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William Shannon Obituary
Dec. 21, 1955 - June 25, 2020
Los Altos
Bill was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, and later moved to the Cleveland area where he went to high school. He attended Case Western Reserve University where he received his Bachelors and Masters in Computer Engineering.
After working at Digital Equipment Corporation in the Unix Engineering Group, he was recruited to work at Sun Microsystems in 1982 where he was proud employee number 11. Bill was instrumental in the development of SunOS, Solaris, and Java EE. When Sun Microsystems was acquired by Oracle, he remained on board to continue his work, and was employed there at the time of his death. Bill was devoted to his family, dedicated to his work, and determined and diligent in all aspects of his life.
Bill was diagnosed with urachal cancer in October 2018, and was determined to live his life to the fullest while undergoing treatment. He died at home surrounded by his family. He is survived by his wife Karen, daughters Kimberly and Amy, brother Mark Williams, sister Barbara King, beloved dog Angus, and many dear friends.
Memorial will be private due to COVID-19. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to The Case Fund at CWRU or a charity of your choice.
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Memories and Condolences
for William Shannon
Sponsored by San Jose Mercury News.
3 Entries
Michael Shantz
May 20, 2023
Bill Shannon was an engineer that we software engineers admired in the early days of Sun Micro. He was employee #11, I was #12.
William McLemore
May 27, 2021
I got into computers because of Bill. He was going through a large printout and I was curious. We had classes together, shared an office, rode the rapid transit and played tennis. Thanks, Bill for the fun and friendship!
Cindy Ruder
June 29, 2020
Deepest sympathy to you, Karen, and your daughters. What a loss. I remember your wedding and our times in high school together. Hope you can find some small comfort in all the great memories with Bill.
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