In Memory of Lee E. McMahon

December 19, 2011 at 9:29pm

At ManorCare in New Providence, my father-in-law Arne Swenson sits with Gertrude and Helen for meals. I eventually found that Helen's last name is McMahon, and being a Bear's fan, I mentioned Jim McMahon of Chicago Bears and Superbowl Shuffle fame. Helen told me that her husband's name was Lee, and I told her that I had a coworker at Bell Labs named Lee McMahon. I found a photo via Google images, and she said "That's him!"

I worked with Lee McMahon and Bill Marshall on Datakit, a computer network invented by Sandy Fraser in Computer Science Research at Bell Labs Murray Hill. In my mind, I can still picture Lee and Bill in the "Wurlitzer" room which was adjacent to the Unix room in building 2, fifth floor. It was called the Wurlitzer room because the layers of consoles for the Datakit switches resembled a massive organ. Lee and Bill stood at the center of it all.

I can still picture Lee standing in my office doorway to chat about work. He was a chain smoker and would tap ashes into the door latch hole. When I poked him about it he said that there was no problem since the door jamb and walls were all steel. I still wondered at the surprise of a column of ashes for workers doing any remodeling. Lee got throat cancer and a laryngectomy. He returned to work after treatment, and I remember the shock and sympathetic pain that I felt for him as he struggled to speak. We resorted to communicating via pen and paper. Looking back, I can see the interest and effort that he took to encourage me professionally and personally - what a great guy!

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Lee E. McMahon
Public Figure

Description

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lee E. McMahon (1931–1989) was an American computer scientist. He was a graduate of St. Louis University and obtained a Ph.D. in Psychology at Harvard. He worked for Bell labs from 1963 until 1989, and is best known for his contributions to early versions of the Unix operating system, in particular the sed stream editor. He contributed to the development of comm, qsort, grep, index, cref, cu, and Datakit. He also devised the McMahon system tournament.

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Description above from the Wikipedia article Lee E. McMahon, licensed under CC-BY-SA full list of contributors here. Community Pages are not affiliated with, or endorsed by, anyone associated with the topic.

A Celebration of the Life of Arne L. Swenson - January 14, 2012

November 13, 1930-December 21, 2011

End of life experience – O Holy Night by Adolphe Adam – Gary Murakami

Over the years, I have enjoyed time with my father-in-law Arne and his wife Sandy, talking, eating, playing chess, studying the Bible, and even discussing politics, religion, and world issues. Arne was highly intelligent, competitive, and had a clear vision of the improvements needed in our world. Sandy and I rejoiced in finding deep spiritual significance, insights, inspiration, and salvation in Jesus Christ through the Bible passages that we studied.

In mid October, Linnea and I had lunch with Arne and Sandy at their home in Summit, NJ. After Bible study with Sandy, Arne drove me home. The next week, Arne got sick, and an ambulance took him to Overlook Hospital. He had a serious infection and was so sick that he had difficulty recalling some words and finishing sentences. He responded well to treatment with anti-biotics, and two weeks later he was transferred to the ManorCare nursing home in New Providence on October 29, the day of the big snowstorm that took out electric power in the whole area for a week.

At ManorCare, Arne became known and loved for his gentle manner and conduct and for always saying “Thank you.” We celebrated with him for many events at ManorCare, visits from family, relatives, and friends; his 81st birthday, Thanksgiving, a puppet show from our church’s Youth Club kids, a Christmas concert by a brass band, and the spectacular ManorCare Christmas party.

During the last two months, Arne’s health fluctuated, and he eventually took a turn for the worse. Throughout everything, he continued to be the gentleman that he always had been over his whole life. Our memories of him remain to inspire us to be loving, steadfast, faithful, trustworthy, and triumphant. Linnea and I took turns at his bedside, talking to him, keeping him company and enjoying his presence even when he had difficulty in responding. Eventually, even a “yes” or “no” answer became a small victory. We played Christmas carols and songs by Petula Clark and I sang along to the music. I read to him from books, including passages like the following from the book titled “Blessing Your Spirit” (by Sylvia Gunter and Arthur Burk, from Day 8 Joy of the Lord, p23).

Touching him, I read,

Arne, your Father made you. He master-planned you, uniquely designed for this particular time in history. He chose the time in history, the family that He placed you into, and all your days up to now. His craftsmanship of you and His plans for you will stand before His throne for all eternity. I bless you with having abiding strength to be where God has placed you and to accomplish what He has called you to do, because you are able to drink deeply of the joy that God the Father has in you, as His beloved handiwork, crafted for His pleasure and purposes. I bless you in the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

Arne opened his eyes and responded, “Powerful words!”

On the night that Arne passed away, I was singing along to the Christmas Portrait album by the Carpenters.

O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of our dear Saviour's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
'Til He appear'd and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born;
O night divine, O night, O night Divine.

As I sang, “A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,” Arne took his last breath. He looked peaceful, maybe even joyful, as if he were seeing the dawn of a new and glorious morning in heaven, and hearing the angel voices, and resting in the arms of his heavenly Father.

Interconnections - Remember 9-11

I have wanted to blog some thoughts to share with others for a long time. It seems fitting to start today as I listen to the recitation of names in remembrance of those lost on September 11, 2001.

On that day, Linnea and I got a call for help from friends, and we were intervening with them when we saw the news on their TV. Over the next few days, we were relieved to find out that our friends were safe, and we were amazed at hearing their stories of deliverance. But over the next few years, we encountered many people who lost family and friends in the attacks.

The loss hit New Providence and other surrounding communities. The effects were compounded by many job layoffs at Lucent, AT&T, and other technology and telecom(interconnection) companies. I was laid-off from AT&T Labs Research along with over 400 other researchers.

A year after my layoff, I started working for Skarven Enterprises, a company started by several Cantor-Fitzgerald survivors of 9-11. We work to protect Americans from future loss. As I climb up the stairwell, I remember fire fighters scaling the stairs and people escaping.

Colleen Barret, president of Southwest Airlines, spoke at the Willow Creek Leadership Summit 2005. The vision of the company is to "open up the skies of America and give people the opportunity to live out their dreams." Her portrayal of the first Southwest flight after 9-11 brought me to tears.

In December of 2008, Skarven Enterprises became a Boeing company. This connected especially with me as I used to wake up as a child to the sound of Boeing jet engines in Renton, Washington.

As we travel, security delays should remind us that we wrestle "against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." We should reaffirm our commitment to fight for the wonder of flight, for connecting with family and friends, and for the living of our dreams.

I am glad to be a part of opening the skies of America.
I thank God for every heartbeat and breath.
I remember.
I pray.