Michael Francis Tiernan

Michael, who spent his career as a scientist, researcher, and early computer programmer, died Thursday, Nov. 25, 2021, at St. Jude’s Hospital in Fullerton in the company of family after a long battle with lymphoma. Services will be held at St. John the Baptist Church in Silver Spring, MD., with interment to follow at Mt. St. Mary Cemetery in Emmitsburg, MD.

He was born March 18, 1949, in New York City, and grew up in Queens and Long Island, developing a love of science, particularly astronomy and physics. Michael attended Stony Brook University, where he received bachelor and masters degrees in that field.

He also pursued graduate studies at UCLA in astronomy, geology, and planetary science and did research at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, working in the 1970s on projects such as early mapping of Venus, Mars and the moon’s surface. Michael also combined his growing computer skills and background in geology while working for Unocal, and other companies.

After he retired, he again pursued graduate studies – this time in computational biology at California State University in Fullerton – to better understand his own disease.

He also used the computer skills he developed in the 1960s and 1970s, when computers were programmed with a stack of punchcards, to branch out into other fields. For example, he contributed to the development of a computer program on Commodore 64 machines to help synchronize music to films. That effort led to a scientific and engineering award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1987. 

He loved hiking, spelunking, star-watching, and traveling with his wife, Amy, to whom he was married for 45 years. He is survived by his wife; his father, Frank, and brother Robert, both of Maryland; and sisters Patricia Hayden of Maine; Mary Brough of Virginia.; and Barbara Ramsey of Maryland; as well as several nieces and nephews.

Arrangements were handled by McAulay and Wallace Mortuaries in Fullerton, CA. Donations in his memory can be sent to City of Hope Comprehensive Care Center, 1500 East Duarte Rd., Duarte, CA, 91010.