SVEN ROGER LINDER

1932 - 2017

LINDER, Sven Roger Born on April 7, 1932, Sven Roger Linder was just shy of 85 years old when he died on March 19, 2017 of complications of COPD. He passed away peacefully at Salem Hospital (Salem, MA) and was surrounded by family, friends and gentle hospice care in his last days. Sven was born in Boston MA to Birgit "Betty" (Bachman) and Harry Linder, both from Sweden. His older brother Harry S. Linder (Santa Rosa, CA) survives him.

He leaves three children from his first marriage to D. Jeanne Otto (nee Masse, deceased, formerly from Cambridge and Salem, MA). They are Karen E. Linder and her partner Michael Brill of Kingston, NJ, Susan E. Linder-Bean and her husband Charlie Bean of Salem, MA, Stephen E. Linder and his wife Kristina Welburn of Key West, FL and granddaughter Alex Flett (Linder) and her husband Brian of Billerica, MA. From his second marriage to Sonni (Waldo) currently in Dennis, MA, he is survived by his son Eric W Linder of South Dennis, MA.

Sven, who went by Roger in his early years, had a long and varied career. He went to school at Boston Latin, and graduated from Boston University in 1953. He served in communications in the Air Force in Korea and Japan and entered the new field of computer programming in Philadelphia on his return. Security-related systems analysis brought him to Virginia to work at the Pentagon. He lived in Europe for several years with his second wife Sonni, contributing to the development of a command and control system for the US Army Headquarters in Heidelberg, Germany. He never said much about any of it.

After he returned to the US, his career took a radical turn when he opened an old book store in Marshfield MA. This was followed by a stint working as a sternman on a lobster boat in Scituate, after which he returned to his programming roots, working on early security systems for the debit cards we all rely on these days. In his late 50s, he moved to Sweden and taught English there for several years, then returned to the US, living in Salem, MA until his death. The Polish Legion of American Veterans in Salem, MA counts him as a proud member.

He did cryptograms in his head to keep his mind sharp, could (and did) defend either side of an argument just to be right, loved language, good food, off-beat jokes, old movies, classical music, Swedish fiddle tunes and the ocean. Smart, stubborn and ornery, he was also a generous and loyal friend. He leaves behind vestiges of a unique life, a beautiful stone wall built by hand, and a few good friends who mourn his passing. No services are planned.