A Rebel...

While at MIT working on his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, Dad had a summer job that allowed him to work on his senior thesis. So while the other students were struggling with their topics, he was getting paid $1.75/hour to work on his. Apparently there were PhD students that were unable to solve the problem that his amplifier solved and they were shocked to learn his plan was successful. 

According to Tim Jackson in the book Inside Intel, Dad was a rebel: 

Political radicalism was not dead inside Intel. Its leading exponent was a gifted young circuit designer by the name of Joel Karp. With bell-bottoms and long hair, Karp was willing to risk the consternation of his employers by carrying anti-Vietnam petitions around Intel parties.

Karp displayed a wonderful ability to wind up his more conventional colleagues. On one occasion, a new sales executive bumped into him as he was about to leave the office for a technical meeting with a client. The shocked sales chief took one look at Karp's shoulder-length hair and ordered him to get it cut before attending the meeting. The following day, Karp reappeared in the office with his hair blow-dried and styled with great skill, but only one-eighth of an inch shorter than the day before. There was silence from his colleagues as Karp walked down the lab, informed the sales chief with a smile that he was going to claim the haircut as a business expense, and presented him with a receipt for the then astounding sum of $25. 

It was no surprise to me that Dad bonded easily with Jimmy over computers. They spent many hours over the years discussing techie stuff. Dad bought me my first computer in 1985, just in time for my final semester at San Diego State. It was a Compaq desktop with dual floppies and no hard drive along with a dot matrix printer. As much as technology has progressed during my lifetime, it’s crazy to realize how Dad was in the thick of things as he helped design game-changing memory chips.  

Dad was interviewed by the Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley in 2003. He arranged for a private behind-the-scenes tour of the museum for me and the girls during our visit in 2007, which Jimmy was really disappointed to have missed. I stupidly put off opening the link Dad sent me about his interview because I wrongly assumed it was an audio recording. Granted, I had to skip many pages that were far too technical for me, but I learned so much about Dad and what he worked on during his fascinating career. How sad that I missed the opportunity to discuss with him the many stories that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. And how disappointing that I failed to tell him how much I would miss him when he was gone.

 

My Talented Father...

One of my funniest memories of Dad was when he was a guest reader for Ashlynn’s Year 2 (1st grade) class in The Hague. He really hammed it up while reading The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs. He took on the persona of the wolf and by the end of the book had the kids in such a frenzy that Mrs. Cross was truly cross. Dad was pretty excited that he’d be remembered as the grandpa who nearly started a riot.

Following on his comedic reading, Dad starred along with Ann and the girls in two backyard plays. During our visit in August 2007, ten-year-old Veronica adapted Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night with each star playing at least two parts. Dad especially embraced his role of Sir Toby Belch, clearly living up to his name in this photo.

Two summers later, he was hilarious playing the mother in Travel to the Future, an original play by the girls.

Beyond his comedic abilities, Dad was a gifted jazz musician, playing the trombone and piano since childhood. After he retired, he played regularly in three local jazz bands. You might notice in this photo that he was a fair bit older than the other musicians. Age wasn’t the only thing that differentiated him from the others as they all were attending Stanford University and he never did, but they were short a trombonist so put aside any rivalry with MIT. He was thrilled to go on an European tour twice with the band, which is how I managed to take this photo of the band in Paris in June 2015. 

Veronica took these photos in August 2018 at the San Jose Jazz Festival. The girls regularly attended his concerts when they visited.

Ashlynn dedicated a show to Dad on the University of Glasgow radio station, including songs that he loved as well as songs that we remember him by (for instance, rock that he introduced to me but no longer listened to himself). Bilge, one of her flatmates, created the artwork: carps for Karp. 

 

A Great Grandpa...

Just for the record, Dad was not a great-grandfather, but rather a great grandfather. He thoroughly embraced the idea of me becoming a mother and adored both of my daughters from the first moment he held them—definitely the best gifts I ever gave him! Once the girls were old enough, Dad and Ann would host the girls by themselves in California for at least two weeks on the years that the four of us didn’t go together. These visits helped to cement their relationships with their grandparents while also contributing to their adventurous natures. They miss him greatly!

Holding Three-Week-Old Veronica in North Carolina

Teaching Veronica How to Play Piano

Grandpa and Grandma Visiting Newborn Ashlynn in May 2000

Grandpa and Grandma Visiting us in Holland in October 2006

Girls’ First Solo Trip to California in August 2008

Veronica’s First Solo Trip to California in August 2015

White Family Trip to California in March 2016

Girls’ Solo Trip to California in August 2018

 

A Fabulous Father...

Unfortunately, I can’t find my childhood photo album, so these photos of me and Dad fast forward 30 years. Not only did he gift me with my goofy sense of humor, but he broadened my horizons by introducing me to world travel. I am very proud to be his daughter.

Walking Me Down the Aisle on July 25, 1993

Christmas 1995 with Jimmy, Ann and Leigh in Seoul 

Meeting up with Eden in Houston in 1996

Visiting Us in Holland in October 2006

California in July 2011

Meeting up in Paris in June 2015

California in August 2017 with Ann

 

A Great Loss...

It is with a heavy heart that I must share the sad news that my father passed away peacefully on April 8 after a prolonged fight with prostate cancer. I regret that I listened to his medical team and didn’t hop on a plane when he was last admitted to the hospital. By the time they said I should come out, it was too late. I last saw him in October 2019. The four of us were supposed to go out last summer for his 80th birthday and his and Ann’s 40th anniversary, but COVID got in the way. 

I also regret that I failed to interview my Dad so that I could have documented his fascinating life story. Instead, I just have my own memories of the various stories he shared with me over the years, which are likely inaccurate and very incomplete. I truly struggled to write this obituary, but definitely not for a lack of content. It was difficult to condense so much history into a short description, so I concentrated on stating the facts but left out the intricacies of his life, such as being a first-generation American and the first in his family to go to college.  

Fun Inside at Grandma & Grandpa’s...

The girls did occasionally get out of the pool and come inside for daily piano lessons with Grandpa. Neither girl had ever played, but made good progress in just a few weeks. Of course, they didn’t fully appreciate the luxury of learning on a grand or with such an experienced musician as their grandfather. They also enjoyed TV time in Grandpa’s office where they frequently camped out to watch the Olympics. It was a great visit! In fact, Ashlynn had such a great time with her grandparents that she threatened to move there permanently.

Favorites Times in California...

There’s no doubt that two of the girl’s favorite activities while in California were eating sushi and playing in the pool. Lucky for them, my parents are regulars at Naomi Sushi and always get top notch service from the owner. They were very spoiled by going there three times during their visit. Rarely did a day go by that the girls weren’t in the pool practicing their synchronized swimming routine. One day was more special than the others when Ashlynn’s best buddy in Holland came over. Iyala was in California visiting her uncle in San Jose and the timing worked out great for her to hang out with Ashlynn.

Happiness is Time with Grandma & Grandpa...

The girls had a great time visiting my parents in California for 2 1/2 weeks. They kept amazingly busy--eating sushi, playing in the pool, building sand castles on the beach, going to the movies, visiting the animals at the San Francisco Zoo, and shopping for school. While last year they starred together in a backyard Shakespeare play, this year they went to see Romeo & Juliet at an outdoor amphitheater at UC Santa Cruz, which the girls loved. They also were lucky enough to have a joint birthday party although their birthdays are actually three months apart.

Getting Techie in Silicon Valley...

I might not be tech savvy, but both my husband and my father clearly are. Unfortunately, Jimmy missed going to the Computer History Museum where Dad had arranged a private behind-the-scenes tour. He’d been interviewed by the museum as one of Intel’s earliest chip designers for a future exhibit. Although we couldn’t see his name in lights, we were able to see the progression of computers throughout history and a small section on memory, as shown in the above photo. The girls were especially impressed with the small robots. While we went into the 70,000 sq ft warehouse to see the 50,000+ artifacts and 50 million documents that there currently isn’t space to display, the girls stayed behind to play chess. Perhaps they might be future computer nerds.

Shakespeare’s Never Been Funnier...

It still brings a smile to my face to think about what an impressive job the four stars did in “The Twelfth Night.” It was a rather complicated play of mistaken identities with everyone playing at least two parts and poor Grandma playing four parts. Two moments in particular stay in my memory. On the left, you’ll see Ashlynn right before she discovers that she has both swords in her belt, which creates a fair bit of confusion off stage while searching for the missing sword. And on the right, you can guess what Grandpa is doing as he came on stage as Sir Toby Belch. All the hard work paid off--the acting was superb and the costumes were great. Can’t wait to see what they come up with in 2009!

A Carnival View of Leiden...

It was a shock to see the quick transform- ation of our quaint town into a carnival site. All the main roads of the centrum were closed and filled with rides, games and food. Jimmy and the girls especially enjoyed the view from the ferris wheel.

Celebrating Freedom...

222 years before America's Founding Father's were celebrating liberation from England, Leiden was celebrating liberation from Spain on October 3, 1574. The city had been besieged by the Spaniards for many years. The Prince of Orange finally decided to cut the dikes to flood out the Spaniards: "Better a drowned land than a lost land." Wikipedia doesn't mention how many Dutch drowned, but the strategy worked and the Spaniards fled. Since 1575 a celebration of Thanksgiving has been held on every October 3rd with a memorial service, market, parade and carnival.

Here you see that we liberated the kids from school and were on our way to our favorite canal restaurant for a good view of the parade.

The Big Bad Grandpa...

Ashlynn was very excited when she found out that I'd signed up her grandparents to be guest readers in her 1st grade class. Grandma was very professional in her reading of a story of how a princess invented pizza. Grandpa, on the other hand, was a total ham while reading "The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs." He quickly took on the persona of Alexander T Wolf in this 1st person narrative--"You can call me Al. In fact you can call me anything, just don't call me late for dinner." By the end of the story he'd worked the kids up into a frenzy and Mrs. Cross was quite cross. She had to threaten to cancel all future guest readers to calm the kids back down. Dad was excited that he'd be remembered as the grandpa who nearly started a riot.

One Groovy Grandma...

We were very excited when Grandma arrived after visiting family in England, although she seemed to have brought the rain. We saved much of the cultural sightseeing for when she joined us--the Anne Frank House (a very powerful experience), the Mauritshuis (an amazing art museum in Den Haag that specializes in Dutch masters), the Van Gogh Museum (Ashlynn enjoyed playing tour guide since she studied the artist at school) and a candlelight tour of a 17th century castle in a neighboring town. We also saved Veronica's 9th birthday party so she could help us celebrate with our friends. She was a good sport about everything we put her through. We were especially impressed when she climbed into the girls bunk beds to read to them (design note: we didn't pick out the lovely drapes and the Kerry - Edwards sticker was already on the used bunk beds).

Democrats & Republicans Coming Together in Peace...

I was a bit nervous about entertaining such politically diverse dads, who'd only met once at our wedding 13 years ago, but I was worried for nothing. We enjoyed touring the Peace Palace (apologies for the lousy photo). This magnificient building is filled with amazing artwork from the many member nations and houses the International Court of Justice, which settles border and financial disputes between nations. After this inspirational tour you'd think we would have solved all the world's problems over lunch, but sadly we only unilaterally agreed that it should be illegal to marry your own grandmother.

Slumming it in Holland...

A week after my dad arrived, Jimmy's dad came out for a long weekend. We dragged the two of them to the Leiden market, our favorite Saturday hangout; the girls convinced Buddy into paddling into the centrum while Grandpa was relieved to ride in a city bus. In fact, we dragged both of them on many trains, trams and buses. For guys accustomed to the finer things in life, they never complained about slumming it with us in 2nd class. In this photo Veronica's showing Buddy how to tram surf.

Mother Nature Shows Off...

Just had to include this photo since it was one of the most spectacular sunsets I'd ever seen. Amazingly, it was from our front yard in late September. Not sure what the atmospheric conditions were to create such a show, but would love for it to happen again. While we do occasionally see sunsets and sunrises (sadly we wake up around here before the sun comes up about half the year), this was definitely a rare one.

Dutch Specialities...

We ate out a lot when my dad visited. While the girls were at school, he and I explored nearby towns in search for the best lunch. The runner up was an Uitsmijter (sunny side up eggs and cheese on toast) at a cafe in Haarlem. The winner was a Tuna Carpaccio sandwich at a Leiden canalside cafe. We skipped the Filet American which is raw hamburg.

We didn't eat out often for dinner because most restaurants offer multiple courses served over several hours and are quite expensive. The philosophy is that once you have a table, it's yours for the night. However, we did go out for some traditional meals-- Pannekoeken (Dutch pancakes which are similar to crepes), Rijstafel (Indonesian rice table) and the shown Mosselen (mussels steamed with wine and veggies). Eet smakelijk!

The World's Oldest Profession...

No tour of Amsterdam is complete without a walk through the infamous Red Light District dating back to the 1300's. Yes, the rumors are true, women legally sit in windows plying their trade while tourists walk by gawking. Strangely, there are even boat cruises advertised as "romantic" that specialize in the area. Not surprisingly, the area is quite sleazy with sex shows, shops and coffeehouses.

My, That's Funny Smelling Coffee...

If you're looking for a good cup of coffee, you'll want to avoid Amsterdam's coffeeshops and stick with a koffie house or cafe. As you walk through the streets of Amsterdam, it's hard to avoid the smell of marijuana pouring forth from the many coffeehouses where it's allowed (although still technically illegal) to buy and toke. As old hippies, my dad and I couldn't resist posing in front of Amsterdam's first coffeeshop, The Bulldog. Of course, we just liked the paintings.