Barbara Carson Hamer

She was born Barbara Kathryn Carson to Norman and Marjorie Carson in Evanston IL on June 30, 1941. After World War II, they moved to Seattle where she attended Queen Anne High School, and graduated from the University of Washington with a BA in Math in 1963.

She married Dale Hamer in 1968, and had two sons, Kenneth and Norman.

Barbara intended to become a civil engineer, and focused on engineering in college at a time when this was unheard of for women. But, in her junior year she had access to an IBM 709 in the Forestry Department and taught herself FORTRAN. She made considerable pocket money programming mathematical problems for physics students.

While preparing for interviews after graduation she happened upon a chance to interview at IBM. She was hired there in 1963 as a Systems Engineer, and subsequently promoted to District Staff.

Barbara had a decades-long career in what would become the tech industry, After IBM she became a consultant across a broad section of the industry. She founded Precision Data Services (a data processing company) and was an early adopter and promoter of microcomputers and computer networks.

Barbara had wide ranging interests - she founded Housing Solutions Inc. and J.D.I. Inc., which built low-cost housing using innovative foamed concrete prefab technology. She also worked as an independent certified real estate appraiser. After the death of her husband Dale she went back to school to study UAVs, and helped King County and the City of Seattle develop drone policy and practice for emergency services.

It was a privilege to know Barbara. She was an endless font of ideas and energy. She was relentlessly smart, but also cared about those around her and built relationships wherever she went. She taught us how to face challenges unafraid and surmount them, and she did so through her final day.

Barbara is survived by her sons Norman and Kenneth, her daughters-in-law Lynn and Caitlin, and her grandson Roscoe.

Barbara was a tireless supporter of Medic One, and memorials in her honor should be made to the Medic One Foundation.