Mr. Gregory Joseph Canty

Gregory Joseph Canty, 22 of Charlottesville, VA, passed away on Wednesday, February 20, 2013. He was the beloved son of Gregory Alan Canty and Lynn Abidin Canty of Johns Creek, Georgia. Gregory was born on March 14, 1990 in Philadelphia, PA, and graduated in 2008 from Northview High School in Johns Creek, GA. He was a 2012 graduate of University of Virginia with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemical Engineering. Greg was employed at the Felder Lab within the University of Virginia Department of Pathology, where he was the Lead Laboratory Automation Engineer and Network Administrator. While attending the University of Virginia, Greg served as a resident advisor for three years. He was particularly proud of improvements he advocated and implemented in 2012 to automate and to improve the integrity of the resident advisor selections process; He was a champion of fairness and objectivity. As an intern in the summer of 2008, Greg began working in the Felder Lab where he distinguished himself as a creative and gifted problem solver, electronics designer, computer programmer, and statistician. In addition to his work in the lab, Greg enjoyed providing sound engineering support to the Culbreth Theater and flying the radio-controlled blimp at UVa basketball games. Following graduation, Greg continued working at the Felder Lab where he led a small team in the design of a groundbreaking system for growing cell cultures. Although self-taught in programming he was proficient in many computer languages and a master in several. At the time of his death he was building a blog site (www.the9375.com) to provide advice and tutorials on programming and information security. His work reviewing and correcting programming code led him to look for code in the public domain that was inefficient or unnecessarily complex. He had just completed code that would accelerate the application of the Whirlpool cryptographic hash function. While in high school, Greg was highly regarded for the technical support he provided to the Northview High School drama department. He was a youth minister at St. Benedict Catholic Church and an Eagle Scout. He enjoyed participating in marching band and in academic competitions. He loved his family, and he cared deeply for his friends and co-workers. He loved learning and sharing knowledge. He despised injustice and petty selfishness. He loved waterskiing, and music, and helping others. He had many role models who had a profound impact on his life; he admired and appreciated them all. Greg is survived by his parents; his brothers, Alex and Ben; His maternal grandparents, Richard and Mary Abidin of Charlottesville, VA; his paternal grandparents, William and Carol Canty of Pulaski/Sterling, VA; and many close aunts, uncles, and cousins. A funeral mass will be conducted 10:00 am Wednesday, February 27, 2013 at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Charlottesville, VA. The family will receive friends from 7-9 pm Tuesday, February 26, 2013 at Teague Funeral Service. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Charlottesville / Albemarle Rescue Squad.