An appreciation to my Uncle Dan
In the early 1990's, my Uncle Dan worked at Compaq Computer Corporation. They were a Houston company, and the first company to make a fully compliant IBM PC-compatible clone, so they were a very big deal at the time. I was living in Chicago (I was 5 at the time), and he visited, along with his two kids that were around my age: Zachary, and Sabrina. Me and Zach have been pretty close since then, always having similar hobbies.
In that visit, my Uncle Dan brought me my very first computer. He also brought a bunch of early "3D" games, like Doom, Doom II, and Descent. I played those games to the death, and it forever fueled my love for video games.
At the time, my father was going through some drama at work and really needed to switch employers. My uncle had connections, being leader of multiple social clubs and a head test technician for new computer models. He convinced Compaq to give my father a chance, so we all moved to Houston. He started out as a manufacturing shift supervisor, quickly moving into a lead role in HR, leading most investigations and doing most of the engineering hiring process. The amount of people my father had to fire for looking at porn on the job was astounding.
Compaq downsized rapidly in the late 1990's and early 2000's, and was sold off to HP. My uncle lost his job in the downsizing, and started hosting his clubs in either his home or a local bar, which allowed family to attend. I remember BJ, Mark, and Kevin being like aunts/uncles to me, and Dano met them in the Compaq Browns Fanclub. His love for the Cleveland Browns ran deep, and it still holds blood in our extended family to this day, with my Uncle Joe taking up the reigns of the now Houston Brownsbackers.
In the 2010's he moved out to Denver to work for the USPS as a computer technician. I only saw him twice since then. He passed away this Tuesday. He had been having heart complications for the last few months due to his weight. I do not know the exact cause yet, and likely won't know for a few days. It's just awful.
He will be missed.
R.I.P. Uncle Dano (5/26/20)