Brian was born May 2, 1965 in Boston, MA and died at age 54 on October 27, 2019 at his home in Shoreline WA. He leaves 3 daughters, Alison, Madison and Quinn; former wife of 26 years Shelby Hunsinger, his parents Joan and Frank Cohee, brother Bruce, sister Lynne, brother-in-law Matt Smith, nephews Mitchell Smith and Nate Smith, aunt Frani Greenleaf, and his two cats—Felix and Oscar. He excelled in the academic world after graduating from Sammamish High School in 1982, earning a B.A. in Geology from Whitman College in 1986, a M.S. in Geology from the University Of Michigan in 1988, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Geophysics from Stanford University in 1996.
His computer knowledge and problem solving skills led him to join Real Networks in Seattle during the time of the aggressive information-age management style of the late 90’s. That experience was to drive his passionate leadership nature in future Program Management roles and then as Chief Technology Officer with Mixpo, a Seattle based video advertising software startup for 8 years. Brian was very proud of his team building accomplishments there, where he was recognized by InfoWorld as a “Best CTO of the year” in 2009. He later joined Corbis Holdings as CTO in 2015 where he helped the organization work through an unannounced downsizing and sale of assets. Letting 130 long term people go was a very difficult challenge.
Brian was a risk taker. He so enjoyed climbing mountains with his friend and neighbor Jack McHenry and hiking and backpacking with his brother Bruce, Brian Goldcamp and Brian McClure. Leading his mother up a route to Three Fingers Peak in WA was a special moment for him. He loved tweaking and tuning his several motorcycles and especially riding off-road at remote locations. He helicopter skied, had a hole-in-one at golf playing with his father, and mountain biked with reckless abandon. He had some shining moments.
Details of his untimely death will take months to figure out from eventual lab reports. Brian had told his family many times that he wanted to live his life on his own terms. He certainly did that. We were all literally supporting actors in his one-man play. He was a very unique person. Many admired him, and some of us truly loved him, and we will miss him very much.
A celebration of his life will be held in the Spring.