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In Memoriam


Leonard
Zubkoff


A Lancer out of sight
Never out of mind


We are sorry to inform the Class of '73 and the Lee community that Leonard Zubkoff passed away  August 29, 2002 in a helicopter crash in Misty Fjords National Monument Wilderness Alaska.

The accident, which occurred while Mr. Zubkoff was vacationing in Alaska, also claimed the life of his flying instructor.

Mr. Zubkoff was born in Seattle and earned a master's degree in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University after graduating summa cum laude in mathematics and physics at the University of Rochester.

He moved to the Bay Area in 1985 to become the principal scientist for a Menlo Park company developing artificial intelligence software.

In 1994, Mr. Zubkoff joined Oracle Corp., the database software giant located in Redwood Shores, as principal member of its technical staff. He worked at Oracle by day and spent nights at home refining an alternative "open source" computer operating system known as Linux, to make it run better and faster on all kinds of computers.

He continued that work when he joined VA Linux Systems Inc, a Fremont company now known as VA Software Corp., as chief technical officer in 1998.

"Not too long after Leonard joined VA, I went to Linux Expo with him," said Larry Augustin, the company's founder. "I remember walking around the show with him and people just walking up and asking for his autograph. Leonard, like other important contributors to the Linux movement, received a lot of acclaim from people. He didn't get paid for doing that work. Of course, he got paid when I hired him. He did (the earlier work) because he enjoyed it; he wanted to contribute. People appreciated that."

Mr. Zubkoff also founded Dandelion Digital, a small, state-of-the-art recording studio that produced "filk" -- originally a typo of "folk" -- recordings on compact discs. The music got its start in late-night folk- singing circles at science fiction conventions. Dandelion Digital, which ceased operations in 1999, produced several titles, including "Made by Magic" and "Masquerading as Human."

He retired in 2001 and moved to Crystal Bay, Nev., on the north shore of Lake Tahoe, where he enjoyed canoeing, hiking and driving his white Mitsubishi 3000 GT sports car.

"Leonard was an extremely bright guy who enjoyed life to the fullest," said Lynn Gold, a friend and former work colleague of Mr. Zubkoff's. "He was equally at ease debugging Linux code or piloting a helicopter. One of his goals was to travel to the highest point in all 50 states."

Mr. Zubkoff, who was twice divorced, is survived by his brother David Zubkoff, Class of '77, of Purciville, Va.

 

 

 

 

He is survived by his brother David, class of '77, of Purcellville VA.