In Memoriam Lou Maas

Last Sunday Lou Maas, research assistant at the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology of the Faculty of Health Medicine and Life Sciences, passed away unexpectedly at the age of 57.

Lou completed his laboratory training at Zuyd University of Applied Sciences in Sittard in 1989. After working briefly at DSM, he was called up for military service in 1990. He opted for civil service, working as a research assistant in the Human Biology department at Maastricht University. He was subsequently appointed to the same position in the Health Risk Analysis and Toxicology department. Since 2010 he had been a research assistant at the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology.

Lou was the linchpin of the department’s laboratory, the driving force behind a number of research technologies and comfortable working in many analytical areas. He was a go-to person for staff and students alike, with a strong sense of responsibility and great authority among his fellow lab users. He initiated many new employees and interns into the way of working in our lab. Lou’s contributions to various PhD projects were critical to the completion of the accompanying dissertations, and he was proud to be listed as a co-author on many scientific papers.

Alongside his coordinating duties, he enjoyed working with his hands in the lab, doing experiments quickly and accurately, joking around, often with music on. Music was one of his passions: Lou knew everything about rock, soul, pop and indie, and often went to concerts by bands old and new. He was a font of music trivia and enjoyed taking part in music quizzes. He also regularly performed as a DJ at Café de Pieter in Maastricht.

But above all, Lou was an athlete. With his trim build, he was a competitive runner well into his 40s. He consistently figured among Limburg’s best runners, won many races in the region and was proud to have recorded a marathon personal best of under 2.5 hours. In recent years he relived that sense of competition as a loyal supporter of his son Guy. To avoid the injuries caused by running, he later turned to cycling—and in true Lou form, cycling slowly was not in his vocabulary.

Dear Lou, we will greatly miss you and your charm, stubbornness, humour and critical eye. We wish Astrid and Guy, and all your loved ones, every strength in processing this devastating loss.