Tobb Dell'Oro, the son of an American geologist who participated in the discovery of the oil fields of Arabia, and a beautiful Canadian mother from the plains of Saskatchewan, was born in Saudi Arabia in 1962. Encouraged by his parent's openness to new cultures and exotic locales, he felt at ease in the world at large from childhood.

After securing masters degrees in both mechanical engineering and business administration from Cornell University, he helped his sister Tam expand the Dell'Oro Group, a market research company in the telecommunications industry.

Tobb's love for traveling and exploring led him to visit over one hundred countries in the course of his forty years. Travel, and interactions with the people he encountered wherever he went, were his true passion.

Last December Tobb travelled to Iran, a country he found beautiful and fascinating. He asked his girlfriend, Adele Freedman, to join him on the trip. When they reached the ancient city of Kerman, Tobb asked Adele to marry him.

Tobb and Adele stayed in Bam, an ancient city along the silk road from China to Africa, a few hours from Kerman. On December 26, at 5:30 in the morning, an earthquake struck, leveling most of the city's buildings and killing 43,000 people.

When the building where Tobb and Adele were staying collapsed, they were buried for hours. A group of Iranians who knew them rushed to their assistance, and with bare hands, dug them out and rushed them to the nearest hospital, 200 kilometers away. Adele survived the journey but Tobb did not. At the hospital in Kerman, in the face of the devastation and immense suffering caused by the earthquake, the hospital staff expedited Adele's treatment and made sure the best doctors were caring for her. The hospital did not charge any fees for Adele's treatments or Tobb's processing.

It is with profound love and gratitude that we thank and dedicate this site to those people who acted with such selfless kindness and compassion and to that spirit wherever it appears. We believe it is important that the American people understand that the Iranian people ­ outside of politics, religion or nationality ­ are extending their hand of friendship. This is a gesture of compassion and humanity from the people of one country to the people of another and we would like to help foster it.

For more information about Tobb Dell'Oro please go to www.tobbdelloro.com.