Bernard (Bernie) Thomas O'Lear passed away peacefully in Boulder, Colorado on February 13th. He was 85 years old. A Colorado native, he was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado in 1939 to Helen Edna O'Lear and Thomas Lawrence O'Lear.
Bernie often said that his management skills had roots in key experiences in his early life. He served as an altar boy through high school at St. Francis de Sales, and at Highlander Camp he trained as line sergeant and marksman. In less disciplined moments, he skipped out of high school classes to spend time at a nearby pool hall on Broadway. Still, he graduated from high school in 1957. In 1958, he attended the Colorado School of Mines. It was not his destiny. He enrolled in Regis University and graduated as a math major with minors in theology and philosophy. For the remainder of his life, he would invoke the philosophical influence the Jesuits had contributed to his outlook on life.
In 1960, Bernie married Elizabeth (Betty) Henderson, and they moved to Boulder to support her studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He commuted to Denver for his job at Martin Marietta and for his National Guard duty.
Bernie and Betty started a family that eventually included three daughters: Jennifer, Shannon (two grandchildren, Catherine and Maeve), and Heather. Bernie persuaded Betty to brave the high winds of the Boulder foothills and move to the emerging neighborhood of Devils Thumb in 1971. He closely monitored the construction of their new home on an unfinished Bear Mountain Drive, starting work at NCAR in 1964 and cutting his commute to 10 minutes.
He was unusually involved with his kids for the time. He regularly came home at midday to see them as they each came home from school for lunch.
Living at the edge of the open space provided many opportunities to enjoy the outdoors.
Bernie took his young children to see the feral donkeys that populated the foothills at the time, and as the kids got older, he enjoyed hiking with them on the foothills trails. Each year, Bernie took a full month off from work in the summer to prioritize family camping trips and trout fishing expeditions. An abundance of chokecherry bushes in the neighborhood greenbelt inspired Bernie to experiment with making chokecherry wine.
Winemaking became an enduring hobby that spanned several decades and involved family members and close friends.
Bernie was an avid runner. His routine had him out on the road at 4:30 am to run 8 miles before work. He ran the Vail Oktober fest race in the event's early years and the Denver Marathon twice, and he served as a racecourse marshal for the first Bolder Boulder 10K in 1979. He ran that race for many years but returned to marshalling the race for several more years taking up his familiar post at Pearl Street and 28th.
An enthusiasm for music took many forms throughout his life. In high school, Bernie learned to play the trombone with little guidance, and he continued to play in the National Guard band. At home, music was usually playing - jazz, blues, classical, big band - with Bedrich Smetana's Má Vlast a favorite accompaniment to Sunday dinners. He thoroughly enjoyed ballroom and swing dancing, throwing in his own innovative moves for fun.
Bernie joined the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in 1964. He started his career as an applications programmer writing code for the first NCAR Atmospheric General Circulation Model. Over time he moved to his legacy work, recognizing the need to design systems and implement storage techniques for Large Data Storage Systems (known today as Mass Storage Systems) required to handle the huge data workloads associated with rapidly evolving supercomputer systems.
Bernie's informal NCAR nickname became "The NCAR Father of Mass Storage." He continued to operate at the bleeding edge of technological innovation, recognizing opportunities for improvements, such as the potential for incorporating optical storage capabilities. His contributions helped to ensure NCAR's international leadership in providing high-performance computing capabilities to the scientific community. He became Associate Director of the Scientific Computing Division in 1994 and served in that position until retiring in 2003.
In 1995, Bernie and Betty par ted ways.
Bernie married Rochelle Daily in 2003 shortly after his retirement. He tended to her through an extended illness, and she passed away in 2007. Bernie met Ruth Ann Curtis in 2012 and for the next 13 years they enjoyed each other's company. Ruth Ann became a dear friend who provided selfless support to Bernie as he navigated health challenges over the last few years of his life. Bernie passed surrounded by the presence, words, and prayers of loved ones.
JMJ.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to Regis University c/o www.regis.edu/give.