Ian (John) Daniel Service

Ian was born in Gourock Scotland in 1949 and was the elder son of John and Anne (Bunty) Service.

He was dearly loved by his life partner Annie; they were together for 52 years.

He is survived by his brother Matthew, his wife Karen, and nieces Victoria and Amy. He was much loved by Annie’s family, and will be missed by in-laws Elaine and Andy, Helen and Anthony, and Nigel, as well as nieces and nephew Rachel, David and Alison, and great nieces and nephews Mathew, Lauren, Oisin, and Zelda.

Ian grew up In Gourock, Scotland, on the Firth of Clyde. He was educated at Gourock High School, Greenock High School, Paisley College of Technology, and Glasgow University before moving to London to teach at Letchworth Polytechnic and study for his master’s degree at London University. He started his student days as a mathematician, but soon gravitated to the emerging field of Computer Science. His first employment was at Hatfield Polytechnic, now a part of the University of Hertfordshire, UK. He moved to the University of York, UK to do research in Computer Science. In 1984 he and Annie began a great adventure in the United States. Ian worked initially for Wang Labs in Lowell, Massachusetts and then for Stratus Computer Inc. where he worked as a software engineer and later Senior Technical Consultant. In 1998 Ian and Annie moved to the Pacific Northwest where he worked for Microsoft until his retirement. Whilst Annie had minimal idea of what he did from day to day, he apparently did it well, and loved what he did. He passionately believed that Science, in all its forms, was the way forward, and a way to solve all problems given time.

Throughout his life Ian pursued several hobbies. He loved to ski, scuba dive, and once encountered a humpback whale, a few feet away while in a tiny rubber dinghy. He came back from the experience so excited that he talked about it for days. Ian was not easily excited, but this was a magical moment for him. Along with Annie he checked off a number of long New England mountain hikes. He had a passion for all things space related, and could rattle off details about spaceships, launches and just about anything you wanted to know. He always wished he could have traveled to the stars. He was an avid reader, and it ran the gamut from Shakespeare to spy thrillers to the Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy. His party piece was to quote word for word from Alice in Wonderland and numerous other titles.

Ian lived in the present. He was able to easily leave the past behind, and make a new place for himself in the environment he found himself in. He was not fond of thinking about the future, even just the day ahead, and was often heard saying, “not now, I will deal with it tomorrow!” But he dealt with many things. When he retired, he loved to tackle the challenges of living in a forest and trying to keep a little bit of it away from the house. He learned to recognize the calls of the eagles and the chirps of the towhees. He managed the hummingbird feeders and was very protective of all the critters who shared our gardens. He took over Annie’s greenhouse and grew delicious tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers. A few times most seasons he would harvest and take baskets of veggies to the food bank in town. And, he learned to make and preserve amazing salsa and pasta sauce to eat in the dark days of winter.

Ian loved to travel, made trips all over the USA and visited many European countries. He loved Scandinavia. On one occasion he reconnected with his cousin Amelia and her husband Kourosh in France. He and Annie went to China, Australia, New Zealand, several South Pacific Islands, the Caribbean, Mexico. And of course, all over the UK.

He was quiet, measured in his comment, patient, calm and rarely criticized. He turned his hand to most things around the house and garden, loved to tinker with his tractor and machinery, was utterly in love with his cat Loki, and he hated wearing shoes!

Rest well Ian, and journey to the stars.

Per Ian's wishes, no services will be held at this time. Should you wish, please make a memorial contribution in Ian's name to your favorite charity.