Michael S. Morton

1958 - 2021

Michael Solomon Morton, known to all as Mike, died on January 7, 2021 at his home in Lyme, NH after a year of treatment for Glioblastoma. Mike was born Sept 30, 1958, in Pensacola FL where his father Tony Morton was stationed with the US Navy. His mother Sabra, a former English teacher, was a social worker in FL. In 1961 the family moved with their German Shepherd, Kurt, to Bedford MA. They lived down the block from St. Michael's church. Three-year-old MIke, perhaps previewing his later sense of humor, called it St MY church. In 1962 the family moved to Lexington to a home that Tony and Sabra would stay in for 50 years. Mike attended Lexington schools, making lifelong friends His Senior year at HS he was the co-captain of the math team. He admits he wasnt their strongest member. He also coedited the HS events newsletter the ECHO. He was proud to also to edit the LHS LAMPOON, an underground satirical publication. After LHS, he enrolled at Dartmouth, disappointing his Harvard-man father. Once at Dartmouth he immersed himself in the Kiewit Computer center. Although the hourly rate was low, he worked many hours and was proud that he was able to pay his entire way through Dartmouth. While at Dartmouth, he wrote a simple program that produced anagrams for a word or phrase. The anagrams from that program were sometimes influential or attention-getting. He published more than one NYT op-ed using anagrams for political satire. NPR interviewed him twice about his anagrams. Dartmouth graduated him in 1980 with a degree in Math. He later completed a Masters in Computer Science from the University of Hawaii. After Dartmouth Mike worked full time at the computing center doing his two favorite things - developing software and working at the help desk, helping people use that software. At this time the controversial nuclear plant at Seabrook was under construction leading Mike to join the Upper Valley Energy Coalition and sparking a lifelong interest in developing cleaner safer energy. In the fall of 1983, through the Earthwatch Volunteer program, he worked at a dolphin research lab in Honolulu. There he met and married Caryn Torikawa. The marriage ended in 2004 with no children. In the fall of 1984, Mike began work for Teradyne in Boston. In 1985 Mike joined Infocom, a technology startup that made games. Like so many startups it did not do well. By 1986 he joined Lotus where he worked for several years and made many friends. There was a succession of startups after Lotus which led him to observe that when considering joining a startup one needs to think about whether the founder has a true vision or is just hallucinating. Unfortunately, he encountered some of each. In the Fall of 1987, Mike moved to Hawaii, where he lived for seventeen years. During that time he went to work for Apple Computer, work he found challenging and fun. In 2004 he realized how much he missed the Connecticut River Valley and moved back. In 2006 Mike joined Google, working from his home in Lyme, NH. He kindled a new romance with Dani Capsis sharing his life and home with her. Among his great joys in the years that followed were watching his two godchildren Kate and Nik Ligett blossom into adulthood. Best of all, with the arrival of grandchildren, he became Opa Mike, a nod to his German heritage. He got more joy from being an Opa than he could ever have imagined. In the fall of 2019, Mike was diagnosed with an especially aggressive form of brain cancer, Glioblastoma Multiforme. This diagnosis strengthened Dani's and Mike's relationship and they were married in Sept 2019. During Mikes one-year fight with GBM they traveled, built an addition on the house, and had extended visits with family. He took pleasure in many things including reading, walking, snorkeling, photography, entertaining his grandchildren, the NYT crossword puzzle, becoming Queen Bee, and listening to public radio. He felt no workday was complete unless he had heard most of Morning Edition and All Things Considered. Mike was proud to regularly participate in the Prouty, the areas cancer fundraising event and when it went virtual he walked a triple marathon. He leaves behind his beloved wife, Dani Capsis of Lyme NH. His brother Evan of Lexington MA. Evans wife Becky and their children Mark and Eliza. His father predeceased him in 2019. His mother Sabra Morton of Hanover, NH. His godchild Kate Ligett of Jerusalem Israel and her husband Ori Heffetz and their children Eleanor, Daniel, and Amalia. His godchild Nicholas Ligett of Montreal Canada, his wife Amanda Loomis, and their child Nasir. Both Mike and Dani want to thank our families, the wonderful community of Lyme, NH, staff at Dana Farber, Dartmouth Medical Center, University of Vermont Medical Center, Bayada Hospice, and our extended network of friends all around the world for their loving care and support. A memorial is planned for the Summer of 2021 when we hope to be able to gather in Lyme. Mike cared deeply about a number of nonprofits. In honor of his memory, he and his family would appreciate contributions to Partners in Health https://www.pih.org, American Friends Service Committee https://secure.afsc.org/, or to Oxfam America.https://www.oxfamamerica.org.