A CCIE Widow’s Request

CCIE # 5804 was one of the very few CCIEs in Alaska. I met him at Networkers in 2008 the month before his death. I did not find out about his passing until March of 2009 when a friend and co-worker sent me a message about him after seeing his picture on my blog. I had exchanged emails with him prior to Cisco Live 2008 so when we met I was pleased to make the acquaintance of one of only 4 CCIEs in Alaska that I knew of. After Cisco shut down the NASCAR Grille CCIE party, I hosted a bunch of CCIEs at the Hard Rock Café near there at Universal Studios Orlando. The band Modest Mouse was just finishing their last set for the night and we had a few beers together along with seven or eight other CCIEs. The other guys were from Holland, Texas and a few other places. But Dave and I talked a lot that evening and I am happy now, looking back that I had that chance.

At the end of August 2009 I received this email from Lee Gahm, Dave’s wife;

Dear Eman,
My name is Lee, I am Dave's wife.  Tonight I spoke with his parents and they told me about what you had written and I looked it up.  I just wanted to say thank you for taking the time to share your kind words about Dave.  The proudest day in his life was when he passed his CCIE test.  Actually we were all very proud.  Dave LOVED his job and by what I could tell he was very good at it.  I miss the middle of the night calls from his work..I never understood a single word he said but I was always impressed.  His trips to those conventions were always important to him.  He was proud to be a "techno geek". He was looking forward to the next CCIE gathering as he was going to speak.
I am not ready yet but I will be putting together a memory book for Abby.  I would be grateful if you and some of the others would share some of your memories or stories about Dave with me.  If you have any other pictures too, I would love to have them.  I know his parents would like to see them also.
He truly was doing something that he loved.  I was so fortunate to speak to him the night before and could hear the happiness in his voice.
Sincerely,
Lee

So I am posting this so that anyone who knew CCIE # 5804, Dave Gahm will share in photos or in writing their experiences with Dave. CCIEs have a way of influencing others across borders so I am happy to help Mrs. Gahm and Dave’s parents in gathering what I can through this medium Dave loved so much.

If you have anything you would like to share about Dave Gahm please respond to eman@ccieflyer.com

Thanks