Like many who worked with Joe Kowalski during his 19 years as a Sun Engineer, I was shocked and saddened to hear of his death on Christmas Eve 2008. Joe joined Sun in 1989, nine years after his graduation from the University of California at San Diego in Computer Science. Before Sun, Joe worked at Spectragraphics and Cydrome. He worked for Cassatt after leaving Sun. I knew Joe as one of the stalwarts of Sun’s Architecture Review Committees (ARCs), a process I helped to design and manage
long ago. Joe also made major contributions to Sun’s OS kernel and to Java
software. Joe was funny and friendly and passionate about getting things right.
The service in celebration of Joe’s life was held last Saturday at St. Clare’s Episcopal Church in Pleasanton. One or more top-flight Silicon Valley
startups could have been formed from among the memorial attendees, including:
Steve Bourne,
Bill Coleman,
Rob Gingell,
Eli Lamb,
Tim Marsland, and
Bill Shannon.
Those who spoke during the service remembered Joe for his height (6’6″, two meters),
jokes, basketball playing, love of wine, scuba diving, technical passion, the
spontaneous combustion of his gazebo, and Joe’s devotion to his teenage
daughter, Alexandra. Her own poised and funny remembrance was the greatest
tribute any father could want.
Joe (also known as jek3@sun.com) was just 52 when he died but he did much
with his life that many only talk about. He went on that trip to Africa with
his wife. Joe moved to Hawaii and worked remotely for three years.
If you want to make a contribution in Joe’s memory, his wife Lori has asked
that donations go to Alexandra’s education fund (contact me for
information), or to the stroke center that took care of Joe:
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Washington Hospital Healthcare Foundation
2000 Mowry Ave.
Fremont, CA 94538-1716
Tel: (510) 791-3428
Fax: (510) 745-6427
Donations should be designated for the memory of Joseph E. Kowalski
and also earmarked for the stroke center.
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“Into your hands, O merciful Savior, we commend your servant, Joe.
Acknowledge, we humbly beseech you, a sheep of your own fold, a lamb
of your own flock, a sinner of your own redeeming. Receive him into
the arms of your mercy, into the blessed rest of everlasting peace,
and into the glorious company of the saints in light. Amen”
Commendation from Joe’s memorial service
KatysBlog 
I only met Joe once, at a conference in Spain, but having recently lost my own mother quite suddenly, I can imagine how his family must feel right now.
Oh, no, For some reason, I had a strange dream during my afternoon nap where Bill Shannon was leaving his truck outside my house, and that made me think of an old SunSoft allhands where there was a crowd with”Tall Guys” Bill, Joe, and me sticking out of the sea of normal-sized people, and that made me Google up Joe and now I find out he’s dead. This sucks.