John Thomas Montague died at home in Portland, Oregon, on Thursday, February 15, 2024, after an abrupt illness diagnosed as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. He was 74 years old. John is survived by his wife, Linda Hutchins; son, Eric Montague; siblings, Jane, Paul, and Ruth Montague; and niblings, Ashlee Montague, Eli Skeggs, and Cel Skeggs.
Born to Leo and Opal Montague in Seattle, Washington,John grew up in the Seattle area on Mercer and Vashon Islands. He graduated from Vashon Island High School in 1967 and received a BS in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University in 1973.
John worked for Stanford, Los Alamos National Lab, Intel, and Logic Automation before co-founding Model Technology with partners WalterVines andBob Hunter. At Los Alamos, John wrote operating system software for the Cray-1, then the largest and fastest computer in the world. At Intel, he worked on operating systems for the iAPX 432 and the iPSC.
John always looked back fondly on his years in Los Alamos, at 7,000 feet altitude in the Jemez Mountains. He took full advantage of the skiing, hiking, and camping just minutes away, and the culture in Santa Fe.
John became “gainfully unemployed,” as he liked to say, in 1997, after Model Technology was acquired by Mentor Graphics. In retirement, he volunteered at Chapman Elementary School, studied piano, and served on the boards of the PSU Piano Recital Series, Portland Piano International, and Third Angle New Music.
When he turned 70, John gave up board meetings in favor ofreading and walking. His daily walking average peaked at nearly five and a half miles a day before the pandemic, and still surpassed four miles a day in 2023.
John was a devoted supporter of other people’s passions, especially when that meant acquiring new audio equipment. He was in his element setting up and running that equipment and hosting musical events in the renovated warehouse he and Linda made their home.
John faced his illness with grace, and retained his characteristic dry humor until the end. A Celebration of Life is being planned for May. Donations in John’s memory can be made to Third Angle New Music. For details, see www.JohnTMontague.com.
