Engineers, physicists, inventors. scientists, professors, educators. If I had a nickel for every time that I came across one in my family tree, it would not pay for the storage fees for this blog. But I might have a roll of nickels.
Max Edwin Femmer, my 4th cousin, 1x removed, was a member of the engineering team at IBM that revolutionized data storage back in the 1950s. (He’s a really smart distant cousin.) Until that time, data storage was all about punched cards which had been IBM’s core business. Considered a risky venture, the company invested millions of dollars into the project which resulted in the development of the magnetic tapes that forever changed the way data would be stored electronically. We all know what happened after that: computers got faster and smaller as data storage systems continued to evolve.
Max was born in Kansas in 1919 and died in Denver, Colorado in 1986. He enlisted in the Army in 1943. His “wartime exposure to advances in cryptology” clearly played a role in his success and the success of the project. If you search for Max on the Internet, you’ll likely find the word “pioneer” associated with his name. You’ll also likely find a messy divorce case which made its way up to a Colorado Court of Appeals in 1977. From the disposition of marital assets, it’s clear IBM was good to Cousin Max. Cha-Ching!
Kenfolk: Tranthams
Relation: 4th cousin, 1x removed
Common ancestors: Max’s 3nd great grandparents, Anton and Catharina (Bracht) Winter, are my 4th great grandparents
References:
Flamm, K. (1988). Creating the Computer: Government, Industry, and High Technology. Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institute.
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