Grandfather Obit
I just found this and decided I would post it on the eve of my daughter's birth to demonstrate how life really does come full circle.
TAZEWELL, Va. — Walter Curtis Herald, age 70, of Tazewell, Va., died Friday, March 14, 2008 at his home. Born July 3, 1937 at Tazewell, Va., he was a son of the late Jesse Franklin “Deck” Herald and Minnie Lee Hall Herald.
Curtis was a retired paint contractor. He attended the Tazewell Family Worship Center. Through his last illness his days were made more comfortable by the outstanding, compassionate care of Preferred Hospice and his personal care nurses.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by one sister, Margaret Ellen Amburgey; three brothers, Howard Herald, Carl P. Herald, and Jesse Franklin Herald Jr.
Survivors include his wife, Janice Ann Herald; two daughters, Tina Heath and husband, Ellis of Marion, Va. and Karen Sheets and husband, Skip of Weber City, Va.; two sons, Gary Herald and wife, Pam of Salem, Va. and Pastor Rick Herald and wife, Lyn of Claypool Hill, Va.; three brothers, Clyde Herald and wife, Aileen, John E. Herald and William R. Herald all of Tazewell, Va.; eight grandchildren, Jason Herald, Nathan Herald, Justin Herald, Colten Herald, Jordan Herald, Brittany Heath, Braden Heath, and Tara Sheets; one great-grandchild, Erin Mae Herald.
Funeral services will be conducted at 2:30 p.m. Monday, March 17, 2008 at Peery & St.Clair Funeral Home Chapel in Tazewell, Va. with the Rev. Lawrence Hayes officiating. Burial will follow at Grandview Memory Gardens in Bluefield, Va. Grandsons serving as pallbearers will be Jason Herald, Nathan Herald, Justin Herald, Braden Heath, Colten Herald, and Dennis Hall, nephew.
The family will receive friends at the funeral home on Monday, March 17, 2008 after 12:30 p.m.
What is a Programmer?
Computer programmers write, test, debug, and maintain the detailed instructions, called computer programs, that computers must follow to perform their functions. Programmers also conceive, design, and test logical structures for solving problems by computer. Many technical innovations in programming — advanced computing technologies and sophisticated new languages and programming tools — have redefined the role of a programmer and elevated much of the programming work done today. Job titles and descriptions may vary, depending on the organization.
-- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programmer
Optimism
All programmers are optimists. Perhaps this modern sorcery especially attracts those who believe in happy endings and fairy godmothers. Perhaps the hundreds of nitty frustrations drive away all but those who habitually focus on the end goal. Perhaps it is merely that computers are young, programmers are younger, and the young are always optimists. But however the selection process works, the result is indisputable: "This time it will surely run," or "I just found the last bug."
-- The Mythical Man-nonth: Essays on Software Engineering, by Frederick P. Brooks