Steven Michael French, a longtime resident of Austin, Texas, passed away on Friday, August 21, 2026, at the age of 63. He was born on November 6, 1962, in Wilmington, Delaware, the youngest of three children of Frank and Margaret French. Growing up in Wilmington, Steve developed lifelong interests in chess, English literature, contract bridge, soccer, and tennis.
Steve graduated from Rice University with a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science in 1984 and a Master of Science in Computer Engineering in 1988. Passionate about open source software, he became an internationally recognized expert in file system architecture and was the original author and longtime maintainer of the Linux kernel's CIFS/SMB client. He began his career at IBM, where he spent nearly 25 years and became a prominent member of the Samba team. He later worked as a Principal Systems Engineer at Primary Data before joining the Microsoft Azure Storage team, where he served as a Principal Software Engineer for nearly nine years. Throughout his career, Steve especially valued the friendships, collaboration, and opportunities to mentor others that his work brought him.
Above all, Steve was devoted to his family and took great joy in being a husband, father, and grandfather. Steve's faith was an important part of his life. He was actively involved in his local parish as a lector and regularly participated in men's groups, religious education, altar server training, and Bible studies. He had a deep love of reading and was an avid chess player. He also enjoyed music, literature, history, classical guitar, tennis, soccer, kayaking, and family trips to the beach. He took great pride in helping rebuild La Mirage Condominium after Hurricane Harvey while serving on its board of directors, and he gave back to his alma mater through service with the Rice Engineering Alumni. Endlessly curious about the world, Steve loved learning about other cultures and keeping up with current events. His family will remember him for his curiosity, quiet humor, love of long conversations, and seemingly endless desire to learn something new.
Steve was preceded in death by his parents, Frank Edward French Jr. and Margaret Inez French. He is survived by his wife, Jody; his children, Matthew (Kennedy), Anna, and Nathan; his grandchildren, Frank and James; and his siblings, Mark and Christine.
The family would like to thank the doctors and staff of MD Anderson for the care and compassion they showed Steve throughout his illness.
Friends and family are invited to attend the Funeral Mass on Saturday, August 29, 2026, at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, 9500 Neenah Ave., Austin, TX 78717. The Rosary will begin at 10:30 a.m., followed by Mass at 11:00 a.m. Lunch will be provided in the Parish Hall following the Mass.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in Steve's honor to St. Dominic Savio Catholic High School. Donations may be arranged by contacting the school at (512) 388-8846 and noting, "In Memory of Steve French."
