William Riddle

1942 - 2014

In Loving Memory of William Ewing Riddle, a resident of Santa Fe, New Mexico, who passed away on September 26, 2014 due to complications from a recent fall. Bill died peacefully at the Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center surrounded by the members of his immediate family. Bill was born to Helen Fleck and Harvey Washington Riddle in Guilford, Connecticut on August 5, 1942. He graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor and Master's of Engineering Physics in 1966. He subsequently attended Stanford University, receiving his Ph.D in Computer Science in 1972. He was a member of the faculty in the Computer Science Departments of the University of Michigan and the University of Colorado, where he mentored many students. In 1986, he became Chief Technical Officer and Executive Vice President of the Software Productivity Consortium. He subsequently founded and served as President of Software Design and Analysis, a software consulting firm and was also the founder and Director of the Rocky Mountain Institute of Software Engineering, which provided workshops and conferences related to software engineering technology. He was a Fellow in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and was active in the American Association of Computing Machinery, receiving a Distinguished Service Award from that organization in 1999. In addition to his professional endeavors, Bill was a student of the arts with a love for music, opera and culturally significant art and cuisine from the many places he lived, worked and visited in the United States, Europe and Asia. He was an avid photographer, bird watcher and genealogist and was always careful to document and file the knowledge he stewarded with precision and care. In his later years, Bill devoted much of his time to genealogical research. As the webmaster for the Ewing Family Association and editor of the Ewing Family Journal, he contributed greatly to their ongoing efforts. His warm presence and gentle spirit found friendship everywhere he went. Bill is survived by his former wife, Margaret Ward Riddle of Boulder, Colorado and their daughters Jeannette Riddle Flynn of Cottonwood Heights, Utah, and Ellen Riddle Taylor of Larkspur, California; granddaughters Jessica Ellis Flynn, Brittany Alexander Flynn, and Erin Lynn Taylor and grandson John William Taylor; sister, Mary Elizabeth Riddle of Vermont; niece, Susan Harrington of Washington; nephew, Paul Schmidt of Alpine, Wyoming. He will be dearly missed by all. In lieu of flowers, donations are graciously welcome to the National Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society: 12121 Scripps Summit Dr #190, San Diego, CA 92131. www.nationalmssociety.org. search for William Ewing Riddle.