As a Technician II, I began my career by supporting the mainframe computer labs, but when the IBM PC was introduced, the college quickly moved to stand-alone “desktop” computers. By 1986 I was hooked, and I have never looked back.
Throughout this period, the person who was instrumental in my career was Jim. He was a mentor, a guide, a colleague, and a friend … and he was a wealth of knowledge. From Jim I learned about CPUs, and RAM and ROM, bits and bytes, floppy drives and peripheral devices, the acronym RTFM, and the disk operating system called MS-DOS; I learned about the history and development of the computer, the ENIAC and the UNIVAC, Thomas Watson and IBM, and the importance of the invention of the transistor.
I believe that if it weren’t for Jim, I would not have acquired my love for computers - or for teaching. His encouragement and support contributed greatly to where I am today.
For more than 30 years, Jim was a good friend to me.
- He was my math instructor while I was a student at the college.
- He gave me his recipe for Poulet au Jacques.
- We shared drinks and meals at places like the 4C Lounge, Backstreets, Gedoro’s and Violi’s.
- He had no patience for mouse jockeys, and he often talked about “the day the music died”. [Editor's Note: That would be Feb 3, 1959, when we lost Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper.]
- He shared with me his awesome experience of traveling across Canada by train.
- He always remembered my birthday, and when my father passed away suddenly in 1987, Jim was there to offer his support and friendship.
And I will miss him.
Sandra Menard