Ian Alan Carah

Ian Alan Carah


Ian A. Carah of Lincoln passed away recently at his home. He was 63 years of age.
Ian was born at Prestwick, Ayrshire, Scotland in 1954, the son of John Marshall Carah and Connie (Harris) Carah. Ian's father was a military officer and was stationed at air bases around the world. After returning to the United States from Scotland, Ian attended elementary schools in Texas and Guam. After his father's retirement from the military, the family moved to California where Ian graduated from Skyline High School in Oakland, California in 1972.
After graduation, he started to work for his father maintaining a route of coin operated copy machines and other vending equipment. He took over the vending machine locations in Sacramento and along the routes to Lake Tahoe and was successful in making the business grow. Later, he began his career in electronics working for one of the casinos at South Lake Tahoe as a technician for the early electronic slot machines. He also was responsible for implementing the electronic security systems at the facility.
He moved to the Sacramento area and was an early employee of Level One Communications where he was the IT Manager. He handled and directed many IT operations at Level One including programming, network engineering, security and he designed and implemented the development laboratory.
After Level One was acquired by Intel in 1999, he struck out on his own offering his programming and systems services to businesses in the Sacramento area. His clients were diverse and ranged from large hospital systems to small business owners. Ian was a Microsoft Certified Systems Analyst and Oracle Master.
He was married to the former Donna Duncan whom he met while living in South Lake Tahoe, Nevada. They were married along the eastern shore of Lake Tahoe at Zephyr Cove, Nevada in 1983 and celebrated their 34th wedding anniversary this past summer.
Ian was a classic car enthusiast and he frequently was asked to drive his vintage 1957 Ford Thunderbird in parades and other car show events. He also enjoyed camping, hiking, sailing and geocaching.
Ian had battled cancer since 2015. He was predeceased by his parents, and brothers Allan and Jonathan. He is survived by his wife Donna of Lincoln, a brother Warren of Brighton, Michigan, and several cousins, nieces and nephews. Ian will be remembered as a loving husband, a loyal friend and a technical wizard. Cremation has taken place and services are pending. Donations are appreciated to support the Placer Co. SPCA.