spouse is going to get millions between these options). Make sure they get clean contact for HSA accounts, FSA, FSA-DP etc accounts, and final W2/1099's. If they had any pending expense reports make sure those go through like poop through a goose, or offer the executor to help identify any work charges on credit card that may have been unfilled (if they used personal cards for expenses).

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jogisi@reddit

Bothering about changing passwords wouldn't be top of the list of my priorities. He died, not changed jobs and went to competition. I doubt he will be hacking you from the other side with his old logins. Checking that you actually have everything under control and there's no hidden caveats for which you don't know, would be my first thing. Logins can wait. But then again, there might be life after death so maybe you are right.

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RubAnADUB@reddit

take some time off. my condolences

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Sad_Dust_9259@reddit

This is really sad. Wishing you strength as you deal with the loss and all the work on your shoulders.

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ukkuhrmakhai@reddit

A. Grieve B. Start looking for a replacement ASAP. I know it sounds harsh but when I was in this position I was extremely glad that I was pushed to find a replacement immediately. It’s especially important for a two man crew. The advice I was given was “You can either process your grief while doing twice as much work with no back up or process your grief knowing someone else is on call when you take a mental health day.” It wasn’t the nicest advice but I’m glad I got it.

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NorthernVenomFang@reddit

Domain registrar accounts; if your boss's name was on the account as owner it may take some work to get it transferred, for .ca domains I know it is a real PITA and can take a copy of the death certificate for confirmation. Most of the other vendor stuff is usually easier to deal with. Make sure you have a list of all your bosses duties; take on the ones you can do and make sure that the others get covered or at the very least discussed with your temp/new supervisor. Don't do anything thing your not comfortable taking on, discuss it with your supervisor. Make sure you have the logins for everything he had access too. Other than that take it one day at a time. Sorry for your loss.

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Chance_Reflection_39@reddit

Sorry for your loss and congrats on your promotion.

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bflatmusic7@reddit

Clear his browser history

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Inn0centSinner@reddit

Let me guess. It was only you and your boss running the department after multiple rounds of layoffs? I'm in the same boat. After multiple rounds of layoffs since the pandemic, a department of 5 (4 full-time and 1 intern) has become 2 full-time. In the final round, we lost a senior admin 3 months, and the knowledge that he knew went with him.

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Lonecoon@reddit (OP)

Nah, it's just a small company. It's always been just the two of us. Now it's just me.

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BJMcGobbleDicks@reddit

Sorry to hear it man. It’s hard losing someone who you see everyday like that. My condolences. Take things slow. Obviously give yourself access to his stuff and inform vendors.

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EEU884@reddit

Not so sound mercenary but i'd hit the company up for a raise as the first port of call.

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Competitive_Hope6427@reddit

Get a good CREM tool and excute the balls off it . you cannot protect what you cannot see!.

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realslimcheney@reddit

Sorry for you man. That sucks. 20 years is a really long time. Most marriages don’t last that long. I’d make sure you have a handle on any subscriptions your boss might have set up. But I think you got most of the big ones covered

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QuietGoliath@reddit

Some solid advice in the thread. Don't do anything rash. DO disable your bosses account, do NOT delete it (yet) DO ask who else should be delegate on his mailbox (add yourself as a catch net) DO talk to HR about arranging some leave 'soon' so the conversation topic is open, but don't rush it - there'll be pieces to catch and it's going to show ownership/responsibility for you just now. DO talk to a friend/peer/family about your loss, get the support you need.

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statitica@reddit

Grieve first. Be open with the ceo about needing time to process and to figure out what steps need to be taken. Chances are if you are open about it, you'll be given room to do your thing at your pace.

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Ikamony@reddit

So sad. I would suggest to start from understanding how infrastructure works and secure it.

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michaelpaoli@reddit

It sucks, and my sympathies. Yeah, had it happen with a peer some years back. So, do mostly check with relevant manager, HR, etc. as relevant, but typically it goes about like this: * kind'a similar-ish to a terminated employee, but of course bit different. * secure access, e.g. disabling passwords on individual accounts, rotating passwords on any shared accounts * there's work equipment to collect (e.g. laptop, work mobile/SIM, access badge/card(s), pcard, etc., any proprietary work materials they, e.g. had at home (work notes, etc.). * go through and figure out all the relevant access, make sure sufficient, but not excessive, relevant persons have access or can gain access * there's the desk and personal effects 'n stuff like that to go through - figure out who's going to do that, might be the grand-boss, might be you, might be someone else. They may want to have a 2nd person there when it's done; also, for many of the materials, you might be best situated to know what ought be done with the stuff, e.g work stuff handed over to you, or other manager, or personal effects for family or the like * Don't panic, don't rush too much. Yeah, stuff needs to be done and to happen, but most of it needn't be instant.

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CrimsonSteele01@reddit

Yeah sorry about your loss. One question though why change passwords if you were a team man team? Do you expect him to come back from death?

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jasper-zanjani@reddit

time for a raise! if the CEO knows what's good for him...

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Geminii27@reddit

Follow any policies which exist for such circumstances (HR, Security, and yes, IT), but liaise with your boss's boss to first say what you'll be doing (and which policies are relevant to each action), unless they're things which are supposed to be done immediately (for example, locking his account). It might be an idea to get confirmation of who will be responsible for vendor contact in the interim, before informing vendors of the situation. Or at least be able to tell them 'All communication in the interim may go through the general {corpname} IT email address of abc@xyz.com," if someone like the Big Boss or a temporary boss will be handling it.

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DawgLuvr93@reddit

Condolences on your loss. You should probably change his password ASAP. For anything else, go through legal/HR/his boss. Don't do anything without express written instructions.

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skyline5gtr@reddit

Did they promote you ? If not why is it your problem

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RithianYawgmoth@reddit

This

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ThrobbingMeatGristle@reddit

Sorry for what you are going through. It will all be ok. You have had some really good advice on this thread. When you are up for a laugh, go get the risk register and cross that one off!

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ctbjdm@reddit

Laptop/cellphone disposition? Change any automated systems that might page his house (Pagerduty/etc)?

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GreenDavidA@reddit

This is a good one. This could be really upsetting to the bereaved.

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Roland_Bodel_the_2nd@reddit

The 6 things you listed don't seem urgent to me. If the person passed away, I don't think it's urgent to change their password or lock their account.

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Tyrvol@reddit

Get his contacts from his phone/outlook.

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mrmattipants@reddit

Better yet, you may just want to convert to a Shared Mailbox.

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SilverCamaroZ28@reddit

Also MFA or SMS 2fa maybe tied to his phone

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DeepPowStashes@reddit

hopefully he had a work phone and personal phone. Going to be a bit tough getting the personal phone from his family...

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Tyrvol@reddit

Hmm. Something I haven’t thought about. I use my personal as work and get a stipend. Makes me think I should separate them so make things easier on others.

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TinderSubThrowAway@reddit

Just keep your contacts in outlook separated from your phone contacts, or at least duplicated. Don’t put personal contacts in your outlook.

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Resident-Artichoke85@reddit

Shouldn't need to. Work should have a plan. One is that everything you do someone else should be able to do. Also, there should be a "break glass" account with access to reset your password and/or set up a new account to do what you had access to do.

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scoldog@reddit

Been there done that. Former boss of mine passed away suddenly, hadn't worked with him long so didn't know his family or anything. Tried delicately to approach them or the higher ups about getting his laptop back due to some important documentation on it. About three months later I got the laptop back. Someone had wiped it on me.

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UTB-Uk@reddit

Check Google and MS Auth

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Tyrvol@reddit

Good call

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angrydeuce@reddit

Id add that whoever is able should export all saved logins and passwords from their web browser. I cannot tell you how often a simple chrome csv export has saved our ass down the road.

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FapNowPayLater@reddit

And then immediately quit using. Browsers as credential stores. But great advice

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angrydeuce@reddit

Yeah agreed but ive found i cannot tell you how many cases of a crusty ass password that gets used once a year at most that got missed whenever they migrated to a true pw management solution and only lives in some random office managers chrome passwords. Domain Registrar logins are a perfect example of that sort of mickey mouse nonsense, always a good time when an SSL expires and nobody fuckin knows how to renew...

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PurpleKissOfDeath@reddit

My manager died suddenly after being involved in every part of the IT team for something like 19 years. He knew everything and trained everyone, but couldn't possibly have showed us everything. Fortunately, I work at a company that has many satellite support teams and we were given the option to take time off to grieve. The biggest issues we encountered had to do with automated processes that were set up with that manager's network profile and not a generic one. (Scheduled tasks, backups, etc.) There were some cases where we missed renewal of licenses because the emails were sent to the old users email. Hope that helps and my condolences.

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crash19691@reddit

Sorry to hear about your boss. This happened to me about 15 years ago and you have covered everything. Also check on his business phone or business voicemail and make sure you are able to return calls and then forward the phone number as necessary and forward the calls to someone else who can assist the customer or colleague that is calling.

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Inode1@reddit

Let me start with telling you I'm sorry for your loss. What I'm about to say I didn't see in the comments and I hope I'm wrong, but once you have had some time to grieve make sure the company is going to restaff. Unfortunate as it sounds companies often place everything on the remaining person when something like this happens and expect them to do all of the work. Please advocate for yourself and make it known you expect them to backfill a role in a reasonable time frame, even if you take his role and they backfill your position. This is basic self care in this situation, and you deserve it, at a minimum.

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doctorevil30564@reddit

Do a discovery to find any contracts that your boss would have been in charge of for anything that isn't covered when you go through the list of known vendors. You don't want something getting shutdown this is needed because the bill didn't get paid. We had to do this at my last job when our manager was terminated with no reason ever given to anyone in the IT department. It took about two weeks but we were able to find everything.

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blu3ysdad@reddit

IMHO you should get guidance from above your boss for everything not expressly technical like handling the credit card etc. You should only be concerned about securing your dept, don't take on extra tasks that should belong to others.

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TinderSubThrowAway@reddit

I mean… he died… what logins need to be changed? He’s not likely to be a bad actor and cause harm…

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ncc74656m@reddit

I'm terribly sorry for your loss. Focus on and remember your own needs first. You're experiencing a loss, too, and you need to give yourself grace. Unless you planned together for this kind of scenario, you're also picking up the pieces and doing it live for the very first time, so this will be a difficult thing to do while also dealing with the emotional aspects. The things you listed are all good first steps, though unless you have active comms with other vendors, you can wait on that. Those are not easy emails to write or receive, so hold off on whatever you can from them. Next up, I would start getting your marching orders from your CEO (assuming that he directly reported to the CEO). If they don't know what you do and how you do it, I would explain briefly to them that you need to get certain rights and permissions in order, and let them know that someone needs to start doing these things. Assuming you weren't also already a domain/forest/global admin, figure out if you should be getting yourself these rights, and start gaining control of things. Beyond that, likely prepare for a good deal of holding patterns, and remember that the CEO probably also had some connection with your boss given the likely size of your org. They need time and space too. Let them know what's critical that you take care of, and find out what they want you to do. All you can do is put this in front of them and hope that they take it under advisement. Once that initial hold passes, you'll likely have a clearer picture of the things you need, and a more open dialogue with the CEO on how to proceed from here.

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WayneH_nz@reddit

Have a beer (or a beverage of your choice) in his honor. Make sure that everything you know is documented, in case of, well, you know. Send condolences to his loved ones.

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SanFranPanManStand@reddit

Alcohol actually delays the grieving response - it doesn't hasten it.

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ProjectRetrobution@reddit

Savor the flavour.

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ez151@reddit

Sorry to state it but use your regular offboarding policy.

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llDemonll@reddit

Don’t just start doing his job. It’s not your responsibility to cover all his duties, nor are you paid to do so. This isn’t any different of a situation than him giving notice and leaving

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Resident-Artichoke85@reddit

Hah, yes and no. OP would be expected to cover for boss. But, OP should also ask for a temp pay bump until the boss is replaced.

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No-One9699@reddit

If you hadn't had one already, consider creating break glass super admin accounts for critical systems and put the info in a sealed envelope to place in company safe "in case of emerg" at least until you get another team mate?

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Resident-Artichoke85@reddit

"at least until you get another team mate?" - this is the wrong advice. There should always be a "break glass" super admin account in the safe that upper management know how to get into. What if OP and boss were driving somewhere and both died in an accident?

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owlwise13@reddit

Auto-forward all his email to the person who will be temporary handling his duties.

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Resident-Artichoke85@reddit

Don't do this. Just grant them access to the account.

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RBeck@reddit

Disable any automatic emails from him, some people might be shocked to get an email from the great beyond.

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Resident-Artichoke85@reddit

Setup auto-reply. Get the appropriate message from HR/management. Part of the auto-reply should be the new contact info.

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Creepy-Abrocoma8110@reddit

Make a play for his job

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Resident-Artichoke85@reddit

Be sure to ask for a temp pay upgrade until his position is filled.

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Sigistrix@reddit

Too bad you'll be getting all his work, but not his salary.

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trouphaz@reddit

Just remember that not everything he did falls on you. If he was the manager, then his manager can and should help pick up the slack on managerial tasks. They should be able to assist with the vendor management, any payment stuff that he owned and stuff like that should go to a manager. Don't feel obligated to double your workload. Also, be very clear and very persistent with your new interim boss. You need a replacement. Do not just pick up the slack and take care of everything. Management will often only hire replacements when it is impacting them. So, do your job. There is likely a brief period where you will need to cover extra workload, but that should more be about discovery and figuring out what you can do and what you can't. After that, if they want 2 people's worth of output, they need to have 2 people. Also, since your boss had been there for a long time, it is quite possible that what he could do as 1 person can't be picked up by 1 new person. they may need to hire 2 people, a manager and another tech.

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crankysysadmin@reddit

One of the things you'll need to do is clarify who is filling his leadership role on an interim basis. It might be you, or it might definitely not be you, and your job is to be a sysadmin and some other executive is actually the IT leader. Figure that out as quickly as possible.

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bageloid@reddit

Grieve?

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p90rushb@reddit

Using the grieve.ly app? Or just normal?

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weltvonalex@reddit

Not in the budget.

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brownninja97@reddit

HR said since this was an "incident" that occurred out of work grounds you can grieve after work hours

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Superb_Raccoon@reddit

But they did say you could use their parking spot.

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brownninja97@reddit

On days they arent in the office, in other notes RTO is expanded to eight days a week.

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8492_berkut@reddit

In *this* economy?

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TheJesusGuy@reddit

Learn this ONE TRICK Americans don't know about! Click here!

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Superb_Raccoon@reddit

Hide the body.

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AmiDeplorabilis@reddit

Changing passwords... it's NOT like he left unexpectedly and mughtvtry to sabotage the company. As another commented, take it slowly and methodically. Plan the changes to be made. Don't rush. Yes, it's a difficult and emotionally charged time, but if his accounts were safe before, they're still safe for now. Godspeed and good luck.

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RBeck@reddit

Now you'll start to figure out what scripts and services run as him.

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AmiDeplorabilis@reddit

Excellent point!

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Then_Cauliflower5637@reddit

Curious why your CEO thinks it's acceptable to contact you outside working hours without compensation for disturbing your circadian rhythm.

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Repulsive_Tadpole998@reddit

I'm sorry for you loss, working closely with someone for that ling bring a level of care and respect. I'm sure he was also a mentor. You've covered the main things, it's time to process and feel now.

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ennova2005@reddit

Sorry for the loss. As a practical mattter, first get documented access to their mailbox. Do not disable any accounts but change the password; that email may be used for second factor in some external services or for billing etc and some odd jobs may be running with that ID. Then slowly unwind the accounts.

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coderguyagb@reddit

First of all; pass your condolences to their people, greave, take some time. Are you managment? If not, it's not your problem, ask their successor. This may seem harsh, but it's really not your job.

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BillyD70@reddit

Condolences on your loss. Take time to process it. Then, in addition to your list… - Secure work ID/access card - Scan for any services/tasks/jobs that use his login - Ask CEO what tasks your boss had on their plate Work with HR throughout the process.

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WickedBuZz@reddit

you go to the funeral

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Kinglink@reddit

> Because someone asked, we were a department of two people, so everything he was doing falls on me now. Take time to grieve... And plan to go to the funeral (if you want to) You worked with him for 20 years? Damn. And just remember anything you are feeling is natural, you probably lost a coworker but also a close friend, that's an extreme loss.

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narcissisadmin@reddit

Exact same thing happened to me once. It was a huge ordeal tracking down all of our vendors and accounts so I created a shared mailbox and tied everything to it.

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slinnen@reddit

Do you work in effin HR?

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groupwhere@reddit

You or someone will need to monitor his email for a bit. Verify who has control of your domain(s) since it might be tied to his email. That and any other big deal contracts for email, etc. Sorry for your loss.

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briskik@reddit

Sorry for your loss. Take time. Physical Keys Badges MFA devices, MFA codes on phone Any paperwork that existed at his home

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matt95110@reddit

That’s terrible, but why wouldn’t the CEO wait to tell you this morning?

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Lonecoon@reddit (OP)

My boss and I were a department of two people, so the CEO thought I should know as soon as he did, which I appreciated. It also let me know I needed to be at work early to let others know. We're a small, very close company and a lot of us have known each other for a very long time. This is going to have a deep impact on the entire staff.

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stromm@reddit

Fuck that. It’s the CEO’s responsibility to inform staff your boss passed. Seriously, you aren’t management.

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cyndotorg@reddit

He might be, now. :)

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stromm@reddit

I bet not in title or pay…

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driodsworld@reddit

20 years is a lifetime OP, it is going to be difficult to process. Be strong, it will all work out, looks like you got a very close knit team

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barflett@reddit

Honestly I’d rather be told when not at work so I could process it in privacy and have time to mentally prepare for work.

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Superb_Raccoon@reddit

I would prefer he told me Bob hit the lotto and bought and island in 5he Caribbean where he drinks beer and swims with dolphins all day. /gallows humor

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Lonecoon@reddit (OP)

Unironically his dream. The man loved vacations to the tropics.

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matt95110@reddit

But at 11:30pm the night before?

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ConsciousEquipment@reddit

if it's my one other team member out of only us two after 20 years work then yeah please call me at 3AM if something happens to them oh my god

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WhiskyTequilaFinance@reddit

That was my thought too. I've got colleagues I'm close to as well. If something happens, I want that call ASAP. If nothing else, it lets me process for a bit so that I can be calmer support for my team in the morning. Being "management" has zero to do with leadership in that kind of moment.

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bofh@reddit

> But at 11:30pm the night before? You're right. There's a much better, much more appropriate time to tell someone news like this and you're about to share it with us *any* time now.

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matt95110@reddit

Sure. Next day in person. Was it what you were expecting?

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bofh@reddit

It's about what I expected.

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XCOMGrumble27@reddit

There is no good time to receive that sort of news so as soon as it's known seems appropriate.

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matt95110@reddit

I think it would be more appropriate to wait until the next day and say it in person. Telling someone that late at night is inappropriate when it isn’t a family member.

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XCOMGrumble27@reddit

Someone you've worked with for 20 years is basically extended family.

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Alpizzle@reddit

My guess would be the CEO is having trouble with this himself. That was quite possibly immediately after he found out. In retrospect, the best way I can think of to handle it would be to bring in OP and anyone else that worked very closely with the deceased, let them know what happened, and give them the option to go home for the day if feasible. If the family is open to workers going to the service, let them know you will provide information as it becomes available. If appropriate for the environment, plan a small rememberance and perhaps have people write something nice on a condolences card or similar to give to the family. I was in the military where you expect to lose people, but we never lost anyone to combat or even training accidents. We lost people to suicide, and we had some wives and kids of members pass away. I will say it was a good thing that they immediately brought us all together and told us as a team to prevent the rumor mill from winding up and we could support each other.

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theducks@reddit

If I’d worked in a team of two with someone I’d known for 20 years, I’d want the call straight away

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MJS29@reddit

I’d imagine the CEO probably struggling themselves to process. I had this happen and I probably didn’t truly appreciate how much it impacted my boss’s boss and having to deliver that news to the team etc.

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mattormateo@reddit

Agree.

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hroden@reddit

I do the same thing. At 20 years, this is no longer a acquaintance at work, but it’s someone that’s part of your life in a more meaningful way

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Phobet@reddit

It’s about respect and acknowledgment of the human / working relationship. I had a colleague pass away over a weekend, someone I didn’t normally work with but I knew. I didn’t find out about it until the following Wednesday at a team meeting. It was relegated to a talking point on the meeting agenda.

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floswamp@reddit

Op said they are a department of two. Sounds like a smaller company.

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techierealtor@reddit

I would clone his computer personally just in case. Throw it on a share drive. Everything else you’ve mentioned is good. Also, identify anything he was immediately working on and make arrangements to take it over or hand off to someone else. Project work, negotiation for IT equipment, etc.

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SuperfluousJuggler@reddit

Second the drive clone, you have no idea how invaluable that is. One day years from now you'll need a file, and it will be in some document folder buried 10 folders deep.

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2FalseSteps@reddit

Is your boss's boss cool, or an ass? How do you think your department would be affected as far as possible restructuring?

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Lonecoon@reddit (OP)

I'm in charge now. We were a department of two, so It's all me now.

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Grrl_geek@reddit

So sorry for you. I don't think anyone here has yet said this, but: get everything in writing, especially WRT expected job duties and salary. Frame it as: we're all grieving and processing and don't want to forget anything important here (i.e. let's not trust our memories when we're all stressed). NOW raise a pint to him. :-)

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aere1985@reddit

If the higher-ups are allowing you time to grieve, take it! If they aren't, do it anyway in the small moments you can. Worth asking if there are plans to hire a replacement for him or for you if there are plans to promote you. Remember that promotion should come with a pay rise\*, wait a week or-so before asking though so as not to seem insensitive. \*I bring this up because a friend of mine went through something similar. Bosses allowed no time off to grieve and told him it was "business as usual", demanded that my friend fill the role (which should have been a promotion) and when he asked for the commensurate pay rise to go with the promotion, he was told that it was too soon to discuss such things while we were grieving. Thankfully, my friend was a no-BS kinda guy and told them that he'd taken all the time off they'd allowed for grieving (none) and since it was "business as usual", he expects remuneration in accordance with his new role. They told him no so he let them know that he wouldn't be filling in for any of his deceased colleague's responsibilities and that he would now be looking elsewhere for employment. (This is the UK so they can't do any of that US "right-to-work" insta-fire BS).

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2FalseSteps@reddit

If you're lucky enough to work with rational, caring, professional people, it may work out "well" (if there is such a thing, in this situation). Still, I don't envy you the stress of having to deal with all of that. Do you have support? Or is it like you said, it's all you? If so... Damn. Just try to take it one day at a time.

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stromm@reddit

The fact the CEO expects him to get to work early and be the one who tells everyone else, he’s an ass. That’s the CEO’s responsibility as the manager of this poor guy’s old boss. You never dump this shit on non-management.

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2FalseSteps@reddit

I'd usually agree, but I know nothing about their company. Maybe they're a small, close-knit group? In that case, it may just be a bit of misinterpretation. If the boss *is* an ass, that's the last thing someone dealing with this would need.

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bikeidaho@reddit

I had a boss commit suicide a few years back. Pause any non-essential work and process what the fuck just happened. Talk to coworkers, cope... 🫂

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rafaelreisr@reddit

Attend the Funeral

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AgentPailCooper@reddit

As everyone else is saying please take time for yourself, it'll make everything else less stressful if you take time to process this first. That's a long time to be working together and you have my condolences.

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brad-valera@reddit

Mm…..to deal with this u just don’t , that’s HR role I think

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Odd-Slice6913@reddit

I guess you can call it grim humor, but where I started working at now. My would be supervisor passed a few days before I started... took me 3 months to start from on-boarding to actually starting, then he passed right before my first day.

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RaNdomMSPPro@reddit

I'm sorry for your loss, take a breath - nothing needs to be done this instant. We just went through something like this recently - IT director for a small customer passed away and the company wanted us to come in and make sure things will continue to work... Man, it was quite a mess. All credentials were locked behind things only the former IT director had access to. Took a little while, and fortunately he left, probably inadvertently, a trail of breadcrumbs we followed to unlock his pw manager for those things we couldn't just break into on our own. Lesson learned: Hit by bus is something to be prepared for, either you or someone else getting hit by the proverbial bus. Enterprise password managers that you enforce the use of are really a game changer. I think about the personal side of this too as a long time employee passed and his wife was desperate to get access to his phone for pictures and whatnot - somehow, she didn't know his phone pin. My wife knows how to get access to everything on my phone, except my gmail - because she refuses to use the pw manager... personal note to get that sorted, you can lead a horse to water... My work can gain access to everything because we have multiple admins in every platform. Good luck, and if you care to follow up w/ any advice you have related to situations like this - experience is a really good teacher.

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jaymansi@reddit

Software license keys, vendor purchase orders and vendor contacts. Determine when all your licenses expire if they were responsible and you don’t know that information now.

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KobyBryantHeliPilot@reddit

Probably check in on his old lady and see how she's doing..

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SalmonFat@reddit

Firstly, I am sorry for your loss. Make sure you look after yourself and don't get too caught up in trying to do absolutely everything at once! This happened to one of our customers and luckily they had us as an MSP to lean on fr a bit to help them get things in place. Do you have any other form of escalation or safety net? Could be good to lean on them for a while at least temporarily, and use them as a fresh set of eyes to make sure you have everything covered on the list.

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WhiskyTequilaFinance@reddit

Firstly, as others have said, please take care of yourself too. I've lost a couple of colleagues over the years, and its never easy. Especially in a situation like this where your next week or two are going to be a lot of reminders he's gone. Folks have covered the basics pretty well so far, so here's a few less common thoughts. In a small dept/company, IT sometimes becomes the catch-all for weird responsibilities. In that vein, would any building security equipment alerts be his? Would he be notified in the event of a fire or burglary? Security monitoring alerts for equipment, UPS, firewalls? Ask Finance and Payroll if he ever helped with their equipment (check printers/scanners, postage machines, credit card terminals etc.) If you're in any sort of shared space building, or have physical security like prox cards, make sure your access is the same as his now. In a small team, it probably is, but I don't want to assume. Ask your HR team to help you draft a letter that you can use to notify vendors, make sure it includes ways for the vendor contact to reach out directly to verify with HR. Make a list of the top 5-10 mission critical platforms that would interrupt business ops if a renewal failed. Focus on those first. Finance may be required to disable the CC quickly, but should be able to get copies of the statements. Ask them to review the last 12 months for anything that looks like a recurring charge first. Then ask them to give you a list of all vendors paid on the card with the total $ spent so you can prioritize who to reach out to first. If it's a small company, people will know what you're up against and want to help, let them help you.

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i-sleep-well@reddit

Not to make light of your situation, but here's where you find out how good your BC/DR plan really is. I would also add- deprecate *not delete* AD account, in case he has some services running under his credentials (it happens) and set up his Email as an alias to you or another privileged user with an autoreply.

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Jarlic_Perimeter@reddit

I know emotionally, I'd rather open up the mailbox via web than get every single email via alias, that might be a bit too much at this point (or whenever it really hits), that would also let you set up an out of office.

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Godless_homer@reddit

Nope breath .... Things will come to you. His boss should start working on it, you are allowed to grieve.

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kykdaddy@reddit

Sorry for your loss. Forward or subscribe to their email account. I have had success reviewing their SENT/TRASH folders to get an idea of the people and services they interacted with. Don’t forget to forward or update their outgoing voicemail.

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wired-one@reddit

My condolences. People over processes and profits. So please take care of yourself and take time to mourn.

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BadSausageFactory@reddit

I'm probably late to this party but first thing is a meeting with the CEO to go over your list of priorities. And for all the talk that our industry has about duty and responsibility, this is a job and you are an employee and if there's anyone that should be taking the brunt of the stress here it's the leadership. This has to be a team effort. FYI we lost our accountant a couple of years back, we were good friends after just five years. I still have his old laptop up on the shelf and can't bring myself to wipe it.

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WhiskyTequilaFinance@reddit

I've got a few user accounts like that. I stripped them of privileges, but I can't bring myself to shut them off. Lost in the war chaos in Ukraine, status unknown.

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Fake_Cakeday@reddit

I don't know your setup and it is probably all in your hands anyway. But my suggestion is backup processes. Are there any steps in those backup processes that required your boss? Did he have a key or special account? Could be something minor, but might still be something that could halt the whole proces. My condolences and don't forget to take care of yourself. 20 years is a long time to be with someone for 8 hours a day.

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Different-Hyena-8724@reddit

I think the last 2 are part of HR/Finance/Legal job duties. Imagine I call up vendor Cybersecurity Inc. and I'm like "Hi, Bob died last night so you will be dealing with me from here on out. go ahead and hand over the keys that you have.". That ain't happening. Probably an official letter needs to be sent or whomever else has a relationship with those vendors needs to be acting on the last 2.

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A1ien30y@reddit

Licensing for software..etc. sorry for your loss. Take it easy.

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imsowhiteandnerdy@reddit

> Am I missing anything obvious? Yes, practice self-care and take time to grieve the passing of your boss since you sounded close to him.

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AdTop6831@reddit

Reality of corporate world. Person you worked with for 20 years dies and no.1 priority is to make sure work is getting taken care of. Jeez! At the end of the day we are just an employee ID.

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MakeMoreNFTS@reddit

Change his X pfp to an anime profile pic and state your political opinions

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hellobeforecrypto@reddit

Grieve.

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rUnThEoN@reddit

Grief and then open the doomsday safe. If Admins suddenly dieing wasnt prepared for its a future thing to do.

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TrueStoriesIpromise@reddit

Check for expirations: certificates, domain names, PGP keys, etc. I have a simple excel spreadsheet with all of mine, and I just update the date, then re-sort the sheet.

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KauaiRoosterParty@reddit

Sorry for your loss OP.

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ZAFJB@reddit

Soory for your loss. Here is something I wrote 7 years ago. Still relevant: https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/7ivn2p/my_boss_passed_away_last_night/dr1rb6d/

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reol7x@reddit

1) Grieve - have a candid talk with the CEO that informed you about how you're feeling and any time/space you'll need. 2) Let the CEO help you prioritize projects, shifting priorities. Pretty much the whole week (or month) is probably lost now. 3) Ask if he wants to be the decision maker, or if he wants to delegate that to someone else. 4) Document everything you do regarding access, accounts, and anything you change, reset, or takeover. I think I'd start with these and just take it hour by hour.

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mariachiodin@reddit

Sorry for the loss, it sucks!

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TemporaryHysteria@reddit

Take his wife on a date

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DefinitelyNotDes@reddit

Get renewal dates for certs and licenses ASAP.

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TheJesusGuy@reddit

Just realized if my boss died (department of 2), I wouldn't change a single thing as he doesn't do anything.

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cvandyke01@reddit

Let HR handle credit cards. Let the family grieve.

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Eyesliketheocean@reddit

Acess control.

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anonpf@reddit

My deepest condolences on your loss. Take time to grieve. Get the high priority stuff out if the way for sure. No matter what anyone else says, it’s alright to show your grief and sadness.

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jhdefy@reddit

Process emotions related to your 20-year companion.

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stridernb01@reddit

Make a backup of the local and network files even the company phone. go through and find anything personal and make a jump drive for the Family. after 20 years i guarantee there might be some personal pictures that might only be on the company assets. I had to do this once and it sucks, but its something nice that can be included with any condolences your company might send to the Family.

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Seven-Prime@reddit

prepare three envelopes. . .

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Neggly@reddit

If you are asked to take over, even in the interim, make sure you're paid that salary and that you're previous job will be filled.

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Antarioo@reddit

1. GRIEVE a co-worker of 20 years just died. don't make the work stuff your nr.1 priority right this second.

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baudwithcompter@reddit

No one has mentioned this and I know this is a difficult time but you’re now going to be shouldering the weight of his responsibility. You need to have a conversation about compensation and future roles and responsibilities.

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heisenbergerwcheese@reddit

Sorry for your loss, but why change logins? Were they compromised? I thought you said they were already your responsibility anyways?

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monsterzro_nyc@reddit

I’m thinking you’ll need your boss’s cellphone in case it was used for 2 factor?

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dim13@reddit

Been there this year in February. Check credit card statement for unexpedted spends. Take a beer. Don't rush.

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xendr0me@reddit

* Change logins (This takes care of the next 3 itmes) * Secure Email * Secure files * Secure workstation * Secure credit card - (Not your job) * Inform Vendors - (Forward his internal phone and e-mails to you) no need to do extra work.

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Serious_Tourist854@reddit

Congrats, now wait for promotion

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Chronoltith@reddit

Firtstly, my condolences. Second off. Keep doing the usual Monday things as far as is possib;e Thirdly, talk to the appropriate C-level or manager's manager to understand any deliverables you were not aware of, understand what their interim plans are for management and where appropriate, a clear plan of action for the next, say, three months Fourthly, I wouldn't advise any third parites without getting HR steer for confidentiality reasons. Keep the wheels on the road.

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Trammster@reddit

Condolences man, hope you get some time to breathe and process. The main thing I thought about were contracts, with 3rd party suppliers if he had his name on them.

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MyLegsX2CantFeelThem@reddit

First take a minute to process and grieve. That’s horrible news, and I’m sorry for your loss. After getting to work and again taking a bit to process, start your list of what you need to get access to. Was there any leadership above him? If so, you’re going to want to meet with them on any changes of up-the-chain urgent issues or questions. The piddly shit can wait. It’s going to be an off day for sure, and you will get lots of interruptions, if you’re in an office. Honestly it will take a couple of days to even get the days processes moving. Good luck.

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JustinVerstijnen@reddit

Wow man...rest in peace and condoleances to you

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Nereo5@reddit

My condolences. - Yes, take time for yourself. Remember to grieve. What did he do, that needs someone else to do, this week, this month, this year. Any newhires or any recruitment coming in, that someone need to take care of? Budgets etc.

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