Jean Bartik died this morning. Her son Timothy emailed Bill Mauchly, who told myself and others. Tim wrote:
My mom died early this morning. I was already scheduled to fly out to Poughkeepsie this morning because we knew this likely was coming. My sister Mary is already out there with Jane. We will be figuring out some things and telling some stories. I don't think there will be a memorial service in the short-term. There will probably be some service later this spring or summer in Missouri, when she is buried next to her siblings in the Jennings Cemetery in Stanberry Missouri.
Please notify anyone else you think might want to know.
She died very peacefully -- she just stopped breathing a little after midnight, very early this morning. We had decided Monday night not to hospitalize her when she was in renal failure. She had made it clear on Saturday and Sunday that she did not want under any circumstances to go back in the hospital. Actually Monday night, the last thing I heard her say was that she wanted to stay at the Pines, and I heard her even though she was 10 feet away from the phone. It must have taken a tremendous amount of will power to speak up so loudly when she could barely talk.
As you know from reading my mom's memoir, my mom placed great value on her friendship with Kay. I promised my Mom I would get her memoir published in some form. I think NWMSU is self-publishing it with some service, but there will be some copies printed and it will be for sale at Amazon. I want to set up a website where anyone can download it for free. I also hope that Kathy Kleiman's documentary gets produced.
Sorry to break this news. Tim's email is BARTIK@upjohn.org. - Evan