Farewell to a Revelation Legend
On Friday, July 15, 2022, we were forced to bid an untimely farewell to a dear mentor, colleague, and friend. Dave Harmacek was a veteran in the Revelation Software community for 40 years. Normally I would say he has forgotten more than most developers even know, but Dave was very methodical and stored everything he ever learned in Evernote. Consequently, there was very little that he didn’t know or couldn’t retrieve when needed. Dave was always quick to share his knowledge with anyone who had a question. He was a talented programmer, eager teacher, and very generous with his time.
I came to know him very well through the online platforms that our humble cadre of developers joined in. When Revelation Software began to sponsor semi-annual User Group Conferences, I got to know and appreciate him even more. He endeared himself to me after one conference when my wife told me, “I like Dave, he is one of the few people at this conference who talks to me about things other than programming!”
Interestingly enough, even though we would often help each other on technical issues over these past many years, we only began to collaborate on projects in 2020. I now look back and appreciate our brief partnership that much more. It was a pleasure to work together with Dave doing what we both love: helping our clients achieve their business goals.
Farewell to a legend. You have been and will continue to be missed.
Dave will be missed by many people. Because I only look after the EMEA region, I never got the opportunity to work with Dave directly but we had many a good conversation about all manner of things at the conferences. He always struck me as a happy, knowledgeable and down right great person. A great loss to the community.
So sorry to hear this news.
Although it’s unfortunate and sad new, I want to thank you, Don, for notifying the community of Dave’s passing. I too felt a camaraderie with Dave having known Dave since the late 80’s’ when he was in partnership with Ira in ‘Krakow and Harmacek’. I would receive their unique (for that time) form of a ‘newsletter’ with their tips on Rev and the early days of AREV. I enjoyed meeting up with him as part of RTI’s Developer Roundtables with meetings in cities around the country and then later the Revelation Software Conferences. We would talk about the ‘old days’, tech talk, accomplishments, and of course his motorcycle trips with his wife Kathy. More recently I had the opportunity to work with Dave for a few years at one of his client’s offices in the Boston area. He and his wife Kathy invited me over for dinner where we would talk shop. music, and he would show me his motorcycle he was rebuilding. Dave was definitely one of the pioneers of the Rev developer world and he will be missed.
What a wonderful tribute for an all-round great guy! Thank you, Don. I enjoyed getting to know Dave at Revelation Software conferences, always looking forward to discussions both technical and non-work related. He would listen to my passionate rants about whatever was nagging at me at the time and offer support, suggestions, or just a listening ear – whatever seemed appropriate. His contributions to the community cannot be overstated. I raise a glass in memory and honor of Dave.