Judy Dart Boxler

Posted on: Aug 30, 2014 at 2:38 PM

My life has been a combination of enjoyable work and adventure.

Graduated 1968 from Ohio State with BSc in Math. Got an amazing programming job with ex-IBMers in Toronto. Fell in love with Urs Boxler, who started programming on the same day as I. After two years, we moved to Fresno, Cal, so that Urs could do his undergraduate degree. Then we traveled in a VW camper to Panama. Enjoyed the Mayan ruins and snorkeling and meeting people. We had both applied to graduate school. The logistics of picking up acceptance letters in Central America before email was challenging. One hiccup required Urs to get poste restante mail in Guatemala while I stayed in no man’s land between El Salvador and Guatemala (I couldn’t go back to El Salvador and the car couldn’t return to Guatemala for a couple of days). We both went to Northwestern University for one year; Urs got his MBA and I go a MSc Computer Science. After graduation, we went to Switzerland for vacation. Urs’s uncle worked in IT and organized IT interviews. Urs got a job with a consulting company. We had all our worldly goods shipped to Switzerland. I upgraded my ability to read German literature to the ability to talk about computers and diapers and cooking and then got a job at the University of Zurich. Left that job when I discovered that shopping for and making coffee was part of all females’ job description no matter what the other duties were. Got a job at the same company where Urs was – very interesting work. Before we left, I took a course “Local Dialect for Foreigners” (Zugerduetsch fuer Ooslaender) and we have spoken Swiss dialect together ever since.

Eventually, we decided we were too young to settle down. In 1977, we bought a right-hand drive VW camper, drastically downsized, and set off on a 1.5-year trip: Germany, Austria, Yugoslavia, Greece, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, and Sumatra. We finally settled in Perth, Western Australia. Urs thought Perth was too flat, too sunny, too sandy, too new, and way too far from anything interesting in IT. So we packed up again, island hopped through the South Pacific for 6 months, ending up in Vancouver, BC, in 1980. Urs was impressed with the mountains, water, wilderness, rain (these Swiss guys!), and relatively historic buildings. Plus, he got a great job. Whew! I was really ready to settle down. I got a job creating the Computer Science Department at one of the local colleges and eventually became Math-Science Division Chair. In 1981, I got a substantial grant from the federal government and set up what I think is the first networked computer lab in western Canada. Lots of skiing and hiking and kayaking. One of the highlights was a 3-week kayak tour in the remote islands of Haida Gwaii http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haida_Gwaii. We also hiked the West Coast Trail, one of the hardest trails in BC http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Coast_Trail .

In 1997, Urs was ready for more adventure and retired. He started looking for a boat (I was tired of boat shopping, probably similar to what men think about dress shopping!) In 1998, a builder on Vancouver Island started on the interior of our sailboat. Raven Song was launched in 2000. In 2001, we sold our house, downsized again, moved aboard, got into a live-aboard marina, and have been cruising the BC and Alaska coast ever since. I have created two blogs: our Alaska trip cruisingwithravensong.blogspot.ca; earlier trips svravensong.blogspot.com. It has been an amazing adventure! The BC coast is so beautiful. The native groups are making a comeback in terms of pride and culture. It’s a pleasure to be invited to their celebrations in their long houses. The longest we’ve been away from a dock is 7 weeks.

Winters, I spend time taking courses about composers, going to concerts (much opera), and singing in the Swiss Choir and two classical choirs. Had two brushes with breast cancer; in January, my GP will declare me “cured”. I volunteered at BC Cancer Agency, a hospice, and at a nearby elementary school, where I listen to ESL students read. Enjoyable experiences! Urs processes his photos ursboxlerphotography.com.

And now the newest adventure is building a 600-foot cottage on one of the islands between here and Seattle (Pender Island http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pender_Island).