Mark Allen Carlson
December 29, 1955 - May 3, 2023
Mark Allen Carlson, age 67, passed away on May 3, 2023 due to injuries suffered in a fall at his home in Longmont, Colorado. Mark was born on December 29, 1955 in Vancouver, Washington to Ellen Louise (Stone) Carlson and John Webster Carlson, Jr. He grew up in East Wenatchee, Washington with his two younger brothers, Joel and Paul. Mark graduated from Eastmont High School and attended Washington State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and also studied East Asian medicine and movement.
After college, Mark joined the nascent computer industry, and over his 40+ year career worked for a variety of leading tech companies including Sun Microsystems, Oracle, Toshiba, and most recently, KIOXIA, where he was Principal Engineer, Industry Standards. Mark was a member and leader of the SNIA Technical Council and DMTF for over 20 years, and was instrumental in developing industry standards for cloud storage. In 2006, he was awarded a U.S. patent for the method and systems that allow multiple users to access data stored in the cloud. Mark earned multiple awards for industry leadership, and was a frequent keynote speaker at conferences around the world (https://www.snia.org/in-memoriam-mark-carlson).
Mark met his first wife, Lorna Kohler, in Seattle, shortly after he graduated college. Mark and Lorna had two daughters, Thea and Zoe, moving to California in the early 80’s so that Mark could work in the emerging Silicon Valley. Mark relocated to New York in the late 80’s, where he met his second wife, Vicki Benson. Mark and Vicki had a son, John, and Mark also adopted Vicki’s daughter, Amanda. With this young family, Mark moved to Colorado in the early 90’s, where Thea and Zoe joined them for summer and winter school breaks. Mark met his third wife, Misako Ikezawa, in Japan in 2006. Mark and Misa married in Colorado and lived together for over 16 years until his death.
Mark loved learning and traveling the world, and was especially fond of East Asian and Japanese cultures. He was always fermenting a wide variety of unique foods and beverages, including miso, cheese, kombucha, beer, wine, sake, and mead. He enjoyed sharing his knowledge of uncommon fermentation techniques, and was a frequent judge of homebrew competitions (https://www.dailycamera.com/2014/05/21/boulder-county-man-makes-own-miso-sake/). Mark also enjoyed photography, researching family history, beekeeping, gardening, and the company of his two Great Pyrenees dogs, Sartori and Ototo. Mark and Misa were active members of the Shinnyo-en Buddhist temple, based in Japan.
Mark is survived by his wife, four children, a newly born grandchild, two brothers, two nieces, an uncle, and many cousins and other relatives with whom he enjoyed connecting in recent years. Mark was a registered organ and tissue donor, and his family worked with the medical team at UC Health and the nonprofit Donor Alliance to ensure he could make life-saving and life-enhancing gifts and contribute to medical research upon his death. His family chose Be a Tree water cremation to honor Mark’s passion for new technology and making a positive impact on the Earth.
Donations
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Donor Alliance or another nonprofit of your choosing.
Memorial Service
July 14, 2023 at 4 pm
Shinnyo-en
519 S 186th St
Burien, WA 98148
A traditional Buddhist memorial service will be held on Friday, July 14 at 4pm at Shinnyo-en temple in Burien, Washington. Mark’s ashes will be buried on Saturday, July 15 at 12pm at Evergreen Memorial Park in East Wenatchee, Washington. All are welcome to join the family for either or both ceremonies. RSVP to theamaria.earth@gmail.com.
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