Donald T. Piele Obituary (1937 - 2014)

To view Donald's Celebration of Life, Click Here. Donald Theodore Piele (Don), age 76, died at his home in Oro Valley, AZ, on October 12, 2014. The cause was brain cancer. Don was born in Portland, OR on December 26,1937 to Theodore (Ted) Piele and Helen Hanson Piele. He grew up in Vancouver, WA, graduating from Hudson's Bay High School in 1956. He often expressed his gratitude to his father and step-mother, Felite, for providing a nurturing family that allowed him to thrive. Don received a BS in Chemistry in 1961 from Washington State University, an MA in Mathematics from the University of Oregon in 1965, and his PhD in Mathematics from the University of California, San Diego, in 1970. He married Linda Jean Fairweather, on June 15,1963, in Richland, WA. After Don finished graduate school, they moved to Racine, WI, where they lived for 39 years. Don and his wife moved in 2009 to Sun City Oro Valley, near Tucson, AZ. Don taught mathematics at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, in Kenosha, for 37 years, retiring in 2007. Always interested in mathematical problem solving, the highlight of his career and his passion became encouraging and training young students to solve problems through computer programming. Starting in 1977, Don worked with others to organize local computer fairs, held at the University, which included problem-solving contests for students in elementary through high-school. Over the next five years, Don expanded the local contest into a national and then international contest, the International Computer Problem Solving Contest (ICPSC). This annual competition eventually took place, on the same day, in schools from forty-five states and twelve countries and ran for fifteen years. Teachers in schools in which programming was either part of the curriculum or an extracurricular activity organized the contest at the local level. It included programming tasks for three divisions (Elementary, Junior, Senior), with rankings in four different programming languages. The contests were publicized through publications such as "The Computing Teacher" and "Creative Computing." In 1992, Don became aware of the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI), which that year was holding its fourth annual competition, in Bonn, Germany. In this contest high school students from around the world compete to solve problems by writing computer programs. Each country is represented by a team of four students. No team from the United States had yet competed in the International Olympiad, so Don obtained permission from the US Department of Education to select and enter a team, which succeeded in winning two gold medals in Bonn. Next, Don established an annual contest, the USA Computing Olympiad (USACO), to train and select teams through an 8-day annual training camp, staffed with volunteer computer scientists. Over the next 17 years, Don led U.S. teams to Olympiads all over the world. In 2003, he brought the 15th annual International Olympiad to the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, with 600 guests from 70 countries. In 1993, Don was elected to the International Committee of the IOI, which oversees the organization of the annual contests, and served on the Committee for a total of eleven years. In 2010, upon his retirement as Director of the USACO, the Olympiad moved to Clemson University. Don will be missed by his many friends and associates. In Racine, he and his wife were members for 36 years of a remarkable couples/singles book group. This group read a book each month, meeting for dinner and lively discussions in members' homes. In Sun City he made many friends through his memberships in the RV, Poetry, Biking and Hiking Clubs, and through the classes and presentations he offered for Sun City's Institute for Learning in Retirement. He founded and energetically promoted the development of an off-road biking group, the "Rough Riders," that continues to ride weekly in the foothills outside of Sun City. In Arizona he developed a love of cowboy poetry, leading to entertaining evenings around the campfire at outings of the RV Club. He was often called upon to commemorate special occasions in clubs by creating a special poem, earning the unofficial title of "poet laureate." When people remember Don they are apt to mention his ready smile and good humor, energy, generosity, and passionate enthusiasm for life. In addition to problem solving, his favorite activities included photography and many outdoor sports, such as biking, hiking, backpacking, cross-country skiing, and kayaking, all preferably done with friends and family. Don was an inspiration to many during his illness as he maintained his good humor and demonstrated a determination to enjoy life in whatever ways were still available to him. He is survived by his wife, Linda, daughters, Karen Miller (Jeffrey) of Wilmette, IL and Jeannine Fay (Michael) of Baltimore, MD; grandchildren Christopher, Katherine, Laura, Owen, and Cecilia; brother Philip Piele (Sandra) of Eugene, OR; step-brother Doug McClelland (Carol) of Vancouver, WA, and step-sister, Joan Smith, of Sisters, OR; and many nieces and nephews. A memorial service will be held on November 15th at 2 pm at the Vistoso Funeral Home in Oro Valley, AZ. Memorial donations to the scholarship fund of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside may be made by forwarding them to: UWP Foundation, 900 Wood Road, P.O. Box 2000, Kenosha, WI 53141-2000, with checks payable to:UWP Foundation. Gifts may be made online at http://www.uwp.edu/giving