My Dad

I was very fortunate to be raised by my dad. He was a great father, teacher, historian, engineer, and tinkerer/handyman/broken-thing-fixer. I have vivid memories of digging through his cluttered workbench looking for parts and tools.

I also inherited his passion of music. His collection of Boston and Queen 8-tracks was the soundtrack of my childhood.

He was an electrical engineer by profession, working mostly on designing IC's for microprocessors and graphic cards. He worked on the landmark Tiny-11, which squeezed the 4 ICs of a PDP-11 onto a single chip.

In May of 2009, he succumbed to throat cancer after a 2 year battle. He went way before his time and will be missed.

Obituary

Warren F. "Crow" Szczypiorski, age 62, of Conshohocken, a retired draftsman and electronic engineer, died on Friday, May 15th, 2009. He was born in Brooklyn, NY on October 4, 1946, son of the late Thaddeus and Catherine (Kobzda) Szczypiorski. He was the beloved husband of Patricia (Siminson) Szczypiorski for 40 years.

A 1964 graduate of Alexander Hamilton Vocational Technical High School, Warren was involved in the early development of the modern microprocessor, and worked with companies such as Incyte, Bell Labs, ATI, Ensoniq, Digital Equipment Corporation, Commodore and MOS Technology.

His hobbies included salt water fish, auto mechanics, model building, vegetable gardening, and fishing. He was a hockey and baseball fan, taking part in a local softball league and helping coach little league. He was a chess and pinochle player, and a master storyteller.

An avid historian, his interest in his fathers World War II service led him to become an authority on the history of his fathers ship, the USS Gillette (DE-681). He managed a highly regarded website about the history of the ship and its sailors, and organized a small reunion for some of the remaining sailors who assisted him.

His work in technology was fueled by his life as a dedicated husband and family man. He was a dedicated husband and supportive father, who enjoyed being surrounded by good food and good people. He led a simple and honest life in a complicated world and believed that the most important thing in the world was family.

He is survived by his wife and mother of his three children, Patricia. In addition, he is survived by his three sons: Warren Scott and his partner Lauren Heath; Thad Anthony and his wife Edie; and Daniel Patrick and his fiancee Kimberly Hatfield. He is also survived by a single grandchild, Ethan; a sister, Theodora, of New York; and an aunt, Regina, of Arizona, along with several cousins, nieces, and nephews.