[ESIP-all] Bruce Barkstrom 1944-2018

Tue Aug 28 13:15:08 EDT 2018

Dear Erin,

I am so sorry to hear this. Bruce and I had developed a pen pal relationship in the past 6-7 years as he and I grew
closer after meeting at an ESIP meeting and talking about archives and Apache OODT. Bruce and I would regularly
exchange notes to one another and I was saddened to hear years back when he first was diagnosed, got better, and
then went into remission from his illness.

He and I co-authored a paper together in Earth Science Informatics at the beginning of our relationship:

A simple model illustrating the virtue of replication for long-term information preservation
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12145-012-0100-4

I grew to love seeing his notes. He would tell me about how everything could be replicated using the Ada language
and how he could use it to model the things we were talking about with archiving and OODT. I got him so interested in
Apache and the likes of open source, that we were able to get Bruce signed up and as a key contributor in terms
of thoughts and discussions to the Apache OODT lists:

http://markmail.org/message/nu5eaulyjw72lrcr <=== proud moment in 2012

As the years passed by, Bruce and I would save the technical discussion in our notes, and mostly just ask how
each other was doing. He would tell me about traveling somewhere with Alice, having great wine, and/or simply
what his plans for the coming quarter were.

The last note that I received was Bruce was on 12/22/2017. It was titled “Still Here”.

I share that note in its entirety with you all:

---BEGIN Message
I keep being surprised and pleased with being able to get up every day.

While I'm still doing chemo, it looks like things are under control.
Can't guarantee that will last, but so far so good.  I even ran into
a physician who said I was only the third person he's encountered
in 30 years of practice who'd survived three years after a diagnosis
of pancreatic cancer.  In short, I'm a statistical anomaly - which
you could call extremely lucky.  Anyway, I'm just back from a week
in New Orleans, presenting a poster at the AGU meeting.  Enjoyed
the food as well - doing Antoine's, Galatoire's, and Breakfast at
Brennan's.

Looks like you're still dabbling occasionally in OODT.

Best wishes for a New Year.
----END Message

In my note to him I made him promise that in 2 years we would still
be sending notes to one another. He didn’t hold up his end of the bargain
but I forgive him ☹ He replied in his final reply to me that day by telling me
a funny story getting lost on his way to a restaurant that he remembered on
a Gulf Coast Marina at Dauphin Island. He found a funny way to introduce
archival practices in the story as he always did. I’ll share with anyone interested
at some point in the future.

His last words to me were (after me telling him about the expansion of my family
to include my daughter who was only 4 months old at the time):

“Congratulations on your family news.  Don't forget to enjoy being together.
Bruce B.”

I will miss him greatly and will miss our notes. My heartfelt condolences to Alice
and to his family. I had the great pleasure of knowing and meeting him later in
life. I can only imagine what kind of trouble we would have gotten in to had I known
him earlier.

Please do include me Rama in your EOS tribute. I would be happy to contribute.

Sincerely,
Chris A. Mattmann
Bruce’s Friend.

Chris Mattmann, Ph.D.
Associate Chief Technology & Innovation Officer
Manager, IT Advanced Research & Open Source Office, 1761
Manager, NSF and Open Source Programs Application Office, 8212
17x   |   Office of the Chief Information Officer, Chief Technology and Innovation Office (1760)

JPL   |   jpl.nasa.gov
4800 Oak Grove Dr, Mail Stop 171-377
Pasadena, California 91109
O 818-354-8810   |   M 626-755-6564

From: ESIP-all <esip-all-bounces at lists.esipfed.org> on behalf of Erin Robinson via ESIP-all <esip-all at lists.esipfed.org>
Reply-To: Erin Robinson <erinrobinson at esipfed.org>
Date: Tuesday, August 28, 2018 at 9:59 AM
To: "esip-all at lists.esipfed.org" <esip-all at lists.esipfed.org>
Cc: Hampapuram Ramapriyan <hampapuram.ramapriya at ssaihq.com>
Subject: [ESIP-all] Bruce Barkstrom 1944-2018

Hi All -

This email is a belated notice that Bruce Barkstrom passed away on July 1, 2018. As many of you know, he was a significant contributor to Earth sciences at NASA, NOAA and in ESIP. He will always be remembered as an instrumental figure and visionary in the early days of Federal Earth science data systems as he carefully considered users and user needs. Bruce continued to contribute actively to the ESIP Data Stewardship and broader Earth science data community after he retired. Bruce was a good friend to many of us and will be missed.

If you knew Bruce or of his work and would like to leave a condolence, the family wishes that notes are left on the family's condolence space online: https://www.ashevilleareaalternative.com/notices/Bruce-Barkstrom Donations can be made in Bruce's memory to: Americans for Responsible Solutions, P.O. Box 51196, Washington, DC 2009, it is a gun control advocacy PAC started by Gabrielle Gifford and her husband & astronaut, Mark Kelly.

Rama Ramapriyan and Nancy Hoebelheinrich are interested in co-authoring an Eos Tribute for Bruce. If you would like to be included you can reply reach out directly to Rama, cc'd here.

Best,
Erin

Erin Robinson
Executive Director
ESIP - Earth Science Information Partners
esipfed.org<http://esipfed.org> | 314.369.9954
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