Michael J. Quinlan

Michael J. Quinlan was born in New York City on June 30, 1941, to Mickey and Anne (Kelly) Quinlan. The son and grandson of Irish immigrants, Mike was raised and educated in New York City. Mike graduated from Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School in Brooklyn, New York in 1958 and received a BSEE degree from Manhattan College in 1962. In 1980 he earned an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Directly after college graduation both he and his future wife were hired by IBM in Kingston, New York, where they met that first summer. In 1964 Mike married his soulmate, Jamie (Jean MacMaster) in Williston, North Dakota, the beginning of a mutually supportive life together for 47 years. When Mike and Jamie moved to the Seattle area in 1997, they knew they had found their “home.”

Mike served proudly and honorably as an officer in the U.S. Navy during the Viet Nam War and was assigned to the National Military Command Center. He had a very successful career at IBM, beginning as an engineer and eventually being named as the president of IBM’s largest sales division. He also served as CFO of IBM’s Asia Pacific business, living in Japan and traveling extensively throughout Asia, opening business in China and managing staff in Hong Kong and Sydney as well as Tokyo.

After retiring from IBM, Mike became the Director of Technology at the Wharton School for two years, and also lectured to MBA candidates about the emerging economies in Asia. Later he founded a computer multimedia firm, served as the CEO of two NASDAQ-listed software companies, and consulted internationally in the mobile phone industry. Mike’s diversified career gave him executive insights into technology, international finance, nuclear weaponry, the emergence of China, and entrepreneurship. He recently drew on these broad perspectives to comment on the serious issues the United States will face in the 21st century and was actively working on a blog and a book at the time of his death.

Mike and Jamie shared a mutual passion for travel, whether it was cruising in Antarctica or the Arctic Circle, exploring the world’s greatest cities, or relaxing together on the California beaches. Since his retirement Mike became an excellent cook and enjoyed nothing better than entertaining good friends around the dining table. Mike was a lifelong golfer, a student of history, a dedicated family man, and a compassionate soul. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him.

Arrangements under the direction of Sunset Hills Funeral Home, Bellevue, WA.