In memoriam Marcel

[cTrix]

I'm so sorry to hear Walter - my heart goes out to his family, freinds and the wider GT community.

I consider the Gigatron the single most important kit computer in recent times. It's one of the last pure kits which helps foster a true understanding of the workings of a CPU and I really hope it's legacy is continued. I'd always check in to see where things were at dev wise and his enthusiastic approach to fixes was incredible. He'll be remembered in the halls of computer history, and certainly in maker folklore. RIP

[tocksin]

I'm sorry to hear about his passing. I've followed his work since before the Gigatron and even tried making my own. I've found its design brilliant. I will miss him.

[frob]

Deeply saddened to hear this tragic news. My sincere sympathies and condolences go out to his family.
Having just recently discovered Gigatron i'm sorry i've never had a chance to interact with him, but reading the forums over the past couple of weeks, I am in awe of his tremendous brilliance, passion and dedication to this project and the great community that has grown up around it.
Rest in peace.

[pgavlin]

I had the pleasure of meeting Marcel last April while recovering from some deep personal tragedies of my own. He was kind, enthusiastic, and generous with his time, and I'm deeply sorry to hear of his passing. My heart goes out to his friends and family.

Rest in peace, Marcel.

[xopr]

Shocked and speechless..

My sincere condolence to his close friends and family.
Also, my gratitude towards him of having the privilege to have experienced a brilliant mind at work (my words are running short here).

[vk2]

I'm so sorry to hear it. Every time I turn on Gigatron I'll remember him. RIP.

[steve]

I add myself to all the people that are extremely sorry for this very sad news.
We lost a great person and a superb hacker.
Hope he rest in peace wherever he is or having godd time continuing hacking in another dimension.
A greeting with a lot of respect Marcel.
See you.

[walter]

Marcel and I dreamt about Steve Wozniak to have a Gigatron. After all, the whole concept of creating hardware as simple as possible, using some clever design tricks, and creating a virtual machine in software, were inspired by Woz' work on designing the Apple (1).

Just before Marcel passed away, I sent two wooden Gigatron cases to Woz via the signedbywoz.com service. This is a genuine service where Woz sells signed stuff or signs your stuff (it costs money, but it goes to charity). Woz signed the bottom of these cases for Marcel and myself and sent them back to me.

Due to repeated errors by the local postal services (PostNL), the package was returned twice without a delivery attempt (an extensive complaint is on its way to PostNL). So after a 5 months delay with the package going over the ocean 4 times for nothing, I had Woz send it so me using UPS to avoid PostNL, and this time it arrived fast and without problems.

For Marcel it's too late, but I will give his case to his family.

[at67]

Wherever Marcel is now, I have no doubt he is smiling with glee.

[Vyvvyan]

One year later and I am happy to see that Marcel’s Gigatron legacy is still very much alive, thanks to a lot of people here on this forum. Thanks for all you do, I think Marcel would have been very proud of what has been achieved with his initial vision and product.

Thanks @walter for keeping this forum going!