Steve Jobs Death Certificate Reveals Apple CEO Died of 'Respiratory Arrest'
A copy of Steve Jobs' death certificate, which was made public Monday, indicates that the Apple co-founder died of respiratory arrest resulting from pancreatic cancer that had spread to his other organs.
According to the death certificate, which was released by the Santa Clara County Public Health Department and obtained by the Associated Press, Jobs had been carrying a metastatic pancreas neuroendocrine tumor for the past five years.
The death certificate names respiratory arrest as his immediate cause of death.
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Jobs died Wed., Oct. 5 at age 56. At the time, Apple had not not disclosed the cause of death.
The mastermind behind iPhone and iPad had been known to have suffered from pancreas cancer since 2004. He had also received a liver transplant.
Jobs took his last leave of absence in January and resigned in August. Tim Cook followed him as CEO of the most popular personal electronics company in the world.
Jobs died at his home in Palo Alto, Calif. Reportedly, no autopsy was performed, and he was buried on Friday in a private funeral.
The innovator's death was a strike not only to the tech world. He was a known and admired genius described as a man with his mind already in the future. Celebrities, politicians and people from around the world paid tribute to the Apple co-founder.
The location of Jobs' funeral was not publicized, allegedly due to the possibility of protests by the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC), a controversial religious congregation known for picketing funerals. "THANK GOD! Steve Jobs is dead! Westboro will picket his funeral!" said the WBC blog, which is linked to the church's website. The church also sent such a messages via Twitter using an iPhone.
In 2005, Jobs stunned spectators during a Stanford commencement address, where he talked about death in his speech to graduates.
"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life," he said at the time. "Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."
