Here’s the full announcement. Please forward to anyone that you think might be interested.
Gene Saunders - picture from Detlef Schmier
Gene Saunders, one of the longest serving members of the Sun Microsystems family, passed away unexpectedly on September 19th. Gene had many friends and colleagues at Sun, in the United States and around the World. He was also in constant contact with Sun alumni and his many other friends via email and his blogs. (Even his dog had
hisher own blog, “Beta the Wonder Dog”.)Gene is probably best known for creating “onestop”, which for many years was the single most used technical website within Sun. Onestop was started in 1993, hosted on an
Ultra 1SPARCstation 1 in Itasca, IL. It won the “Best SWAN Website” contest several years in a row; at that point, Gene stopped entering to allow others a chance to win!Gene worked in many groups during his 17 years at Sun. (He joined Sun 19 years ago, but like many of us, he went through a RIF-induced “holiday” which lasted 20 months.) He was a General Territory SE for SunSoft, a Telco focused SE, a member of the Data Center Practice team, and involved on several named accounts. Gene supported many of the User Groups in the Dallas Fort Worth Area, was a very popular speaker at Partner training events, and loved to share his knowledge of technology.
Gene had a rich life beyond his work at Sun. He was passionately involved in political and social issues, nationally and in Dallas. He was an ardent freethinker and skeptic, with a wonderful sense of humor. And he had many friends, from all parts of the world and walks of life, who came to love him deeply.
Gene will be greatly missed by his many friends and colleagues at Sun, in the Technical Community, and around the world.
There is an email alias for friends of Gene to exchange information and share memories of Gene. Please visit: http://grommit.com/mailman/listinfo/friendsofgene to sign up.
- Geoff Arnold
- Roger Lippert
Entries (RSS)
Hey Geoff…..I never knew Gene had dark hair! I wonder if he knew Clairol! The pics he shared with me when he was younger were him with kind of reddish blonde hair…..of course since meeting him in 2004….he was almost white haired…..
So sorry to hear of Gene’s passing, he will be missed. Do his pets have a new home?
Geoff, there is a terrific story behind the posted pic. It is actually a wood burning that a neighbor of his Mother’s did of Gene when she lived in Kentucky. Gene brought it home. Gene had a season for his beard – first day of fall, grow a beard; first day of spring, shave off beard.
Gene’s hair was an auburn shade that was darker than when he was young(er). It seemed to darken for a few years before starting to white out.
The woodburning picture is in the house, and although he would not hang it, he felt very honored that this kind gentleman in Kentucky did this beautiful rendition of him.
We may have to have a “Gene Saunders Museum” – his first computer is in the closet off his office.
Thank you for posting and I’ll be letting everyone know when I get Beta home. Pandora was in the house and is being checked on.
Paula
I met Gene through my sister back in 1985. I was a 21 year old college student with interest in a ‘new movement’ taking over: Personal Computers. I lived a couple of miles away and would drop by Gene’s apartment, uninvited (as usual).
I would joke with him and was his annoying ‘tech groupie’ and through persistence and harassment he would impart his wisdom upon me.
PC’s were in their infancy and at the time it was possible for someone to know EVERYTHING about the hardware, software, and applications. Gene was this person. He would beta test software for ‘experts’, who would later use this information in the current issue of PC magazine (he was testing Quarterdeck on one of my visits.
I could not afford a computer at the time, so Gene loaned me a 60 pound 8088 based portable PC, with a 5 inch monochrome monitor. I ran Lotus 123, and spend hours flying over Chicago in Version 1.0 of Flight Simulator. The PC broke one day, and Gene took it back with a giggle, never asking me to fix it.
I have not seen Gene in over 15 years, but have fond memories of him. He was very funny and entertaining, and one of the most intelligent people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing.
Today, I am a Systems Analyst for a Fortune 500 company and design Web-based Claims and Benefits applications. I would like to at least think that Gene played some part in mentoring me for a career in IT.
Rest in Peace Gene
HI Geoff,
I met Gene through a boyfriend of mine back in 1986. There was just something about Gene perhaps it was is auburn hair and his light blue eyes that set him apart from others…his passion for computers was something rarely seen back in my world in the 80’s. He would go out of town on business carrying these huge silver cases…he didn’t leave without his computer. I would water his plants and feed his fish(he later confessed that he purchased the fish for me to come over once a day to check on his place)…his Honda Civic would make it one more time to the airport. I remember we had a celebration when the speedometer turned over to zero.
I spoke with Paula on the telephone yesterday and I have come to the conclusion everyone has known Gene in a different way. I believe Paula knew all of his personalities/sides and embraced each one of them.
Gene had a way of pushing you to succeed, mentor you and to be the best big brother anybody could have. I have him to thank while living in Finland. I lived in Finland for a year as the ships operations assistant and warranty officer building a cruise ship (Crystal Symphony/Crystal Cruises and I was part of their crew for 13 years)…my computer would always go down…I finally listened to what Gene taught me about not beng afraid of the unknown. I would always be able to fix the problem. I was able to always go beyond my expectations and be the person he helped me to be.
Thanks Gene…
I’m another Gene Saunders.
I “met” Gene of Sun Microsystems in the late 1980’s through our common interest in computers and the then new Internet, not yet the World Wide Web.
Although Gene and I never actually met, we corresponded infrequently in posts to common interest groups on the net an through an occasional email.
His expertise was obvious, and his genuine interest in helping others understand the complex world of networking always impressed me.
You will be missed.