Karl died Sunday as a result of complications due to metastatic colon cancer.
Karl Christopher Ramm was born on February 15, 1973, to Mary Kathlyn Brigmon Ramm and Dietolf Ramm, in Durham, NC. The family moved to Hillsborough, NC in 1989. Karl attended Charles E. Jordan High School and earned a B.S. in Computer Science from Duke University in 1995. Following graduation, he moved to Cambridge MA, where he worked for MIT, a series of start-ups, and eventually Google, as a systems programmer/administrator. He bought a house and moved to Wilmington, MA in 2017.
Karl grew up in a home in which he had easy access to computers and immersed himself in all aspects of them at an extremely young age. Not long after most children were first learning to read, he was reading Berkeley Standard Distribution UNIX manuals cover to cover. There was never any doubt of what he would study in college or what he would choose as a career. Throughout his life, he became very interested in “retro computing” and preserving many of the computer systems that were prevalent during his childhood.
Perhaps inspired by both of his grandfathers, one of Karl’s primary hobbies was music. He excelled at playing the piano. He was told he had “perfect pitch” and could play music after having heard it just a few times. He was equally proficient at sight reading. Before his voice changed, he sang with the North Carolina Boys Choir for several years. His true passion was composing electronic music and he collected numerous synthesizers.
Working for and, later, in proximity to MIT, Karl took advantage of many activities there. Almost immediately after he started, he joined the MIT Radio Society and earned an FCC License in Amatuer Radio (N1XPB) and quickly inflicted the hobby on his entire immediate family in North Carolina. He trained in Jiu-Jitsu many hours during the week. He was a Keyholder at MITSFS, MIT’s Science Fiction Library and was active in MIT’s Student Information Processing Board (SIPB), MIT’s Lecture Series Committee (LSC), and MIT Gilbert & Sullivan Players.
Karl was a voracious, lightning-fast reader and, in his younger years, would frequently finish at least one newly purchased book before arriving home from the bookstore. He particularly loved science-fiction novels and was always the best source of recommendations on what to read next.
Karl was loved by an amazing network of loyal friends who were supportive, long before and after his diagnosis in 2017. He is survived by his father, Dietolf Ramm, and sister, Lenore Ramm Hill with her husband, Jack Hill, all of Hillsborough, NC.
This was originally posted on Facebook by Lenore Ramm Hill, Karl's sister.
Reposted with permission.