It was very good of you to put your thoughts into words Bill. We all appreciate the effort Joe put into the metric cause.
Thank you. Michael Payne > [Original Message] > From: Bill Potts <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: U.S. Metric Association <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: 20/2/04 01:56:15 > Subject: [USMA:28794] Sad News > > I have sad news to report. > > Joe Reid, who was President Emeritus of the Canadian Metric Association and > a frequent contributor to this list, died two days ago at the age of 90. > > Some of you already know that Joe was my boss at Air Canada (then called > Trans Canada Airlines) from 1958 to 1961. > > Joe was a Rhodes Scholar and a brilliant physicist and mathematician. He was > also a pioneer (even more than I was) in the computer field, having started > with one of the old vacuum-tube-based computers, called the ALWAC III. > > Joe leaves a widow, Marjorie, who is about 94 or 95. Unfortunately (or > fortunately, in a way), she has advanced Parkinson's Disease and completely > lost her ability to communicate about two years ago. She will, of course, be > unaware of Joe's death. > > Joe also leaves four daughters and, I think, a small number of > grandchildren. Fortunately, one of his daughters lives in Toronto and can > take care of whatever Marjorie's needs are (over and above those handled by > staff of the home in which she's living). > > Finding out about Joe's death was fortuitous. John Mercer's reference to an > article in the Toronto Star led me to look for the article. One of the > people quoted in the article was John Parkyn, the current president of the > Canadian Metric Association. I wanted to talk to him about the article, so I > found his number on Canada411 and called him. I mentioned Joe and the fact > that I had worked for him. That was when John told me he had died. > > I last talked to Joe on his 90th birthday, having sent him a surprise > delivery of flowers and a card. I'm glad I was able to make that one last > gesture of respect and love. > > His presence on this list will definitely be missed. > > Bill Potts, CMS > Roseville, CA > http://metric1.org [SI Navigator] --- Michael Payne --- [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- EarthLink: The #1 provider of the Real Internet.
