Robert N. Terrell

Robert N. (Bob) Terrell departed this life on March 21. He was 91. Bob was born in Santa Fe in 1927. His parents, George Roy Terrell and Bell Berry came to New Mexico, at least in part, to help with Bell's Tuberculosis. George was a carpenter and union official. Bell prepared food sold at Safeway. Bob was an avid skier. In the winter of his senior year at Santa Fe High School he took off every Wednesday to ski. The principal knew that most of the senior men were being drafted for World War II, and that many of them would never return, so he looked the other way as they headed for the slopes. Bob joined the US Navy towards the end of the war, which ended while he was still in boot camp. After the Navy, Bob studied business at the University of New Mexico for 5 semesters. Bob married Mary Ruth Clift in the 1950s. Son Steve is a journalist and musician. Son Jack is an audio producer. Both live in Santa Fe. Bob married Julie Bergman in the late 1950s. Daughter Lisa assists high-tech companies with business development and marketing. Son Eric is a software developer. Bob worked with computers starting in the late 1950s, at the very start of the computer revolution. A career highlight for Bob was installing a "305 Ramac" for the California Life Insurance Company in 1961. A "305 Ramac" was a hard disk. In the 1970s Bob realized that many mainframe computers in the San Francisco Bay Area were underutilized. Consequently he and two partners formed a company named "Computer Time". The company bought time on idle computers, at a discounted rate, and ran their clients' jobs on them. Bob was a computer time broker. This business was a precursor of "Cloud Computing" services offered today by companies such as Amazon, Google, and Microsoft. Bob returned to New Mexico after retirement, and continued to be a fanatical tennis player. Throughout his life Bob had a highly-developed sense of humor, and exuded optimism. Bob is survived by children Steve, Jack, Lisa, Eric, grandchildren Molly, Anton, Morgan, Mitchell, and great-grandchildren Gideon and Clive. We will celebrate Bob's life in Santa Fe later this year.