Contributions to the tribute of Dale J. Pearson

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Jack Kouloheris and Ken Shepard posted a condolence

Thursday, November 3, 2022

Dale was a friend and colleague for over 30 years. We (Ken and I) first met Dale when we came to the IBM Watson Research Center in 1992. Ken met Dale in the "retraining" class for physicists to learn chip design. I met Dale in his role helping run the Systems research organization. As others noted, Dale was always in a good mood, despite the struggles he may have been facing with health or with the company's foibles. He was a great resource for a broad range of technical areas. We also shared an interest in flying and he was great to discuss things with as I was learning to fly. We will miss Dale - he was one of the people that makes working for IBM such a pleasure. Jack Kouloheris Ken Shepard

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Brian Gaucher uploaded photo(s)

Sunday, October 16, 2022

I first met Dale when I interviewed at IBM in 1993 and later joined the same dept he was working in, Communication Systems. Little did I know that fortuitous meeting would lead to a 30 year friendship. From the very first meeting with Dale I knew he was a no nonsense, very kind, extremely inquisitive, super intelligent, immensely generous, intensely personal, always the affable gentleman… well, you get the idea. Dale was a person you just loved to know and have around. There was that ever present smile he gave each and every person he met, that just made you feel welcomed. I can never recall a single event that when asked, Dale would not hesitate to help, no matter the ask, from physically moving one’s possessions from house to house, to thoughtful explanations of challenging work situations. Dale always had the ability to provide value and insight and never make you feel bad about asking. Over time we enjoyed each other’s company with friendly dinners and sharing of cooking advice and recommendations of fine wines (he was a real aficionado), though I have to say it was more one sided; Dale and Karen shared more secret recipes and wine advice than Kristina and I had to offer. We will forever recall those pleasant shared moments in time; with Dale, Karen and their ever present four legged family that kept us all smiling. I look back on these cherished moments wish now that we had done these more often. Dale and I shared a number of interests at work and outside of work. One of those mutual outside interests was flying. I hadn’t been aware, but Dale had always had as keen an interest in flying as I had. Perhaps it was the shear fun of learning something new, or doing something mankind shouldn’t, or the conscious journey we undertook in each flight to go somewhere new. In his usual style Dale over achieved and got his instrument rating far faster than I could finish mine and every now and then, he need someone to fly second seat in the plane, as he practiced flying IFR to remain current. In this, as in virtually everything Dale did, he was thorough, thoughtful, professional and as every good pilot wants to be, calm in the face of stress. That was Dale. I’ve added a picture of one of our flights together as we stopped over mid-flight to refuel. This picture has sat on my desk as a favored memory, since we did this many years ago. While I now shed a tear at the loss of such a fine person, colleague and friend, I’m thankful I at least have these fondest of memories that I can look back on, relive and continue to learn from and aspire to. From our heart to yours Dale as you make this next journey; be forever at peace knowing you’ve left each of us in a better place, you’ve helped make the world smile a bit more by just thinking about your ever present smile, we’re happier for just having known you, except for the fact we can no longer share new moments and discoveries directly with you. Thank you, Dale, for just being you and in our lives. We will for always miss you but also be thankful for the fun times, the not so fun and all the memories we will treasure. Brian and Kristina

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Brian Gaucher and Kristina Root posted a condolence

Sunday, October 16, 2022

I first met Dale when I interviewed at IBM in 1993 and later joined the same dept he was working in, Communication Systems. Little did I know that fortuitous meeting would lead to a 30 year friendship. From the very first meeting with Dale I knew he was a no nonsense, very kind, extremely inquisitive, super intelligent, immensely generous, intensely personal, always the affable gentleman… well, you get the idea. Dale was a person you just loved to know and have around. There was that ever present smile he gave each and every person he met, that just made you feel welcomed. I can never recall a single event that when asked, Dale would not hesitate to help, no matter the ask, from physically moving one’s possessions from house to house, to thoughtful explanations of challenging work situations. Dale always had the ability to provide value and insight and never make you feel bad about asking. Over time we enjoyed each other’s company with friendly dinners and sharing of cooking advice and recommendations of fine wines (he was a real aficionado), though I have to say it was more one sided; Dale and Karen shared more secret recipes and wine advice than Kristina and I had to offer. We will forever recall those pleasant shared moments in time; with Dale, Karen and their ever present four legged family that kept us all smiling. I look back on these cherished moments wish now that we had done these more often. Dale and I shared a number of interests at work and outside of work. One of those mutual outside interests was flying. I hadn’t been aware, but Dale had always had as keen an interest in flying as I had. Perhaps it was the shear fun of learning something new, or doing something mankind shouldn’t, or the conscious journey we undertook in each flight to go somewhere new. In his usual style Dale over achieved and got his instrument rating far faster than I could finish mine and every now and then, he need someone to fly second seat in the plane, as he practiced flying IFR to remain current. In this, as in virtually everything Dale did, he was thorough, thoughtful, professional and as every good pilot wants to be, calm in the face of stress. That was Dale. I’ve added a picture of one of our flights together as we stopped over mid-flight to refuel. This picture has sat on my desk as a favored memory, since we did this many years ago. While I now shed a tear at the loss of such a fine person, colleague and friend, I’m thankful I at least have these fondest of memories that I can look back on, relive and continue to learn from and aspire to. From our heart to yours Dale as you make this next journey; be forever at peace knowing you’ve left each of us in a better place, you’ve helped make the world smile a bit more by just thinking about your ever present smile, we’re happier for just having known you, except for the fact we can no longer share new moments and discoveries directly with you. Thank you Dale for just being you and in our lives.

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Dr. Jurij Paraszczak posted a condolence

Friday, October 14, 2022

There was always something about Dale. When you walked into his IBM office, he would turn around from his display which he was furiously serenading with his typing and somehow you could tell it was precision work. He had a special chuckle which started with a small laugh and ended up with a wave of his hands and a sibilant exhaust of the laugh. I don’t know how to describe it any better. Dale was my mentor when I engaged in a project called G2. It was a maelstrom of activity where IBM was trying to use copper to route electrical current through tiny wires built on top of transistors, this was being done by various groups simultaneously. An approach destined for success (not)…. There were Ad Tech and development groups in East Fishkill NY and in Burlington VT, there was a Yorktown research group who was supposed to build parts in the fabrication facility in Yorktown, there were groups in the deep science group (called Physical Sciences) who were studying the morphology of copper resulting from various ways of depositing copper and there were other ancillary groups around the IBM corporation adding (I’m not sure adding would be the correct verb) their 2 cents to this vortex. Dale was a person who liked order and loved to deal with chaos, because he could wrestle it into order. And he had plenty of the former! He helped many of us see the way in which the various parts were working and had developed a keen sense for identifying those who were shall we say, less that focused on their role than necessary. Dale was the Eminence Gris of G2 and helped me tremendously. My job was to figure out how to make this mélange work. That was ironic, because one of the managers who used to work for me gave me a clock with the title “Captain Chaos” emblazoned on its dial. But I digress. At the time (early 90’s), IBM was going through shall we say “cash flow” problems. There seemed to be cuts to all budgets everywhere, but we were determined to see G2 through. We knew that Intel was desperate to build copper into its chips and we were in a competition with them. Luckily there was a group of semiconductor companies, including Intel and IBM called Sematech. Together with Dale and various other colleagues we figured out a way in which Sematech would fund our work. While Rome (in this case) IBM, was burning. We kept the project going with some wily approaches. One approach was to defeat the finance guys who wanted to scrap equipment and claim depreciation. Capital equipment is bought by corporate HQ who claimed the depreciation, while we had to pay Corporate back for the equipment in installments. Each piece of equipment was identified by a so-called Brass Tag. This was a piece of metal (presumably brass) into which a unique number was stamped. We knew which equipment we needed to save for our project and through our network of developers, technicians RSM’s (Research Staff Members) we identified our key equipment and moved its brass tags to other less useful equipment, In this way we saved the program. Many people were involved, but Dale was at the heart of acquiring funds and helping redirect our friends in Finance to scrap un-needed relics. I even remember going to a meeting in the now defunct IBM 600 building where our very senior management “suggested” that we put the G2 process “on the shelf”. Right, we were going to put the years of work and innovation on the shelf. Uh uh. I don’t think they believed what they were asking either. That was not to be and in 1993 in the Proceedings of the 10th International VLSI multilevel Interconnection Conference we published the world’s 1st paper demonstrating the use of copper interconnects on chips. It was the very first paper in the publication, indicating its importance and was titled “ Planar Copper Polyimide Back End of the Line Interconnections for ULSI Devices”. There were 33 authors on this paper – and each of them made a contribution. But in my mind it was Dale at the center of the maelstrom that made it possible. His humor, passion for accurate data, knowledge of the processes and more important the people, made this possible. For many years this provided IBM with a significant advantage in the marketplace of advanced devices. Dale and I went on our separate ways in our careers, but the relationship of trust and humor we developed during this project was insoluble. I will miss him. Jurij Paraszczak

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Franco Stellari uploaded photo(s)

Friday, October 14, 2022

My first memories of Dale are when I first came to USA in 2000 to work as a summer student at IBM. I met him after coming to Mrs. Marks house and he took me to visit IBM. Always a nice and kid person.

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Radha Ratnaparkhi posted a condolence

Wednesday, October 12, 2022

My first memories of Dale are when I first came to the Watson Research Lab - I was re-locating from California and everything on the east coast was different, even at work :) Early on, Dale and I had a disagreement about something (it must have been one of our Research processes!) however I was delighted when Dale characterized it as "a storm in a tea cup!" - I can live with many storms in tea cups and after that I think we always found ways to collaborate. I recall a trip we took together to Washington DC via Amtrak. By then Dale, had to move with the oxygen cylinder in tow. At some point in our journey we moved our seats upfront where we could sit across each other and discuss the presentation for the next day. The ticket collector however was very annoyed and reprimanded us for not having moved our ticket stubs when we moved ourselves. I was busy apologizing saying "how new I was to such a journey blah" when I saw Dale grinning. Apparently, he had caught me out using my "new" excuse once to often - I had been on the East coast by then for over 5 years yet my standard reason for all deviations was that I was "new"!! I will miss you Dale however you will always be there in my memories. I have a theory regarding Dale's preference for French wines - he was not "new" to them as I recall, he had spent some time living in France :) With warm regards for Karen and everyone at home, Radha Ratnaparkhi

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Mark Dennis uploaded photo(s)

Wednesday, September 28, 2022

Dale and I met exactly 50 years ago, probably to this very month. Having both been dragged around by our families, moving every 2 years on average, we both landed simultaneously in a small “dirtbag” town in Northern Texas to finish our last 3 years of high school. We were the new kids in a town where nothing ever changed (if you’ve ever seen “The last picture show” with Syble Shepard, it took place in a slightly smaller town 20 miles away, but the “pool scene” was filmed a few blocks from our homes); we didn’t fit in, but we found and supported each other until we could escape. Making snide references to our time in Wichita Falls was a favorite conversation of ours for years afterward. After high school we went in different directions: different Texas Universities and then to different parts of the country: me to California and Dale to Wisconsin. I got married and then Dale; we were in each other’s weddings. A couple years later I was divorced and then, so was Dale. They were experiences we celebrated and commiserated together. Over the years we’d get together when any opportunity arose. When Dale moved to Vermont, we arranged a weekend to celebrate the fall colors. On another occasion, he flew me out to Long Island and we went wine tasting for a day; Dale loved to fly (he even secretly took helicopter lessons). If he was on a business trip to the West coast, Dale would stay with us. We went backpacking together in the Sierras on one occasion. My two children, now adults, knew “Uncle Dale” from a very early age; he was part of our family. We shared many interests: science, woodworking, music, cooking and food among them. Favorite memories included our time wine tasting together in the Napa/Sonoma wine regions. Back in the 80s, wine tasting didn’t require a reservation and there were no tasting fees; we’d just show up at a winery and sample what there was to taste. Dale and I were professional wine snobs and we’d hit every winery we could. On one occasion, having found that a local paper had just published a list of award-winning Merlots, Dale suggested we try to visit them all, only tasting Merlot. We were starting around noon; I mapped them out and Dale drove. The Napa/Sonoma region covers a large area and the two valleys are connected by a narrow country road that winds about 30 miles over a small mountain range. We hit 5 wineries in Napa, but there were 4 more located in Sonoma. We would have to hurry! You can probably imagine our trip over to Sonoma, particularly after a fair bit of wine tasting. Suffice it to say, Dale got us to the next winery in record time. We had just finished tasting at the 8th winery about 3:55 pm and the wineries close at 4, nevertheless we raced over to the last stop, arriving at 4:05 but they we closing up. “Oh, but my friend here came all the way from NY to taste your award-winning Merlot!” I said, and that’s all it took. We visited 9 wineries in an afternoon, a new record! That works out to about 30 minutes each for tasting and traveling. Now as I think back, perhaps Dale and I are to blame for some of the changes that impact wine tasting tourists, who knows. When Dale moved to Europe in the 90s, we still kept in contact (which wasn’t quite as easy back then!). At one point, Dale called to say he was invited to a wedding in India and we decide to get together and make it an around-the-world trip with an Indian layover. I scrambled to get all my vaccinations and just as we were about to book the trip, Dale’s job was reassigned to New York, plans changed, and our trip never happened. It was fortuitous for Dale; however, because that’s when he met Karen. Happily married, trips to Maine and keeping up with their 4-legged children, Dale’s life was especially full and happy these last 20 years. Aside from perhaps to Karen, Dale shared very little about many aspects of his life, so it came as a huge surprise when he called one day and told me he’d been in a coma for 3 months and all the health issues that had scarred him. While this impacted his trips out West, we would get together in New York and visit his favorite pizza parlor, oxygen in tow. His outlook always remained positive, I never heard him complain and he was determined to keep right on with his life as if nothing had happened. In addition to being the same age, our birthdays were a week apart – me being the oldest. It was usually that time of year (May) when we always managed to connect. If we talked by phone, Dale always started the conversation with a cheery “Hey Chump!”. Alternatively, Dale would send me a birthday email, which was nice because it would remind me to return the favor a week later! That happened every single year – until this one. There was no word from Dale, and I knew something had to be wrong. I sent him my usual greeting on his birthday, and still no response. About a week later I heard from Karen about the 6-month ordeal that led to Dale’s new lung. Although still in ICU, I was able to talk to him a month later and he was thrilled at his new lease on life; always optimistic. Sadly, it was short lived. I am certainly fortunate to have known Dale and witnessed his life. We shared many great memories. I am especially grateful that he found Karen and for the many happy years they had together. We will all miss him! “See you in the next one, Chump!” The photo is of Dale and his High School Chemistry pals from Christmas 1974. Dale on the left and me second from the right.

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Mike Pelletier posted a condolence

Monday, September 19, 2022

I first met Dale and Karen 21 years ago when they walked into our newly opened wine store in Bedford Hills, in fact, they may have been our first customers. As we got to know each other during Saturday evening wine tastings I was fascinated by Dale's stories, he seemed to have been everywhere and done lots of things with some interesting characters. Our palates were in synch, wine-wise, as he was a big fan of many of my favorite wines from Burgundy, the Rhône Valley and southern France and we quickly became friends. My wife Steph and I frequently fondly recall the many evenings spent with Dale and Karen both at their home, including a lovely Thanksgiving holiday, and numerous restaurants in NY and CT. One of our favorites was meal at Buffet de la Gare somewhere on the Hudson River. Dale and I both ordered the duck and there were a couple bottles of Burgundy on the table, a wonderful meal. As we were leaving Dale convinced me not to go back the way we came, but to follow him on a short cut and I obliged. Shortly into the drive he took a left as the light changed (he was a bit of a lead foot), I couldn't follow and we were officially lost. This being before maps on cell phones we ended up in White Plains before we could find our way back to Bridgeport 2 hours later. We had a hearty chuckle about that the next day! For many years Steph and I spent a week in Belfast, ME and one year that alined with one of their visits to Karen's parents in Owls Head and we were invited to their house for a lobster feast. On a beautiful afternoon overlooking the water Steph and I broke into our lobsters devouring them before any one else had even begun. It was then explained to us that we didn't know the proper way to eat lobster, which involved picking the lobster completely clean before digging in. Who knew, after 50 years of eating lobster I was doing it wrong. Dale and I played golf together at my muni course in Bridgeport where I turned him onto our tradition of sipping German Riesling Spatlese during the round. He questioned the practice until I convinced him the low alcohol of Spatlese would merely loosen up his swing while the slight sweetness gives you energy, just like Gatorade! I will certainly miss those rounds of golf my friend and the many years of fun, tall tales and wine tasting. I hope they only have DRC up there.

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Arch Currie uploaded photo(s)

Sunday, September 18, 2022

Real men don't cry. I guess I'm not that type of man. I met Dale too many years ago to remember with any reliability. We were both guests at some sort of wine-tasting function hosted by merchants we had come to know well - but through separate channels. Dale, I came to learn, was a supremely educated vinofile. Me, not so much. As the friendship flourished - including to very great measure the parallel friendship of our wives - my admiration and joy of association rose exponentially. Dale was all that a good person should aspire to. Smart, witty, urbane, homespun, serious, and childlike - all blended together in the most enjoyable way possible. Memories? There are hundreds. The night he, Karen, Rita, and I treated ourselves to the most spectacular (and expensive) meal ever at Blue Hill Farms. I had a windfall profit on a consulting assignment which justified the splurge. Dale just WANTED to go. The construction of the deck on the rear of his house. I was getting what I call "Carpentry Therapy". Dale was being diligent about details. I had shared a story with Dale of working with another friend on a project where that friend's demand for precision was extraordinary. We then chose to describe our processes as "full (insert name of friend)", "half (insert name of friend)", or whatever the appropriate ratio of (insert name of friend) met Dale's expectations for the situation. My being nominated by Dale to be a reference for the security clearance he needed for some of his government contracts at IBM. When the interview happened (with the FBI, as I recall) I struggled to stifle my grinning over the situation. I just knew he was worthy, but had no way to "prove" it other than pointing out that he was always intentionally discrete about his work. In my mind's eye, I knew that Dale was secretly enjoying my predicament. My buying some wine for one of our regular dinners. French wine, no matter the varietal, was often on his table. I asked Tony, our wine merchant friend, was Dale a French wine "snob". "You bet" said Tony. I asked Dale later if was he offended by that. Answer, "Not at all." When visiting Dale in the hospital, he was unable to speak without a special speaking valve on his trach tube. At earlier visits, we had learned the hard way that I was an incompetent lip-reader. The last time I was there, he gestured and nodded for me to place the speaking valve. That set off the flashing red lights and sirens when the ventilator was removed - by me, of course. With the ventilator back in place, and order restored, we went back to gestures, one way conversation (me to Dale), poor lip-reading, and white board communication. As the time approached for me to leave, I asked him to tell me what I could do the next time I came. I got my answer on the board. When I suggested that it would help if he could tell me what to do, when I arrived. He didn't choose to wait. I got my answer right away. That conversation is attached. Perfect Dale. Many times Dale, Karen, Rita, and I spoke of our future, with a vacation in France together. Dale had some utterly wonderful ideas of how best to enjoy country. One key was a barge rental. I'm sure that he would have been a very competent pilot of that - as he was in all that he did. An old friend had a favorite was of offering a compliment. He would say "I am proud to know you." That compliment is offered to Dale - sadly much too late. The world is a much lesser place with his departure. We must all be proud to have known him.

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The family of Dale J. Pearson uploaded a photo

Friday, September 16, 2022

Dale J. Pearson

Saturday, September 10, 2022

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Dale J. Pearson

Saturday, September 10, 2022

Home | About Us | Funeral Planning | Obituaries & Tributes | Send Flowers | Resources | Contact Us

4 Woods Bridge Road | Katonah, New York 10536Phone: (914) 232-3033 | Fax: (914) 232-7896 | Email: info@clarkassociatesfuneralhome.com

4 Woods Bridge Road | Katonah, New York 10536
Phone: (914) 232-3033 | Fax: (914) 232-7896 | Email: info@clarkassociatesfuneralhome.com