From the Carl Sandburg Community,
It's difficult to put into words what this man meant to us at Carl Sandburg Elementary. My name is Benay Weinstein and my job at Sandburg is to maintain the hardware and software and also teach the staff and students. Any one part of this job of mine could be a full time position in itself. Cary made it easier by always being there for me.....for any of us. He made me look awfully good. If I didn't know the answer....he was only a phone call or an email away...with the answer. There probably isn't one staff member that wasn't touched or helped by Cary in some way. He found incredible deals on hardware, spliced and soldered together parts that would have been thrown away........fixed keyboards and computer mice that were surely destined for surplus. I loved watching him sort through parts and bits of things in bins at Boeing Surplus that were sold for pennies because surely he was the only person on earth who knew what they were for. With the money he received from recycling our empty toner cartridges he was able to purchase other badly needed equipment for the school. He made our busy...hectic...and crazy days....a little easier to take......sometimes saving lives......literally...by saving the data on the hard drive or the floppy that we thought was lost forever.
Cary...and all of his technical wonder.......made us see that the computer is only a tool. We think about his words often and will always remember them. If you want your child to see nature......he would say.......take them outside. If you want them to read about something.......have them read a book.
Cary loved his family. They were more important to him then anything. He made it a point to tell me he never pushed technology on his children. However, when I told him that his son, Nathaniel was quite techy.....he acted surprised and very proud. The last time I saw him, shortly before he died, I thanked him for all he had done for Sandburg. He didn't want to be thanked for something he felt was a natural thing to do. To help his children's school.......and to be close to them whenever possible. Cary was a very humble man. To us at Sandburg.......he was....and in his own words......someone who knew a little about the Macintosh. Most importantly, Cary was our friend. I'm proud to say he was my friend. His wisdom, his humor, his smiling face....will be missed. There isn't a day that has gone by since his death that I haven't said to myself......Cary could have answered that one......or Cary could have helped me with that. We're lucky at Sandburg to have known Cary......and it's a better place because of him.