Robert Martinson, 67, died March 24 doing what he loved on the slopes.(Courtesy of the Martinson family)

Robert Nels Martinson, a pioneer of computer sales in Colorado who hand-built his life to leave time for flying, fishing, skiing and family, died March 24 doing what he loved on the slopes. He was 67.

Martinson's family thinks of him as an early adopter of "work-life balance," long before the term became a staple of talk shows and advice books.

"He found it by arranging his life to pursue the things he loved to do, rather than focusing on accumulating more things," said his son, Eric Martinson of Denver.

When he wanted to build his own airplane to fly, Martinson learned fiberglass construction. When he wanted to make his own furniture, he learned to weld. When he wanted backstage access to his beloved Reno air races, he talked his way into a press pass.

And when he wanted more time for children, grandchildren, skiing and other interests, he retired young, used innovation to live frugally, and twice fought off cancer.

Martinson, a Marine Corps veteran who served in Vietnam, rose with the dawn of the computer age and became a successful pitchman for IBM, Honeywell and eventually Sun Microsystems. As computer use intensified, his base narrowed from all of Colorado to the Boulder area. He made early use of cellphones to call clients from the road.

"He always focused on working smarter rather than harder," Eric Martinson said.

Martinson, born and raised in Spokane, Wash., is survived by his wife, Pam; son and daughter-in-law Eric and Alisa; grandchildren Ingrid and Anders; and sister Betty Ellen Knight of Spokane.