Harry Pyle

PYLE
Harry Starck Pyle died peacefully Monday, March 11, 2013 at the age of 63, after a valiant battle with cancer. He was born in Virginia on July 7, 1949 to Lucille and George Pyle (deceased). Early in life he developed an interest in everything electronic, building Ham Radio rigs in his parents' basement and excelling in Morse code to such an extent that he was awarded a lifetime membership by the American Radio Relay League (K4DPW), an interest that continued throughout his life.
In high school and college this interest in electronics lead him into computer science and directed him to early computer related summer jobs with Frederick Electronics and then Datapoint (then Computer Terminal Corporation) and his mentor Vic Poor. He joined Datapoint following college to work in early personal computer development resulting in several new desktop computers (2200, 5500, 6600), their operating systems, compilers, and contributed heavily to industry's first commercial microprocessor - the Intel 8008 - which is the ancestor of processors used in all today's PCs. He was at the core of the development of the first commercial local area network - ARCnet - and went on to lead the development of the RMS Network-based Operating System, wrote new developments tools such as the much loved and artful source code editor EASL, and led the hardware design efforts for first-in-kind microprocessor based mini-mainframes.
He worked at Image Data from 1985 to 1996 on the early development of remote video communication technology to aid in emergency reading of radiographs by physicians. The move to the Pacific Northwest in 1996 was motivated by a project for controlling the infrastructure of the Gates' Estate in Medina Washington for which Harry drove the development of the user interface. He joined Microsoft in 1999 as a software engineer, again pursuing his interest in communications and media. New developments in physics, electronics, computers, software, and media communication technology never failed to fascinate and inspire him. He was awarded many patents for his inventions throughout his professional career.
Running, and later bicycling, was Harry's meditation and a creative source. He looked forward to riding in any weather, all terrains, and at any time of day.
He is survived by his wife Fiona, children Colin and Jillian, and sister Marna (William), who will greatly miss the best husband, father, and brother. We will ride for you.
There will be an open house to celebrate Harry's life and accomplishments on Saturday April 6, 2013 from 1:00PM to 4:00PM. For more information on this, you may email celebrateharry@gmail.com.