Gary Mokotoff

Gary was born on April 26, 1937 in New York City to Jack Mokotoff and Sylvia Friedberg Mokotoff. His grandparents were immigrants from Russia/Poland. Gary grew up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, then spent his teenage years in Queens. He attended the University of of Chicago at age 16, and after graduation joined IBM in the late 1950s. He was instrumental in developing systems software for IBM‘s first commercial computer, and authored several of its original computer programs. In 1965, Gary was drafted into the U.S. Army and spent his entire two-year career in the data processing department at Fort Dix Army Air Base, where he led the team that installed the first computer there. He achieved the rank of Specialist Fifth Class. In 1968, Gary founded his own computer software company, Data Universal, where he achieved great success for many decades. The company provided systems, software and service for retail chains nationwide.

Gary’s second passion in life was the field of Jewish genealogy, where he achieved international notoriety as an author, lecturer and publisher. He authored many books and articles and was the longtime publisher of the journal Avotaynu: The International Review of Jewish Genealogy, to which thousands around the world subscribed for more than 37 years, and the weekly e-zine Nu, What’s Nu? which he published for over 20 years. Among his many other publications, Gary was the co-author of Where Once We Walked: A Guide to the Jewish Communities Destroyed in the Holocaust. The book was named “Outstanding Reference Book of the Year” for 1991 by the Association of Jewish Librarians. Gary’s works as a book author & publisher are currently listed at www.avotaynubooks.com.

In 1987 Gary founded the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies, the international organization of Jewish genealogical societies all over the world. In 1998 he was the first recipient of the IAJGS Lifetime Achievement Award. He served as a board member on many other genealogy organizations as well. He used his knowledge of computer science to help build databases and other research tools that helped countless people research their family roots. His accomplishments in genealogy are too many to name, and a longer list can be found on his Wikipedia page.

By far, Gary considered his greatest achievement in life his family. He was married to his wife Ruth for 60 years until she passed away five months ago, and their love was like no other. His 3 children, Alexis, Jessica & Greg, and his 8 grandchildren, Kayla, Amanda, Tyler, Jackson, Brendan, Olivia, Lily & Samantha, were his greatest joy and the most cherished accomplishment of his life.