I’m sure I remember someone posting to say, “Poster X, who was not very prolific, and in fact, only joined because I goaded him into it, died.” But I’m darned if I can remember the name, or even the poster who made the announcement.
I know Dr. Watson died within the past year. I beleive he was primarily a poster of SDMB past, but lurked around until his death.
I don’t think this is who you’re referring to, though.
Sadly, it’s almost a statistical certainty that there have been many registered members who have passed away. When someone stops posting, we often never know why. I’d start a thread to try and track down posters that no one’s heard from for a while but it’d probably be too depressing. 
I think it’d be worth the effort, Truth. There’s a reason why they call you the Seeker.
Yup. What Truth Seeker said. If I were to stop posting, assuming anyone would even notice, there’s no way that anyone would know if it was that I moved on or that something tragic befell me. All but a relative handfull of members fall into my category.
Haj
What I’ve been wondering is whether the Admins would have the time or inclination to search for posters whose last post dates from shortly before 9/11/01, and whose real names on their accounts match names on WTC or Pentagon or airliner victim lists.
Then I decided that even if (x) dopers were victims of the 9/11 attacks, it’d probably be a violation of their families’ privacy to call out their names, at least without confirmation & the permission of their families.
Too depressing, indeed. And would we then expect the admins to do similar searches after other disasters?
If found-to-be deceased dopers were seldom-posting lurker types, how can there be the level of caring and hurt in this SDMB-world where the quantity & quality of posts “make the man”, so to speak?
As in the real world, the notable are eulogized, the hoi polloi forgotten.
AmbushBug
[sub]he’s not dead, he’s … he’s pining. pining for the fjords.[/sub]
Our real names aren’t on our accounts other than the few who use their real names as their user names.
Haj
This was one of the first things I thought of when I heard about Poopah Cahlupah. How do we really know who has just quit posting and anybody who has died.
I’m not a prolific poster (look at my register date vs. my # of posts). If I were to just quit posting, would anybody notice? I really don’t think I’d be missed. Though, even as mainly a lurker, I still feel like I’m a part of this community.
Why, I had not realized that. So used to being on the “sysop” end of things; I hadn’t remembered it wasn’t required here.
I feel exactly the same way. I wonder how many voracious-reading-seldom-posting lurkers there are out there.
AmbushBug
The really sad thing is that eventually, we will all join them.
We should make an e-mail list or something. Everyone (registered lurkers especially) should get a partner (or get one of their real life friends to join up) and keep each other updated and such.
There are a fair number of us (well, fair number judging from the number of active posters on this MB, as opposed to registered members) who, if some ill befell us off the boards (i.e., illness, permanent injury, etc), know enough dopers in person or through email, chat, etc, that word would get spread.
And really, all it takes is one person to say “Poster X has died/gone into a coma/broken his/her leg” and you’ll get people coming to offer their condolences/support/whatnot. It could be a newbie with only that post saying “my friend is sick” and you’d get support from other people.
I don’t know of many other places online where that’s the case.
I don’t think I’ve ever won a “Most Popular Poster” award, but I like to think that at least a few people would care if I bit the big cookie.
I told my sister about SDMB and she registered, though she doesn’t post often. I told her to come here and let people know if I got dead. So I hope people will know if it ever happens.
Of course, someone told me “You can’t take it with you.” So I decided, “Bollacks to that! I’m not going!” I’ll live forever… or die trying!
(BTW, I think Doc Watcon may have died closer to a couple of years ago. It seems to me that we had a toast to him at a Dopefest, and it was on or about the one-year anniversary.)
After Poopa’s death I was thinking… There are many posters who I remember getting to know pretty well… Then I look around the boards and see that they havn’t posted in some months.
It scared me. What if? I can only hope that they moved to other message boards or something of the like. I don’t know if I would want to see someone attempt to find out which dopers have passed. To me, seeing a list of passed posters would be a very sad thing to look at.
Anyone in particular, clayton? We seem to show up in enough of the same threads/fora, and given my odd hours I might have seen a dozen or so posts by someone that you missed:)
I’d have to say that even if I were to suddenly die / have something serious happen to me, I’m not sure how many people would know. Yes, it’s true that I talk to a bunch of you guys (you know who you are), and have even met a handful of you. However, nobody would know if anything happened to me simply because my real-life friends haven’t registered. (time to get my brother to at least register so he can tell people if something happened to me, even if he does nothing else…
Seeing a list of posters who have passed on would indeed be a sad thing. And as for seeing a list of people who haven’t posted since a certain date might also be… if only because some of us would wonder as to the possible causes of why.
F_X
I suspect that I would be one that no one would notice if I disappeared. Like Lady Ice, I read the forums voraciously and feel like a member of this community.
No one from my RL has registered here, and only one on the G’Dope board, and he’s irregular.
But … while I could drop out tomorrow from here, and never post again, causing no waves by my passing, th’ G’Dopers would know something was up, I’m sure. I’ve come to know, and take on in my heart as friends, some wonderful, caring, thoughtful Australians who’ve adopted this stroppy Kiwi as one of them.
If anything happened, they’d start looking to find out why, I’m sure. That’s th’ way they are. 
I stopped posting for a while a couple of times. Nobody noticed.
But I do have a couple of friends IRL who have accounts here, so it would probably get anounced
Actually, it is. Thank you.