Kathy passed away peacefully in her daughter Nicole’s home on Wednesday, February 7,2024 after a long courageous battle with cancer. Kathy worked as an executive assistant in administration and CEO support for Borden Chemical, the former Digital Equipment Corp., etc. before her retirement several years ago. She also enjoyed volunteer work at animal shelters.   Link to full obituary.

 instrumentation and production companies related to the cranberry industry.  In 1998, Jack joined Boston Capital Ventures as Managing Partner, bringing his wealth of experience in the computer industry to the firm’s investment business. Jack served on several boards over many years.  He was a Director of Ionics, Inc. of Watertown, Massachusetts, and EXA Corporation of Burlington, Massachusetts, as well as a Director of numerous private start-up companies.  He served on the Board of Trustees of Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Clark University, both located in Worcester, MA.  A graduate of Worcester Polytechnic Institute where he also received an Honorary Doctor of Engineering degree, Jack completed the Program for Management Development at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Business Administration.   Link to full obituary.

Note: Dave reports that Jack's wife Judy is planning to hold a memorial for Jack in Gloucester in the spring.

Condolences to CXO friends of Sarah (Sally) Kuehn, 75, of Colorado Springs, who passed away in May.
Maureen Burness commented:  Sally worked downstairs at CXO1 and served in Kuwait with her husband for several years.  She was fun to work with and as you can see, quite beautiful.  Link to full obituary.

It is with great sadness that I announce the tragic passing of Judy A. Christensen of Berlin, MA. I met Judy in 1980 at DEC Marlborough. She was an amazing person with a vibrant personality, always cheerful and a great laugh. Judy was always there for anyone who needed help. She was very active in the local community as well as the DEC community. She will be missed. She was a great friend.  Link to full obituary. 

Marilyn continued to serve on the DRA Board. In 2006, the DRA was enhanced with a website and a new name, the DECconnection. Marilyn was a major contributor to this effort and active in member outreach and retiree events. She remained on the Board until 2023. If not for Marilyn’s 20-year commitment to the Digital Retiree Association, it is unlikely that the DECconnection organization would exist today. Marilyn will be greatly missed by the DECconnection Board and by the many lives she touched in her efforts to bring Digital retirees together.
In addition to her devotion to all things Digital, Marilyn had many hobbies: gardening, bike riding, Alpine skiing, playing guitar in a Scottish orchestra, singing in the Chapel Choir and Gospel Group at her church.  She also enjoyed knitting, sewing, cooking, reading and history.  And of course spending time with her 2 sons and extended family.

The Colorado Springs group has reported the passing of their friend Gregory N. Redden, 66, in Feb. '23.  He lost his battle with metastatic cancer. Greg was born in Colorado Springs CO in 1956 by parents Lillie Pearl and George Redden. Graduate of Coronado High School, he was briefly in the U.S. Airforce and later worked for Digital Equipment Corporation for many years. He ended his career working at Oracle corporation before retirement.

Link to full obituary.

Our condolences to DEC Connection member Ian Ferguson and other DEC Canada friends on the passing of John Lamb, Montreal ON.  Ian wrote: It is with deep sadness that at the family’s request I am announcing the passing of John Lamb. He remains the most charming man I have ever met and a dear dear friend. John passed last evening at home with his family after a long battle with illness. The family is planning for a small and private service. I’m sure Janet would love to hear from you who remember John’s central role in DEC Montreal and later Kanata and Toronto Headquarters. He was loved by many. Jeanette Lamb's email is: (jeanettelamb@cogeco.ca)

Condolences to Anker Berg-sonne and other friends of John Shebell, 75, Stow MA, who passed away after a period of declining health. John spent most of his career working for Digital Equipment Corp. where he was a Corporate Consulting Engineer. He led pioneering development of remote telemetry methods for support delivery, and the design of self-healing memory subsystems. He later became the Group Manager of Reliability/Maintainability Programs including Site Planning, Artificial Intelligence applications for service delivery, and differential analysis methods for fault diagnosis of complex systems. He also gave occasional graduate level seminars at universities in the US and Europe on system engineering topics. In the late 1980's John served as a consultant to the US Congress through the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, and to other Government departments on topics relating to cyber security and worldwide computer network deployment.   Link to full obituary.

Condolences to Jim Porter and other Colorado Springs friends of John (Johannes Ernst) Kowall, 84, of Mobile AL, on his passing.  Jim sent the following:  My wife, Marguerite Porter, and I are former DEC employees in Colorado Springs. John Kowall (a retired DEC employee in CSSE (Customer Service Systems Engineering) in CX0) passed away a few weeks ago. I met John while I was in the CSSE group in CX01. We traveled to a few South Pacific countries to teach the local teams about the CX01 products. This photo of John Kowall at a restaurant in Hong Kong was taken by Marguerite.   Link to full obituary.

Sherri D. (Long) Murdock, 62, Colorado Springs, passed away on November 16, 2022, after living many difficult years with Multiple Sclerosis. Sherri graduated from Mitchell High School in 1978 and worked many years for Digital Equipment and the Olympic Volleyball Team. Before her MS diagnosis, Sherri was an avid bicyclist and outdoor enthusiast.

Link to full obituary.

Leta S. Levett, 70, who had worked in the Colorado Springs facilities, passed away suddenly on Friday, November 11, 2022.  Our condolences to her CXO friends.

Link to full obituary.

James Magaldi wrote to let us know of the passing of his friend, Frank A. Kalwell, 87, of York ME. Frank attended Boston University in Business Administration and graduated in 1961. Upon graduation he began working for the start-up company Digital Equipment Corporation in Maynard, Massachusetts. He spent 32 enjoyable years at Digital in various dministrative positions; Frank was the Property Manager for the Merrimack facilities, in charge of Plant Engineering & Building Maintenance, Security, Office Services, Construction and remodeling offices in support of moves and rearrangement.   In 1992 Frank retired and relocated to York, Maine where he served on the York Board of Assessors Committee, York Hospital Ambulance Board, Sohier Park Committee and Mt. Agamenticus Facility Coordinator.  Link to full obituary.

Sad news from Jack Richardson:  I am writing to inform you of the passing of Denny (Denzil J.) Doyle, 90, Ottawa ON, long-term executive of Digital Equipment of Canada, on October 26, 2022.
Denny joined Digital very early in 1962, as the first employee of Digital Equipment of Canada, headquartered in Carleton Place, Ontario. He was the Regional Sales Manager of DEC Canada under Ted Johnson for many years. In the early 70's, he moved the Canadian Sales and Manufacturing Headquarters to Kanata, Ontario. In the mid-'70's, he was named by Ken Olsen as President of DEC Canada and held that position until 1982.
At that time, he formed the company Doyletech and remained active across Canada as a highly regarded consultant and speaker throughout the hi-tech industry, specializing in the transfer of technology from the Canadian Government scientific laboratories to the industrial sector.   He was appointed to the National Research Council of Canada in 1982. He co-founded Instantel Inc., an Ottawa-based supplier of instrumentation equipment and served on the board of directors for many successful Canadian high technology companies including Mitel, Newbridge Networks, and Gennum Corp. He also served as Chairman of Capital Alliance Ventures Inc., an Ottawa-based venture capital company specializing in technology investment.

In recognition of his accomplishments, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Engineering by Carleton University, granted fellowship in the Engineering Institute of Canada, received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medal and was invested as a Member of the Order of Canada.
  Link to full obituary

Condolences to the CXO alums on the passing of their friend, Ron Holton, Colorado Springs CO:

We have lost our friend & DEC/Compaq/HPE Alumni Ron Holton. Ron’s daughter Harley reached out and he passed Tuesday, September 20th.  Ron retired March 2020 from HPE.  Ron worked in CXO with Power supply team, disk drives, and HW R&D.  Link to full obituary when available.

Condolences to Jack Mileski and other friends of Bill (William E.) Burns, 79, of Wilmington MA, who passed away on September 19.  Bill worked as a computer sales and marketing executive for Digital Equipment Corporation for most of his professional career.  He earned a certificate in executive leadership from the Graduate School of Industrial Administration at Carnegie Mellon University in 1991.  Jack writes that he and Bill worked together at our partner program (ASAP) at Digital.

Link to full obituary.

Our sincere condolences to daughter Beth Miller and friends of DEC Connection member Ruth Armknecht, 89, Atlanta GA, on Ruth's passing. Ruth graduated from Lexington High School in 1950. A lifelong leaner, she went on to graduate from Simmons College in 1954. She furthered her studies by attending the Harvard Radcliffe Program in Business Administration. Later in 1970 she earned her Master's in Educational Administration from Northeastern. Ruth worked for Digital Equipment Corporation from 1974 until her retirement in 1992, including in the Educational Services organization. Ruth made her home in Concord MA until 2014 when she moved to Atlanta to be closer to her daughter. Link to full obituary.

We are greatly saddened to report the passing of DEC Connection member Ted (Theodore R.) Sares, 85, North Conway NH, only 4 days after receiving a diagnosis of stage 4 pancreatic cancer.  Ted spent his 1979-1992 Digital career in human resources and administration, including developing Digital's early retirement program circa 1990.  (He did a great job for those who took advantage of that program; I've often wondered how many start-ups were financed with those payouts.) Dennis Reardon, who informed us of Ted's passing, wrote: "Ted and I worked together at DEC and stayed in touch regularly for the past few years. Ted sent me an autographed copy of his book Shattered in 2012. Ted was great guy and a good friend and will be missed by many." In addition to DEC, Ted had at least two other careers - he was a long-time boxing writer (link to a boxing writer obituary Dennis sent), author of two boxing books (Ted fought in the Golden Gloves and was a Hall of Fame member of Ring 4 in Boston), obtained his Ph.D., and in his late 70s became a world-class powerlifter, winning competitions well into his 80s.  Link to full obituary.

Condolences to Frank Ignachuck and other friends of DEC Connection member Ann S. Hurd, 73, Rockport MA, who passed away following a long-term cancer illness. A 1967 graduate of Gloucester High School, she attended Mount Holyoke College in Hadley, MA, graduating with an art degree in 1971. After college, Ann moved to Boston where she worked in the Massachusetts State House and the admissions office at Boston University. In 1983, Ann moved to Bolton, MA, after accepting a job as the State & Local Government Relations Manager for Digital Equipment Corporation. One of her very first projects for Digital was convincing state officials an exit ramp was needed for the swelling traffic numbers in the Marlboro area. In 2001, Exit 23C for Simarano Drive on I-495 opened to the public. She proudly called the ramp "her exit" every time time she passed it on the highway. In 1998, Ann began working for Intel Corporation based in Hudson, MA.  Ann was married to John C. Rodenhiser, Jr., another long-term DECcie; John passed away in July 2016. Frank writes: I worked with Ann for many years during my time as a member of the Maynard Selectboard.  I particularly remember the afternoon she asked to meet with me for coffee in the MSO-1 cafeteria to tell me personally that Digital was going to close the Mill.  It was one of those days you never forget.  Link to full obituary.

Thanks to Peter Kent for sending in this sad news about Rene Martinez.  Rene Martinez, 68, of Miami Beach, Florida and Mashpee, MA, and formerly of Holliston, MA, passed away unexpectedly on July 19, 2022. He was born in Havana, Cuba and emigrated to the United States at the age of six. His family moved from Miami to Bristol, RI in 1965. Rene became an outstanding student-athlete and proud member of the Bristol High School Class of 1973; he was later enshrined in the Bristol Athletic Hall of Fame. Rene continued to play baseball at Colby College where he earned a degree in Economics and was also a member of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. Rene worked for IBM and Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) prior to becoming an entrepreneur and co-founding two companies.  Link to full obituary.

Our sincere condolences and thanks to son Nathan Harker (nathan.r.harker@gmail.com) for letting us know about the passing of his dad, DEC Connection member Scott Evans Harker, 77, of Groton MA, on 24 June 2022. Scott was a graduate of the Moses Brown School in Providence, RI (1964), Boston University (1969), and Clark University in Worcester, MA (1985). Some of his proudest accomplishments were as a communications consultant for Digital Equipment Corporation in Marlborough, MA from 1975 to 1996; an activist for the disabled, advocating for and participating in multiple committees to help serve and protect disability rights in Groton & Nashua; and playing an active role in establishing an archive dedicated to his most beloved professor at Moses Brown.  In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in Scott's honor to WCRB Classical Radio in Boston MA.  Link to full obituary.

We are terribly saddened to announce the sudden passing of one of our DEC Connection volunteer directors, Barrie Hunter, 82, Marlborough MA, on June 14. Barrie had earned his BA degree from the University of Western Australia, and was a graduate of Digital’s MBA program at Harvard Business School.  He joined Digital Equipment in Australia in 1967; before he retired in 2005, Barrie spent nearly 40 years with Digital, Compaq and HP in services, sales, marketing and operations positions in the US, Australia, Asia Pacific and the General International Area.

In retirement, Barrie volunteered with Marlborough Community Services, the Hudson Food Pantry, and SOAR55. Barrie enjoyed golf, sailing, and skiing. He was an avid reader and enjoyed travel.  Barrie served as a volunteer director of our alumni association, The DEC Connection, for 10 years.  He and his wife Anne hosted several of our summer outings at their home.

Barrie passed away in his sleep, on 14 June 2022.  Our sincere condolences to his wife Anne and their family.  Barrie will certainly be missed.   Link to full obituary.

Thanks and condolences to Lou DiFinizio, who  just wrote in:

Our condolences to Sue Lawrence-Longo and many friends of John Longo, 74, of Enfield CT, who passed away in May.  Sue says: My ex-husband worked for many years at DEC facilities in Maynard, Acton, and Nice, France. He acquired dozens upon dozens of good friends along the way.

Link to full obituary.

His friend Richard Thistle wrote to us:  It is with great sadness that I learned of the passing of Carmine Tata, 77, Leominster MA, this past May. Carmine was a key member of the Maynard Board Shop and Plant Quality team, a great family man and friend to so many. He was one of the people who made DEC such a great place to work. He will be sorely missed by his family and all of us who were fortunate to know him. 
Link to full obituary.

Our condolences to friends of Eddie (Edward Fred) Trujillo, 64, of Colorado Springs, who passed away on May 11.  Eddie worked for Digital as a clean room technician for many years.   Link to full obituary.

Condolences to Bob Kaplow and other friends of Randy (Randall Robert) Barth, 70, of Cicero IL, who passed away following a long battle with lung cancer.  Randy worked for DEC, Compaq, and HP  in the Chicago area from the 80s until a few years ago. Link to full obituary.

Thanks to Kerry Bensman for reporting the sudden passing of Barry James Folsom, 75, Laguna Woods CA.  Our condolences to his many friends from Digital.  Barry James led the Rainbow group and introduction of Digital's personal computer from 1980-1985.  He went on to become an executive at Sun Microsystems and many more companies, then as a strategic turnaround consultant for technology companies.    Note from Editor: we have not been able to find an obituary.

Our condolences to ex-DEC son Mark Fredrickson and family, and to friends of Richard "Dick" Fredrickson, 90, Topsfield MA, who passed away in April. Mark writes that Dick's Digital career spanned 1973-1990 and being New England District Sales Manager in the 1970s was his favorite job in a long career. He also worked in both the Technical OEM and Commercial OEM groups. He loved Digital.   Mark's own Digital years (1983-1995) overlapped with his dad’s and it was a great thrill to run into people who knew him and always had nothing but praise for him.   Link to full obituary.

Our condolences to Anker Berg-Sonne, Marilyn Jenney and other friends of Carl L. Crockford, 74, Goffstown NH, who passed away March 1 following complications from of Parkinsons and diabetes. Carl joined the DEC Education Marketing group in 1978 and moved to Tech OEM in the 80's before leaving in the early 90's.   Link to full obituary.

Our condolences to CXO friends of Ronald Bowser, 76, of Colorado Springs CO.  Ron worked at Digital for 25 years. During that time, he also served as a Deputy Sheriff for the El Paso County Sheriff's department. He was proud of his active and reserve service in the Air Force, and his two tours in Desert Storm. Link to full obituary.  Ron's Memorial Service will be March 18th at 2 pm at St. James Church, 4516 Northpark Dr., 80918.

Condolences to Fritz Aumann and other friends of Jerry Butler, 81, Nashua NH, who passed away in February.  Fritz wrote this testimonial:  I have just learned of the passing of Gerald (Jerry) V. Butler, Jr. in February 2022. Jerry joined DEC in the late 60’s on the PDP-X and PDP-15 projects, eventually going to Computer Special Systems in Santa Ana CA, and Nashua NH, other DEC projects, and other companies. He was my boss, my mentor, my neighbor and GREAT friend. He turned CSS from a directionless, unprofitable, lack of customer focus and company strategic value group into a profitable, customer focused, employee, corporate asset.  I loved working with Jerry and will miss him, as will the CSS community which still lives. Link to full obituary.

We are sad to report hearing from Marguerite Avery about the demise of her father, Bill (William L.) Avery, of Stow MA, who led the PC development effort at Digital.  Bill succumbed to Alzheimer's Disease just before his 82nd birthday.  Marguerite said that Bill often remarked that his years at DEC were the best of his life professionally in terms of the work he did, and the caliber of his colleagues.

Thanks to Mary Collins for informing us of the recent passing of her friend, Bud (Benjamin J.) Messar, 75, of Ashburnham MA, following a long illness.  Bud's wife Carol was also ex-Digital.  Over the years Bud worked in several computer companies, and promotional products companies in Informational Technology.  Link to full obituary.

Thanks to Jack Richardson for sharing the sad news of the passing of Henry Joseph Crouse, Digital employee Badge #26, and V.P. of Strategic Relations.  His obituary is extraordinary for its concentration on Henry's Digital career and contributions - use this link to read it in its entirety.

Henry was instrumental in building DEC's worldwide supply base and introduced external resources as a corporate strategy. He is given great credit, along with others, for his role in DEC's tremendous growth in the 1970's and 80's employing more than 116,000 people and becoming a $14 billion corporation. He spent over 33 years at Digital in key positions; many described in the obituary.

Our sincere condolences to Maureen Burness and all friends in CXO and elsewhere on the passing of her husband, Jack Burness, 75, Colorado Springs, who left us on January 20, 2022. Maureen said: With his bigger than life personality, humor, and intellect, he was loved and respected by so many people, including his devoted family. Born in Brooklyn, NY in 1946, he received his Engineering Degree from Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute and was employed by DEC, Maynard in the early days and then here in Colorado Springs. Many of you knew he had a huge appetite for the outdoors of Colorado and Martha’s Vineyard and joined him in his sometimes-disastrous adventures.

DEC Connection member Joe LaRose wrote to let us know about the death of a DEC employee and personal friend, Paul Guest, 77, Paris France, 20 January 2022. Paul was employed at DEC from 1978 through 1998.  He was the ‘Group Audit Manager’ for DEC Europe and he reported to me from 1980 through 1986, during the period when I was the ‘Corporate Internal Audit Manager’.  He also held finance management positions in the US and lived in Lynnfield MA for several years.  He returned to Europe in the mid 1990’s and lived in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, leaving DEC shortly after the Compaq acquisition.

Bill and Bettylou Long

Our condolences to the many friends of Mark Hardy Bramhall,73, of Acton MA and Paris, France, who passed away in early November.  Mark met Jan Kschinka at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota in 1966, when both were freshmen; they married a week after graduation in 1970 and had recently celebrated their 51st anniversary. Mark carried a double major in mathematics and physics at Carleton. He became intrigued by computers his freshman year, and spent his entire career as a computer programmer/software engineer. He worked for many years with Digital Equipment Corporation in Maynard, Nashua, and Merrimack. Mark was a star in Digital's software engineering world, having led the RSTS/E effort. (Friend Ian Waring reports that Mark was Mr RSTS/E - the microfiche had MHB all over the source code.)

Upon leaving DEC, Mark was employed as CTO for Symmetrix, Portal Solutions, Code Lab, Allin, and Pet Rock. After retirement, he accepted a job with Fermat, a start-up company in France, which fulfilled his long-held dream of living in Paris, while doing a job he found satisfying and delightful. Link to full obituary.

David Toub reported that his Digital Business & Office Systems colleague Wade Culberson, 79, passed away in the Atlanta GA area.  Mr. Culberson proudly served his country in the United States Navy during the Vietnam War. Wade retired from Hewlett Packard as the director of international logistics.  Our condolences to Wade's many Digital friends.

 Link to full obituary.

We are saddened to learn from Len Segal of the passing of DEC Connection member Karen Weeks Hamilton, 81, of Clinton MA.  Karen worked at Digital-CPQ as an administrative secretary from 1976-2003.  She attended all our events and always helped out with a smile.  Karen will be greatly missed.   Link to full obituary.

Galen Davis reported the passing of Paul McGaunn, 83, of N Andover and Lowell MA. Paul became employee number 671 at Digital Equipment Corporation in Maynard, MA, where he began working in the stockroom. He eventually became the Manufacturing Manager at Digital's Galway, Ireland facility, from 1971-1973. Upon returning to the US, he managed the Westfield, MA manufacturing facility for Digital until 1985, and eventually retired in 1993 as the company's Corporate Quality Manager. Paul was a sought after resource on quality control and manufacturing processes, speaking throughout Digital locations in the US, Europe and Asia, as well as Harvard University. He became a self-employed ISO 9000 quality control consultant for three years, until joining Riverdale Mills Corporation in Northbridge MA as Vice President of Manufacturing, a role that he retired from in 1997.   Link to full obituary.

Thanks to Leslie Braswell for sending in news of the unexpected passing of Melissa R. Johns, 56, of Colorado Springs.   Leslie writes:

Link to full obituary.

Thanks to Carolyn Abbott for reporting the sad news about Ted (Edmund H.) Damon's passing.  Ted, of Gardner MA, was just 61 years old when he succumbed to a long illness.  Ted held a BS from University of MA in Lowell and worked for Digital Equipment at the beginning of his career (late 70s-early 80s), and in IT at Leominster Hospital later. His interests ranged from ham radio to Star Trek.  Link to full obituary.

Condolences to the CXO folks on the loss of their friend Louis Gonzales Jr., age 86, who passed away peacefully on February 17, 2021, five weeks after his beloved wife, Ursula, had passed away.  Lou served a distinguished army military career including combat in Vietnam, but after retiring there, he worked at Ford Aerospace, Digital, and Raytheon for over 20 years.  Link to full obituary.

Member Joe Valof reports the passing of Jack Schweber, 83, of Hackensack NJ and south FL, after battling COVID-19.  During the last 20 years of Jack’s professional career, he worked as a senior account executive for Digital Equipment Corporation—which following two mergers became Compaq Computers and later, Hewlett Packard. There, Jack won several sales awards, weathered several corporate downsizings, and earned effusive praise from the clients he serviced.  Link to full obituary.

Larry (Lawrence J.) Portner, age 83, 35-year resident of Naples, FL passed away peacefully on January 11, 2020.  He spent 20 years at Digital Equipment Corp. where he was the first to propose a 'help' command, eventually retiring as Senior Vice President.  Larry, vice president of software development, joined the company in 1963 as a programmer for the PDP-5. He later served as software development manager for the PDP-6. Larry was responsible for Software Distribution Center, Software Services Organization, Software Research Group and the Computational Services Group. He was a graduate of Temple University and had a BS degree in Business Administration.  After Digital, he worked with a number of companies including Apollo Computer, Data General Corp., Haht Software and Kronos, Inc.

 Link to full obituary.

We're sad to receive news from the Colorado Springs group of the passing of their co-worker, Steve Woestemeyer, 71. Steve was an IT consultant before retiring.

************************** October 31, 2019 ********************************

DEC Connection Member Kathy Caisse wrote to tell us of the passing of her friend Larry Stahl on February 18, 2017.  When Larry worked for Digital Equipment Corporation™ he was the Corporate Account - Strategic Account Manager responsible for Rockwell International's Aerospace and Defense Electronics Businesses (Space Shuttle, B1 etc.).  In that capacity one of his best experiences was meeting astronaut Gene Cernan, first man on the moon, who also recently died.

Larry's son Riley would like to hear from former co-workers and friends of his dad's (please write!) at Rileystahl562@gmail.com.  Per Larry's wishes, no memorials are planned.

Bill Prindle wrote in with the sad news that his friend, Randal (Randy) S. Dearborn, of Camas, Washington died on Friday, Feb. 17, 2017. He was 63. Randy was a producer and art director in Media Services during the 1980s. 

Link to full obituary.

Jeff when he joined DEC.

Link to full obituary here.

Our condolences to Brian Tierny (DEC 1972-1999), who wrote to report the sad news about the passing of his wife Deborah Swan, 61, of Spring Hill FL.  Deb worked for DEC from 1980-1995, holding various jobs in Information System Management, Helpdesk Supervisor, Operations Supervisor and System Administration. Deb helped develop and test contingency plans used for and by the Corporate purchasing group, involving hot-site locations. Brian suggests that memorial donations be made to the American Cancer Society.  Link to full obituary here.

We are saddened to learn of the death of Roland A. J. Belanger, Jr., 72, of Hudson MA from his wife Rachel (rrb51pine@comcast.net) and son Marc (Marc.Belanger@umassmemorial.org). Marc said that his dad started in the mill in 1969 and worked in field service, software/hardware engineering and specifically worked on boot code for the PDP-10s (tape!) before eventually moving into high performance computing, and surviving the Compaq and subsequent HP mergers. The family suggests that memorial donations be made to the Yankee Golden Retriever Rescue, Inc., P.O. Box 808, Hudson, MA 01749.   

Link to full obituary here.

Our condolences to the Colorado Springs group on the loss of their friend and co-worker Edna Mae McCumber, 72.  Memorial donations may be made to The Susan G. Komen Foundation for Stage IV/Metastatic Breast Cancer Research at www.komen.org.  \

Link to full obituary here.

Thanks to Joan O'Day Shanley for letting us know about the passing of her friend and co-worker Judy Crowley, 68, of Worcester MA.  Judy worked for several years in Marlboro initially managing the site's DECTemp/TAG program, and then working in Facilities as their Personnel Representative.

Link to archived obituary at the Telegram here.

Our condolences to the Colorado Springs group on the loss of their friend James Lee (Jim) Nicholson, 70, of Bullhead City AZ. Jim was born in Washington, Iowa, Dec 22, 1945. He served in the US Army during the Vietnam era from 1966 to 1968. After his service in the Army, he exercised his GI Bill benefit to attend technical college and obtained a position as a Field Support Engineer with Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). Jim spent the next 31 years with DEC, elevating himself to the position of Principal Software Engineer. Jim was highly respected and admired by his colleagues; Jim was the "engineer's engineer", whose wisdom and common sense understanding of the technology was sought out for council on the most complex diagnostic challenges. In spite of his recognition for senior level expertise, he was always there to support and champion the less experienced interns just joining the field. In lieu of flowers, his family requests that donations be sent to help his fellow veterans via the Disabled American Veteran (DAV) foundation@DAV.org.  

Link to full obituary here.

Rick Kunz of Poulsbo WA (formerly Methuen, Mass.) wrote to inform us of the passing of his cousin, Heinz Kunz, 75, of Zurich, Switzerland, a former DEC employee.  Heinz succumbed to injuries from complications after a fall. Rick didn't know the capacity in which he worked, but perhaps sales (knowing Heinz.) Heinz remembered his time with DEC fondly.  Rick can be reached at rick.kunz@comcast.net to express condolences.

Linda Gardner Crandall posted this note on the HP Connections site about the loss of her friend, Terry Retford: Last week the world lost an incredible man, my former manager at HP and a close family friend, Terry Retford, who succumbed to pancreatic and liver cancer that was just recently diagnosed. Terry was a U.K. native who spent many years in the U.S. before returning to the U.K. several years ago. Terry's career included time at Digital Equipment Corp. and Tandem computers, in Massachusetts and California, before they merged with HP. Terry was a true mentor when I was a young professional, and always treated women equally. He was one of the few people I’ve ever worked with who had both a ‘marketing brain’ and an ‘IT/engineer brain,’ a rarity. He will be missed by those who had the privilege of working with him.

Our condolences to the Colorado Springs group on the loss of their friend SMSgt. Billy Ray Lewis, 80.   Sergeant Lewis served 24 years in the United States Air Force as an Aerospace Control and Warning System Technician. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for meritorious service as a crew chief in February 1972, at Quang Tri Army Combat Base in Vietnam. After serving his country, he worked at Digital Equipment Corporation as a Material Plant Manager.  There will be a memorial service on October 28th.  Link to full obituary here.

Our condolences to the Colorado Springs group on the loss of their friend Carole Anne Swenson Doup Hill, 75, who passed away Sept. 21, 2016.  Before she retired from Digital, Carole Anne was in Quality Control in CXO.    

Link to full obituary here.

Our member Les Figg sadly reported the death of his friend and co-worker Robert "Bob" Ambrose Brooks, 79, of Surprise AZ, after a year-long battle with cancer.  Bob was originally hired as one of six bench technicians and rose to become a Sales Regional VP for Western US, leaving Digital in 1991.

Link to full obituary here.

Our member Rolf Seichter sent in sad news about the passing of Michael Spindler, 73, who lived in the San Francisco CA area.  Michael worked at Digital in Paris in the 1960s and Munich in the early 1970s for several years, then at Intel, and in 1980 went to Apple Computer where he ran worldwide Marketing, became head of Apple Europe, and from 1993-1996 was President of Apple Computer, initially under John Scully. The PowerPC was his major success but unfortunately some failures (the Newton and Mac clones) led to his ouster in 1996.

Link to an article from lowendmac.com

DEC Connection is saddened to report the passing of our member and friend Debra Amidon, 69, of Wilmington MA.  Debra had spoken about Digital's Management Heritage at the dedication of the Ken Olsen Science Center in 2008.  Here is a link to her presentation.  She was a major contributor in Digital's Strategic Consulting Group, among other organizations. Debra was Founder and CEO of ENTOVATION International Ltd, a network across 62 countries of experts in innovation strategy and the Knowledge Economy.  She had authored several books, including The Innovation SuperHighway.  Memorial contributions may be made to MaryMac Missions, 202 Haverhill Road, Topsfield MA 01983.  Link to full obituary here.

Our condolences to the Colorado Springs group on the loss of their friend John Fish, 89, who was an engineering lab manager in CXO.    Link to full obituary here.

Reader Rick Hummers sent in sad news about the loss of his friend,

Daniel J. Daigneault, 62, of Groton MA. Dan worked at Digital for 30 years in IT, first in Corporate and then for Printer and Video Engineering.  Dan's wife Sandra is also an ex-DECcie in IT and our condolences go out to her as well. Memorial contributions in Dan’s name may be made to the Kidney Cancer Foundation or The National Kidney Foundation.

Link to full obituary here.

Former DECcie Ann Hurd wrote us to report the passing of her husband, John C. Rodenhiser, Jr., 76, Bolton MA, on July 13th.  John joined DEC in 1964 and retired after a 40 year career with DEC/Compaq/HP in 2004.  John and Ann met in early 1982, within the first few weeks Ann was at Digital; she'd been asked by Andy  Knowles to "get Rodenhiser to do a leader board for the Marlborough PGA Senior Tour Golf Classic".  They started dating in 2000 after Ann went to Intel, and married in 2001. John had a number of sales support and engineering positions in the Mill, Marlboro, Landover MD including starting the Alpha benchmark centers and the last being manager of the Littleton MA customer demo center. Link to full obituary here.

Carmon Cunningham, 62, of Newton MA passed away unexpectedly on 16 June.  Our condolences to his family, friends and former co-workers. 

Link to full obituary here.

DEC Connection member Frans Vandermolen wrote to tell us sad news that friend Sherry Umina of Grantsville, Utah, passed away on June 8, 2016.  She joined DEC in 1980 and left in 1995, an contributed as a technical and product marketing manager.  She passed away after a short illness battling bladder cancer. She was 67 years old.  

DEC Connection member Anker Berg-Sonne wrote in with sad news about his friend and co-worker, Rim Keris from DEC's South Pacific Regional headquarters in Sydney, NSW, Australia. Rim passed away after a battle with cancer on June 4th. Rim spent two years in Marlboro in the EDU product line. On his return to Australia he orchestrated Anker's temporary relocation to there from 1983 to 1985.

Our condolences to the Colorado Springs group on the loss of their friend Janice Ann (Passehl) Cimono, 71, who passed away on May 26th. Jan  worked for Digital Equipment Corporation for 17 years and then went to work for Plasmon Corporation.  Link to full obituary.

Our condolences to friends and family of Laura Elizabeth Melling, 69, of Spring Hill, Tennessee. Laura had held a variety of admin jobs in Merrimack in the 1980s. She was also the widow of Wes Melling, who had been with Digital in the 1980s and again in the 1990s. For memorial contributions, please donate to Both Hands (https://bothhands.org).

Link to full obituary here.

Lou Greer (DEC 1980-1993) wrote in January 2017 to commemorate the lives and contributions of Wes and Laura Melling: Wes Melling and I lost touch after being the closest of friends for 25 years.  Wesley P. Melling passed away on November 24, 2005 at age 67.  His wife Laura, also a DEC employee, lost her battle with cancer in 2016 at 69 years of age.  She was living in Nashville TN.  Wes and Laura were very special folks; both are missed by many of us.  lougreer797@cs.com

We have learned the tragic news that Ann H. Ressijac, 63, Ayer MA, has been killed in a car accident.

Most recently Ann had worked as a business development manager for Prosci Change Management Corporation based in Fort Collins, Colorado. Previously, she had held similar positions at Digital Equipment Corporation in Burlington and BMGI Corporation in Denver, Colorado.  Link to full obituary.

Our member Clem Cole reports that Roger S. Gourd, 77, has passed away:

For the ex-DECies, I heard yesterday that Roger Gourd has died; rsg (aka Fossil) was the probably the best SW engineering manager the industry ever produced. His legacy is amazing. In the mid 1970s, he was Dave Cutler's boss during the "Vax SW" project ­ which would become VMS. He would leave DEC to run the SW division at Gould and come back to Boston to be the head of SW at Masscomp. He was eventually the VP of Engineering at OSF, which I believe was his last rodeo before he retired to Florida to raise orchids. Many of us that were in the business learned a great deal from him and have modeled much of our style and methods from him.
He died April 21, 2016 in Indian Harbour Beach, Florida. He had been sick the past few years, suffering from Parkinson’s, Alzheimer's and diabetes ­ which is a nasty combination. As our friend and co-worker Jack Burness put it: "I'll remember Roger as a vibrant, strong person." I suggest he was one of kind. He had a wonderful, albeit sometime a little warped (non-PC), sense of humor. He was demanding but also dedicated to his people and would ensure that "upper management" got it. He understood peopled truly treated us all the same. He helped us bring out our best in all we did.
The last time many of us saw him was 2010 in Boston. Jack had come to Boston that summer and a number of us got together with Roger and wife Sally at their condo in Beacon Hill. At that time, he was still the same Roger we all knew and loved. Many of us will miss him. Sadly, the industry lost a great person.

Sadly we have learned from Walt Pleimann and Mary Perdue that Jack McCauley, 74, Naples FL passed away on 3 April 2016.   Jack was part of the Financial Management Center in the early 90's.

It is with deep sorrow that I must inform you that Jack McCauley died on April 3 in Naples, Fla. Jack was a dear friend of mine and we talked often. A very sweet and dear man who was a true gentleman. Jack had a heart attack in late March and had a triple by-pass. Complications arose and the doctors could not save him. He was born in 1941 and was 74 years old. Please send this out to your contact list and keep his wife Anna in your prayers.

Sherry Thompson Giordano wrote to inform us of sad news that our member Rita Foley, 63, has passed away after a long battle with cancer.  Rita was a sales manager at Digital and we featured her in an Entrepreneur profile in January 2012 in conjunction with her book "Reboot Your Life" and the resultant business consultancy.

Full obituary: Rita Foley, 63, died peacefully at her home in Manhattan, after a long battle with cancer. A former executive at Digital Equipment and MeadWestvaco, she served on the boards of PetSmart Ltd., the dresser Rand Group, Pro Mujer and The Healthcare Chaplaincy. She was also an author, photographer, and co-founder of ReBoot Partners. Rita is survived by her sister Patricia Di Silvio, her brother Michael Foley, her sons Michael and Nathaniel Buckley, and their father Peter Buckley. Donations to Calvary Hospice and The Healthcare Chaplaincy.        Published in The New York Times on Apr. 1, 2016

Alice Tiennette Zenon-Loggins ("Dancie"), 59, passed away on March 26, 2016 at Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs, CO. Alice passed away after a two-and-a-half year battle with cancer surrounded with love and family.
Alice was born on July 14, 1956 in Colorado Springs, CO. She was the youngest child of Elious Zenon Sr. and Gloria Zenon (Collins). Alice spent many years at Digital Equipment Corporation. Alice was most proud of her wedding business, Heaven's Touch, where she made beautiful flowers, cakes and wedding décor. Alice was united in Holy Matrimony to Eli Loggins Jr. on March 20, 1987 in Colorado Springs, CO.  Full obituary at this link.

Kevin James sent in the following sad news: Dale J. Roberts, 61, Chandler AZ, was a DECie in the Field Services and Networking services group out of TFO and PHX. Later with Compaq and HP. He was well known and liked in the Phoenix Field organization. The Roberts family suggests that memorial donations be made to the “AWANA Children’s Program” at Tri-City Baptist Church, 2211 W Germann Rd., Chandler, AZ 85286. (480) 245-7900 for questions.

Jim Higgins sent in this sad news: I am very sorry to report that Glenn Foley, 65, Marlborough MA passed away on 2/23/16. He was in Field Service.  He was such a good person and a very competent technician - with many friends. Glenn was a good friend and of great assistance to MESPA, where he served as technical coordinator for 20 years. May he rest in peace.    

Mary Piehler, Digital/Compaq 1984-2001, wrote: Passing on sad information on the passing of our former District Manager in Upstate NY, Gino J. Berno. Many DECcies will remember Gino from various assignments in Canada prior to moving to the U.S. in 1983.
Berno, Gino J., Macedon NY, formerly of Pittsford, NY. February 21, 2016. Survived by loving wife of 46 years, Bonnie; his children, Christopher Berno, Renata Finger, Melissa (Robert) Deignan, Nicholas (Erin) Berno; 10 grandchildren; sister, Gloria (Mario) Cherubin.  In lieu of flowers please consider donations to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Obituary link

Frank Ignachuck sent in the sad news of the passing of Paul V. McGovern, 77, of Ithaca, NY.  A native New Englander, he and his late wife, Lynne McGovern (Hamilton), had called Pepperell, MA, Chandler, AZ and Ithaca, NY their home over their many years together. Paul, a Vietnam Marine Veteran, was a corporate helicopter pilot and a logistics executive for Digital Equipment Corporation and Cypress Climax Corporation.  Frank relates that Paul was, in fact, Digital's first helicopter pilot.

Link to obituary.

Our condolences to friends and family of Lupe Jimenez Porter, 89, of the DEC Arizona group based in Phoenix. 

Galen Davis sent in the sad news: Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Lupe Porter this morning. Best known to us as the facility nurse at DEC Union Hills, she was a special caregiver with a big heart and friendly smile. Read her life story and interesting nursing career here: Link to obituary.

Our condolences to friends and family of DEC Connection member (Marion) Jean Neal, 86, of North Chelmsford MA, who passed away unexpectedly this past weekend. Donations in her memory may be made to Central Congregational Church, UCC, One Worthen Street, Chelmsford MA 01824.

Link to obituary.

Our member Lou Rubino sent in sad news of the death of his friend, Russell Harvey Johnson, 68, of Mansfield MA.  Russ started out in Human Resources as the College Relations Manager for Manufacturing/Engineering. Eventually became the Corporate Employment Manager and then became a VP HR for a number of HR functions. He spent over 20 years at Digital. He then became a VP in HR for Compaq before leaving to go to Fidelity Investments in Boston as a VP HR.  Our condolences to Lou and Russ' other friends, family, and co-workers.

 Link to full obituary.

We are saddened to learn the tragic news that a long-time member of the Colorado Springs team, Mike English, 54, died this week in a diving accident in the Cayman Islands.  Mike and his wife were there to celebrate their 30th anniversary. 

Mike's friend Don Geoffroy (don.geoffroy@gmail.com) wrote: Mike was a DEC CXO employee from 1981 until Quantum purchased the Storage Business in 1994. He was sponsored by DEC when he and his brother were training at the Olympic Training Center as members of the shooting team. Mike was a well-respected and loved individual, holding many positions ranging from individual contributor to senior operations management roles before leaving Quantum in 2004 to take a senior position at the Olympic Training Center (OTC) in Colorado Springs, and ultimately becoming the Chief of Sports Performance, overseeing all OTC facilities in the country.  Memorial contributions may be made to the pending Mike English Memorial Foundation with a mission to directly support athletes pursuing their dream or the Mule Deer Foundation.    Link to obituary.

Condolences to friends of Cynthia (Cindy) Bishop Beach, 60, of New Braunfels TX, who passed away on January 23, 2016.  Cindy worked in trade shows and exhibits at Digital.  Memorial donations are encouraged to: Crisis Center of Comal County, 830-620-4357, www.ccccnbtx.org and The Sophienburg Museum and Archives, 830-629-1572, www.sophienburg.com.

Link to obituary.

Sent in by our member Sue Yarger: Condolences to friends of Bill (William Joseph) Sconce, 72, of Lyndeborough NH, who passed away on 5 Jan 2016 from a cerebral hemorrhage.  Bill and his wife Janet moved to NH in 1979 for Bill to graduate from being Symposium Coordinator for DECUS to assume the position of Product Manager for the RSTS Group at Digital Equipment Corporation. Bill worked for and was laid off from DEC, Compaq, and Hewlett Packard, at which point he revived his corporation, named it In Spec, Inc. and divided his time between software engineering and flight instruction. Bill was a devoted supporter of GPL and "free" Linux software and the Python programming language.  Link to obituary.

Condolences to her friends in Colorado Springs on the passing of (Charlene) Sue Dvorak, 1940-2015, in Garland TX.

Sue was born and raised in Colorado and worked for Digital in Colorado Springs.

Link to obituary.  Memorial donations: UT Southwestern or St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.  Condolences may be expressed to her family via son Perry at perry.dvorak@oracle.com.

Our condolences to former Digital employee Dave Power on the death of his brother, Gerald T. Power, 61, Clinton and formerly Maynard MA.  Gerry worked in Facilities at a few Digital facilities.  Sadly, Dave recently lost his mother Sheila, another former Digital employee (obituary below), in September.

Link to obituary.

Frank Digilio, 84, Sandwich MA, passed away on December 11, 2015. He started his career working at various tech firms in the Northeast and eventually ended up at Digital Equipment Corporation in 1977 where he held increasingly important positions of responsibility, which culminated in his position at DEC as the Engineering Manager of the Electro Mechanical Design Engineering Group. During his career he was also awarded several patents for dot-matrix printer devices. He retired from DEC in 1992.  In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in Frank's memory can be made to American Cancer Society , P.O. Box 22478, Oklahoma City, OK 73123.

Link to obituary.   Galen Davis wrote: Sad to report the passing of Frank Digilio on 12/11/15 at age 84. We remember the good times with Frank and his team from Maynard Printer Engineering. He was ""one of a kind" and avid supporter of our new product introductions and sustaining engineering in Phoenix. He might be re-engineering the Golden Gates at this time to improve the MTBF. God Bless Frank for a job "well done!"

Denis Reynolds Camp, 71, from the Colorado Springs group, has passed away. The majority of his professional career was spent as a Call Center Manager for IBM and later Digital Equipment Corporation. Donations may be made to the Wounded Warrior Project, P. O. Box 758517, Topeka, KS 66675   Link to obituary.

Dick (Richard Edward) Flutie, 76, Natick MA, passed away on November 18, 2015. Dick, an engineer, and wife Joan were the parents of football star Doug Flutie, and when Doug won the Heisman Trophy, Dick proudly displayed it in his Digital Northboro office.

Dick Flutie died of a heart attack while in the hospital.  Within 30 minutes, Joan Flutie died following a sudden heart attack. The two had been married for 56 years. "They say you can die of a broken heart and I believe it," Doug Flutie wrote on Facebook.   Link to obituary.

Jewel M. Slaton, 92, of Ayer MA, passed away on 10/11/15.  Mr. Slaton had a distinguished 25-year U.S. Army career, joined Digital and retired from Digital in 1988.  Link to obituary.

Submitted by Mary Collins, ex-DECcie and editor of the Shirley Volunteer.

Ann (Smithson) Jenkins, 69, Westford MA, passed away on October 7, 2015.  Born in Batley, England, she was the daughter of the late Harold and Edna Smithson. Ann was educated in England and attended the Fox School of Commerce. She moved to the United States in 1966 and became a citizen. Until her retirement, she spent the majority of her professional career as the Executive Assistant to the Founder and CEO of Digital Equipment Corporation of Maynard, MA.  After retiring she volunteered at Emerson Hospital, among other activities.

Memorials may be made in her name to the Kaplan Family Hospice House, 78 Liberty St., Danvers, MA 01923.

Link to obituary.

Wendy Anne Frey Caswell (Nov. 27, 1957 - Sep. 19, 2015) has passed away.  Wendy was a hardworking, successful business woman. During her time at Digital, Compaq and Zink her hard work, dedication and drive was always evident.  For memorial donations, please donate in the name of Wendy Frey to AIDS Action Committee, c/o Lauren Little, 75 Amory Street, Boston, MA 02119.  Link to obituary.

Phyllis J. (Holmes) DeVarney, 65, of Shirley MA, died on 9/15/15.  Link to obituary.

Submitted by Mary Collins, ex-DECcie and editor of the Shirley Volunteer.

George Bourbeau, 76, of Colorado Springs CO passed away on 9/10/2015. He was surrounded by all his family as his battle with cancer came to an end. He was part of the original crew when Digital was started, badge number 681, he started with Digital right out of school drafting documents when it was with a drafting table and a pencil and left just before the move to Compaq. As he always said, "I left when the package was an actual incentive to retire/leave and do something different." He is off to his next adventure.  Submitted by Sue (Bourbeau) Scott, sue.scott@hpe.com

Our condolences to former Digital employee Dave Power on the death of his mother, Sheila Jackman Power, 86, March 19, 1929 - September 4, 2015, of Maynard MA.  Sheila worked for Digital in the Mill Copy Center from 1979 to the closure of Digital.   

Link to full obituary.

Mary Linsday Powers, 64, died September 2, 2015 in Colorado Springs. She was employed most recently at Hewlett Packard Company, Oracle Corporation and had worked several years for Digital Equipment Corporation and Holly Sugar Corporation. She was a resident of Colorado Springs since 1976.  Memorial contributions can be made in Ms. Powers name to Pikes Peak Hospice.

We are sad to report the passing of Winston R. "Win" Hindle, Jr., 84, of Concord MA, our beloved Digital COO and DEC Connection Member.  (Sept 7, 1930 - Sept 1, 2015).   Link to full obituary.

Win gave a short talk about Ken's leadership, values, and management principles at the opening of the Ken Olsen Science Center at Gordon College in Sept. 2008 that we have recorded on our website.  Link to event page. 

Link to video of Win's 13-minute talk.    Link to tribute note from Marcia Russell.

Our condolences to friends of Norm (Normand Peter) Frisette, who passed away at home on August 31, 2015 after a 6 month battle with Multiple Myeloma. Norm moved to Colorado Springs in 1978, and worked as a Technical Writer for Digital Equipment Corporation for 23 years. Donations in Normand's name may be made to Pikes Peak Hospice or Catholic Charities of Colorado Springs.

Link to obituary.

Nancy C. Oviatt (Goodman) of Louisville, CO died Tuesday, August 18, 2015. She was 67.  Nancy worked at Digital in Colorado Springs.  Our condolences to her friends.

Link to obituary.

We are saddened to learn from his son Eddy that DEC Connection member Bud (Hilton G.) LaCure, 78, Sudbury MA, has passed away following a long illness.  Bud worked for Digital for 20 years in Educational Services and was proud to have won their Instructor Excellence Award for all 10 years of its existence.  Bud was a Digital retiree.

Link to obituary.    Bud's wife Deanna and son Eddy can be reached at deannalacure@gmail.com for condolences.

Deborah Ann (Wolejko) Houston, 56, of Lunenberg MA passed away August 3, 2015.  Debbie worked in software development and quality assurance for Computervision, NEC, Apollo Computer, Digital and Racal Interlan.

Link to obituary.   Submitted by Mary Collins.

We are saddened to report that we learned from his family that DEC Connection member John B. Wyatt, Jr. of Chapel Hill NC passed away from cancer at the age of 70.  They sent us a Digital-specific obituary for their dad:

In the early, heady days of DEC, John Wyatt left his job doing night backups for a bank in Newark NJ, and came to work at the Mill in Maynard MA. It was 1966 and DEC was only 9 years old. He was given badge number 2209. John worked first as a programmer, and then went on the road as a salesman. He worked in the Maryland/DC office selling to the government and their contractors. He moved to the Research Triangle in North Carolina sold to the universities and research facilities. He went to Charlotte addressing the financial business there. Finally, he went back to his home state of New Jersey and worked out of the Princeton office.

John was a graduate of Morristown School, Morristown NJ and attended Parsons College in Fairfield, Iowa. He was a member of the New Jersey and the Massachusetts National Guards. He loved golf and UNC basketball, often attending games with his son.  He was born on 2/4/1945 and died of cancer on 7/14/2015.  His children can be reached at emails:

Elizabeth Killian liz_9932@hotmail.com and John Wyatt jbwyatt@gmail.com

Condolences to the Colorado Springs group on the passing of their friend, Dick (Richard Edward) Miller, 87.  He was a Colorado Springs resident for 37 years. Richard graduated from MIT Boston, was a WWII US Navy Veteran, and managed Mechanical Engineering for Digital Equipment Corporation. He was proud to be part of the team who put our first man on the moon.

Link to obituary.

Gay Choate Keilty reported the passing of her co-worker, Jo Anne Falco, 63, of Merrimack NH. Jo Anne Falco worked for DEC from the mid-1970s through 2000. She worked in several locations, including Palo Alto, California, along with Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. Jo Anne worked in VMS Engineering, and in ULTRIX Engineering (work stations). She was born on October 18, 1951, the daughter of Joseph and Mary (Warsewicz) Falco, and died June 10, 2015, at her home in Merrimack, NH. Link to obituary.

Mary Collins and Madeleine Kenn sent in the sad news that Allen B. Forgues, 67, of Monson MA has passed away.  Allen was a buyer while at Digital.

Link to obituary.

We are greatly saddened to report the loss of former Digital executive Dick Poulsen, 80, of Clearwater Beach FL and Canada.  Dick earned his degree from Ryerson Polytechnic Institute in Canada and joined a then very young company, Digital Equipment Corporation, as its Canadian sales manager. Dick ultimately led as many as 50,000 employees and contributed nearly a third of Digital's $14 billion in sales through its Field Service Organization and its regional divisions of Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and General International Area (GIA). As head of Digital's GIA through the 1980s, Dick established Digital entities and partnerships in countries all around the world contributing firsthand in Digital becoming one of America's biggest and most profitable companies in the late 1980s.

Link to obituary.     Dick's son Chris can be reached at chris@teampoulsen.com

We are sad to report that DEC Connection charter member Betty (Elizabeth) Connor, 84, of Charlton MA has passed away.  She was employed by Sprague, Mostek and moved with DEC to the Hudson facility when it was opened. She took early retirement in May of 1992 two months before Margaret Stashluk, her daughter, joined DEC. Betty was a senior quality supervisor.

Margaret is also a DEC Connection member, and can be reached at stashluk@comcast.net

Link to obituary.

Phylis Elizabeth Garrepy, 88, died on May 21 in Leominster MA.  For 12 years she worked as a prototype technician at Digital in Maynard MA and Salem NH, retiring in 1988.   Memorial donations may be made in memory of Mrs. Garrepy to the Shirley Senior Center, 9 Parker Rd., Shirley MA 01464.  Contributed by ex-DECcie Mary Collins of The Shirley Volunteer.

Our sincere condolences to the Colorado Springs group on the loss of their friend and co-worker, Jerry Vanderwaall (Snakeman), 68. Jerry worked for Digital, Hewlett-Packard, and L3 Communications as an electronic technician on several top notch projects and government contracts. Memorial donations in Jerry's name to The Heart Foundation, (818) 865-1100, http://www.theheartfoundation.org and/or to your local Humane Society.    Link to obituary.

Tsuruno Slaton died May 17 in Ayer MA.  Yuri  was born in Japan, on May 18, 1923 and lived in the US since 1952.

She worked as an inspector for several years at Digital in Maynard prior to her retirement in 1990.

 Contributed by ex-DECcie Mary Collins of The Shirley Volunteer.

 If you would like to send your condolences to Marilyn and Paul's family, Marilyn's e-mail address is: pinearden@charter.net
Link to obituary.  The family requests that donations be made in his memory to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund, P.O. Box 849168, Boston, MA 02284-9168 or at www.jimmyfund.org.

Clem's family requests that donations may be made to Hope Hospice at Shell Point in recognition of the outstanding care they provide at Hope Hospice at Shell Point: 15071 Shell Point Boulevard, Fort Myers FL 33908.  Link to obituary.

Our condolences to friends and family of Captain Bob Decker (Robert James Decker), of Key West FL, 12/22/37-04/30/15, who passed away following an 8-year battle with cancer.   His wife Fran fprjdecker@aol.com has sent us a lengthy but delightful obituary which tells Bob's story of high tech and sailing in a most unique style.  Click here to link to her full writeup of their adventures. Memorial donations may be sent to the MARC House, the SPCA or VNA/Hospice of the Florida Keys. 

Our condolences to the Colorado Springs group on the passing of their colleague, (Lewis Randolph) Randy Vance.     Randy attended Wasson High School in Colorado Springs, and Kemper Military School and College in Boonville, Missouri. He excelled in sports all through grade school, high school, and college. Randy served honorably in the Air Force during the Vietnam Era from 1968-1972. During his career, Randy worked as a chemist for the City of Colorado Springs and as an engineer at Digital Equipment Corporation and at Ingersoll Rand Corporation.

Link to full obituary here.

Mark Silverberg sent in the sad news that William C. (Bill) Blake died unexpectedly from massive heart failure on April 18th.  As a consummate engineer, Bill's ambition was to create computing tools that would make life on this planet better. His career spanned the technologies of high-performance computing, parallel systems, data analytics, compiler development and software, semiconductor technologies, and artificial intelligence. In addition to his recent position at D-Wave Systems, Bill's roles throughout his career included Chief Technology Officer & Senior VP at Cray Inc.; General Manager, Parallel Computing Platforms, Microsoft Corporation; President & CEO Interactive Supercomputing, Inc.; Senior VP Product Development, Netezza Corporation; and Vice President, High-Performance Technical Computing, Compaq Computer Corporation. Bill also held several leadership positions at Digital Equipment Corporation, including Alpha Systems product development and significant successes with smaller teams and customer collaborations early in his career.  Donations in Bill's memory may be made to The Humane Society of the United States, 2100 L Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037.  Link to full obituary here.

Our condolences to the Colorado Springs group on the passing of their colleague, Mark Eager.  Mark received an Associates degree from The Ohio Institute of Technology in Columbus Ohio and relocated to Colorado Springs in the late seventies. He was employed with Digital as a computer technician. Later he worked in the building and repairing of computers.  Link to full obituary here.

Barb Finer sent in the sad news that Dale C. Troppito succumbed to colon cancer on March 18th. Dale was a leading entrepreneur in technology and healthcare systems management consulting. She was also a groundbreaker in the advancement of women in the high tech industry. Dale had worked in Engineering at Digital in the 1980s and continued her career as a technical manager and computing consultant at Lotus, Wang, and The Gantry Group.

Link to full obituary here.

Our condolences to friends of Patricia Merrilyn Fuller, 72, Marlboro MA, who died on March 8.  Patti worked as Executive Secretary at Digital for over 15 years and earned her Masters degree in Marketing during the 1980s.

Sent in by ex-DECcie Mary Collins, editor of the Lunenberg Ledger.

Link to full obituary here.

We are sad to report the passing of Percy Glenn Jackson, recently of Atlanta GA, but worked at Digital in Colorado Springs.  Mr. Jackson was a US Army and Vietnam War veteran who earned a BS degree from Southern University, Baton Rouge, LA in 1970 and a Juris Doctor degree from Florida Coastal School of Law in 1999. His professional career included tenures with Proctor & Gamble and Digital Equipment /Quantum Corporation. Mr. Jackson also utilized his law degree in the Colorado Springs practice he shared with his late former wife, Donita Rolle-Jackson.  Condolences may be sent to The Jackson Family, c/o Richardsons Funeral Home, 501 N.W. Central Avenue, Amite, LA 70422.

Link to full obituary here.

Joanne Jacobs sent in "sad information about a great guy, Jack Gilmore, who recently passed away on Cape Cod. I think the article certainly summarizes an amazing career before, during and even after his work at Digital! May he rest in peace!"  Some excerpts:

The highlight of his career was working as a system programmer for the MIT Project Whirlwind Mathematics Group, from 1950 to 1952. Jack wrote the first Assembly Program along with a variety of utility programs. This was the first software ever invented for commercial use and was used by air traffic controllers.  As a member of the Advanced Computer Research Group at the MIT Lincoln Laboratory Computer Research Group from 1956 to 1959, Jack wrote the first personal computer operating system called "The TX-0 Direct Input Utility System" and was the logical designer of one of the first on line work stations called the MIT Lincoln Writer.

From 1974 to 1992, Jack served on the staff of Digital Equipment Corporation in various managerial and technical roles in their Office Automation efforts. He designed Digital's Gold Key Word Processing user interface in 1975, became Product Group Manager for Word Processing Systems and later as Technical Manager for the Engineering Group which produced Digital’s Electronic Mail and All-in-One Office Automation System. His last assignment was Director of Comparative Analysis before his retirement in 1992 to return to the consulting field  Jack is the sole inventor of two patents, one for Digital Equipment.    Link to full obituary here.

We are sad to report the passing of Jon Raphaelson, 60, of Worcester MA. Before running his own consulting business, Jon was a course designer and instructor for Digital Equipment Corporation, Compaq and HP.

Link to full obituary here.

 We are sad to report the passing of Ingeborg Hill, 78, of Colorado Springs CO.  Inge worked as a document control specialist for over 25 years with Digital and Quantum computer companies. Link to full obituary here.

Our member Jackie Awerman sadly reports the passing of her friend and mentor, E. Trent Abel, Oakland CA.  Trent (and Jackie) worked as recruiters in Human Resources in Maynard and Phoenix.  Jackie suggests that memorial contributions in Trent's memory be made to the Kidney Foundation.

Jack Burness sent in the sad news that George Wendel Berry, 69, died unexpectedly after suffering cardiac arrest.  Jack said: George Berry was a Dec-ie from 1969 until the 80s. As well as being a really nice guy, he had a very interesting life. A lot of people knew him.  Born in Dayton OH, George enjoyed an idyllic and full childhood that included the nurturing of early interests in classical music and chess. George was a member of the Dartmouth College class of 1966, where he majored in Mathematics under the tutelage of Dr. John Kemeny (co-creator of BASIC). Following graduation and service in the United States Army, George began a lifelong relationship with computers, working for Digital Equipment Corporation as a Consulting Engineer until he retired in 1986 and began devoting his life to other interests and pursuits.  Link to full obituary here.

Jeanne Dietel sent in the sad news that Bob (Robert F.) Trocchi, 81, of Sudbury MA has passed away after a courageous battle with cancer.  Bob led the Education Computer Systems Product/Industry Group for many years.  Bob joined Digital in 1972. One of his major accomplishments during his 22 years at Digital was initiating Digital's entry into China, where an office was opened and scores of universities were exposed to Digital's products. He also initiated a grant program in the U.S. that implemented computer networking on 12 college campuses. Bob stayed in touch with a large number of colleagues from the EDU group. Early in the 2000's he was the primary organizer of a reunion that brought a large group of them from wide and afar for a revival of old friendships and happy memories.

 Complete obituary and funeral service information (Nov 13-14) are at this link.

The Colorado Springs group reports that Marsha Bates passed away after a 3-year battle with ovarian cancer. Marsha was a long time DEC employee (4 digit badge number), starting in the field offices in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, then moving to the Phoenix office, and finally moving up to Colorado Springs with me where she worked at DEC for many years before retiring. Condolences may be emailed to husband Ken Bates, at macbates@me.com.   Memorial donations welcome to the Cure Alzheimer's Fund in Wellesley Hills, MA or the Ovarian Cancer Fund in New York, NY.

We are saddened to report that Stanley S. Tabol, 91, of Framingham MA, a Digital retiree since 1989, passed away on October 4, 2014 from Parkinson's Disease.  Stan retired in the original SERP and was a member of the Digital Retirees Association which became DEC Connection. 

Link to full obituary here.

The Colorado Springs group reports that Stuart Glenn Tramell, 70, a DECcie for 30 years, has passed away after a long illness.  Our condolences to his family and friends. Link to full obituary here.

We are saddened to learn of the death of Frank Westley Bowden (18 Oct 1936 - 30 Sep 2014).   After working on the Apollo Space Program at NASA during the1960s, Frank joined HP as a systems analyst in Atlanta and then moved into their sales division.  He joined DEC in 1973 and was a Sales Unit Manager in NJ, a District Manager in Charlotte NC, and Vice President of the South Central Area (Dallas) when he left DEC in 1994. I had the good fortune of working with Frank as his HR Manager when I transferred to Dallas in 1991, and being his friend since then. I will miss him.  Posted on LinkedIn in Digital Sales Alumni group by Richard Stahli. Link to full obituary here.

 We are saddened to report the death of James D. (Jim) Pitts, III,  72, Amherst MA. In 1964, Jim embarked on a 29-year career with the Digital Equipment Corporation of Maynard, working his way up from programmer to senior sales manager, retiring in 1993.   Link to full obituary here.   Jim Hughes wrote:  Jim Pitts had a number of roles, but I think one of his most influential was when he ran the Boston Metro Sales District. When I first joined Digital, my brother told me about the District Managers on his team in the Northeast Region. He described Jim as the one that had the most compassion for the people and that Bob could count on him to make sure everyone understood the impact of their decisions on the people in the Northeast. He was a great guy, and we lost him way too soon.