Yesterday afternoon, following a great deal of concern over his whereabouts, we learned that Bill Ernest had died. If you've done business with us, or if you've spent any time in either the Partner Forum or the Penumbra Forum, you probably know Bill--or know of him.

Bill was one of the original Notes people. As an employee of Quality Decision Management, back in the late 1980s, Bill started building Notes applications with the Beta of Notes Release 1. He took to Notes as a duck takes to water and, following those early efforts, never again left the world of Notes and Domino. Along the way, he became truly one of the best in the world at what he did.

Starting with that early primitive edition, Bill single-handedly built THE first Notes-based workflow tool, a product called Quality at Work. It was QaW and the amazing things it could do, which first attracted my partner, Steve, and me, like moths to a light bulb, to Notes.

The first time I put my hands on Notes was in January 1993 at QDM's office in North Andover, Massachusetts, with Bill looking over my shoulder. It wasn't until about two years later Bill felt the need to leave QDM and decided to move to Columbus to become our first employee.

In addition to being quite possibly the greatest @Formula writer of all time, Bill was the most amazing coder I've ever had the pleasure to work with. He could "see" code, and understand it, without actually reading it, in the same way an artist sees color and light. I can't tell you how many times I've brought him a big block of code to ask a specific question about and watched as he scrolled the page, backed up, highlighted forty or fifty lines of my blood and sweat, then casually hit "Delete" and replaced it with half a dozen lines which did the same thing much more eloquently.

It was, really, quite amazing.

Bill's time at Teamwork Solutions was both long (10 years) and fruitful for us all. Thanks to him, we have some of the most sophisticated and easiest-to-use Notes application development tools anywhere on earth. But Bill wasn't just a code geek.

Outside of the office he was one of the most interesting people you've ever met. He knew a lot about everything and was The Man when it came to playing those electronic trivia games in bars. Playing with him on your team was simply a matter of pushing the buttons he said to push. He always knew the answer.

Surprising to many, Bill was also a connoisseur of fine foods and wines, and a great lover of limited-edition Bourbons. While his working hours were, um, shall we say, varied, and his ability to make it into the office before 11 AM questionable, Bill could always be counted on to make a 7 AM tee time.

Within the past year, after 10 years of living in an apartment, Bill decided he was actually going to stay here in Columbus. Accordingly, he joined a country club and bought himself a home. Last week he bought a lawn mower and cut his own grass for the first time.

Although his office was usually a mess, somehow I expect his home was probably immaculate. Such were the dichotomies of Bill.

Bill died peacefully in his sleep, probably last Wednesday night. He had been ill that day in the office. He was 47.

Bill will be sorely missed by us all as both a friend and colleague.

Farewell, my friend. Hit 'em straight.

1. Richard Schwartz05/03/2005 04:25:52 PM
Homepage: http://smokey.rhs.com/web/blog/PowerOfTheSchwartz.nsf

Bill was a good friend to so many in the Notes community. We will all miss him.

-rich

2. Bob Kistler05/03/2005 04:35:54 PM
Homepage: http://www.bobkistler.com

I met and worked with Bill at Dynamics Research Corporation in Wilmington, MA, and later at QDM in North Andover until he left for Ohio. He was the most genius of a man that I have ever met. He would code circles around me.

3. Brian Benz05/03/2005 05:05:45 PM
Homepage: http://www.softwaresoapbox.com

Sorry to hear of this. My condolences. He will be missed.

4. Wayne Scarano05/03/2005 08:19:05 PM
Homepage: http://www.sga.com

Thanks for posting Scott. I was reading the notes 6 forum and see that Bill posted Wed at 5pm. Even not feeling well he reached out to help others. It's a very sad day.

5. Olu Olufidipe05/04/2005 10:46:13 AM
Homepage: http://www.mcginley.co.uk

Bill's contribution to the forum cannot be measured in any way, he always made an effort.

He will be surely missed.

May his Soul Rest In Perfect Peace. Amen.

Olu

6. John Dillon05/04/2005 01:11:00 PM
Homepage: http://www.WidgetRacing.com

Scott, thank you for painting such a vivid portrait of Bill Ernest. We share in your loss, not only from a technical viewpoint but as a personal friend too. You are fortunate to have worked with and befriended such a person as Bill.