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| <== Date ==> | <== Thread ==> |
|---|
| Subject: | A Tribute to our Colleague Marty Kraimer |
| From: | Rolf Keitel via Tech-talk <tech-talk at aps.anl.gov> |
| To: | tech-talk <tech-talk at aps.anl.gov> |
| Date: | Tue, 1 Feb 2022 09:11:37 -0800 |
What sad news! My heartfelt condolences to his family.
Although not part of the original EPICS developer circle, using
EPICS for > 25 years gave me ample opportunity to learn from
Marty on tech-talk and during personal encounters at many EPICS
collaboration meetings. Marty's enthusiasm was always infectious
and inspiring and his helpfulness knew no bounds. Thank you Marty!
Instead of adding to the laudatio I would like to recall a
memorable experience I once had with Marty.
It happened - I believe - during the EPICS meeting at Bessy in
2002. I had just arrived for the first day of talks and was still
suffering from severe jet-lag. When I entered the S-Bahn for the
ride to the meeting, I was relieved to meet Marty on the train. He
had be at the developer session the day before, so I felt lucky to
find someone who already knew the way to the meeting site.
After leaving the train we started briskly on our 15 minute walk,
discussing an EPICS issue or the world or whatever. After 20
minutes I noticed that Marty looked increasingly nervous, glancing
over his shoulder and finally admitting that he was lost! We
retraced our steps back to the S-Bahn station and realized that
the platform had an exit at each end and that we had taken the
wrong one! After another 15 minutes walk we finally reached the
meeting room. When Marty sheepishly admitted that he had gotten
lost on the way, we were greeted with roaring laughter, as -
unbeknownst to me - Marty's shaky sense of direction was well
known to all his friends.
Needless to say, over the years and over many beers we had ample
opportunity to recall this episode.
Rest in peace, Marty!
Forgive the non-technical email. Marty passed away recently. As Marty has provided immeasurable support to this community, this seems like the most appropriate way to let everyone know. He was dedicated to building a collaboration on a code base - before there were any text books or scholarly papers or even a name for it - that was open-source. He was a prolific coder, open to help and take help from others. He was meticulous in the production of robust code that many would depend on to operate their facilities. Making mistakes and fixing them is great for making heroes. Making code that everyone depends on and no one ever notices is the work of an outstanding engineer. Marty was an outstanding engineer and he was tireless in this pursuit. He laid waste to many a keyboard with his pounding style. His contributions are fundamental to all of our successes. Have a beer to our colleague, benefactor and friend ---