David Brooks Hamilton

David Brooks Hamilton passed away on March 11, 2015 in his home in Milpitas, CA. He was born on May 29, 1956 in Houston Texas, and was the youngest child of John Jerome and Mary Paige Brooks Hamilton.

David graduated from Robert E Lee High School in Houston, Texas in 1974. He attended the University of Texas-Austin and obtained a BS (1981) in Psychology and a PhD (1987) in Human Experimental Psychology (Cognitive and Perceptual Psychology). His specialty in human factors engineering led to a career in human interface software design, taking him to Alabama, Florida and finally northern California.

He recently recorded his 10th patent in user interface design. He published over 30 papers, articles, reports and presentations including Striate cortex of monkey and cat: Contrast response function. Journal of Neurophysiology, with Dr. Duane Albrecht (1981) and A case for frames with C.A. Ashworth (1997). He was a member of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society and ACM Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction.

Growing up, he was remembered for his patience, his loving nature, his generosity and an adventurous streak. Paige always said he was her most affectionate and patient child -- if she forgot to pick him up and was late, he would be sitting waiting with a smile on his face. He was also her most adventurous child, sneaking out to visit friends in the neighborhood at the age of 4 before anyone else in the house was awake.

In high school, David and his friends spend endless afternoons working on his old 1963 green Chevy Nova and their cars in his garage. And if there were extra bolts and clips left over, it never bothered them. Or the cars.

In between high school and college, David managed a Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise and was known to his friends as “The Colonel.” They could always count on him for a piece of chicken, but he drew the line there. No free pudding or sides.

David’s love of adventure continued into adulthood. He was a windsurfer, a water skier and a skier and a windsurfing instructor. While he was living in Alabama, David took the opportunity to learn to fly. He eventually bought a plane and continued flying for many years. He once had the opportunity to return to Texas to work, but he was always looking for new places and adventures and, he said, after living in California, he just “couldn’t take the Texas heat”.

He was preceded in death by his parents. He is survived by his sister Dr. Karen Hamilton of Gainesville, Fla., and brother Craig Hamilton, niece Ashley Hamilton and nephews Jonathan (J.T.) Hamilton and Nicholas Hamilton, and grand nieces Alyssa Rose Hamilton and Kendall Rose Goodson all of Houston.

A memorial service will be Friday, April 24, 2015 at 1:00 p.m. in The Hunters Creek Chapel at Earthman Funeral Directors, 8303 Katy Freeway, Houston, Texas 77024.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Palmer Drug Abuse Program Houston http://www.pdaphouston.org/ , UCSF liver transplant program (https://makeagift.ucsf.edu/hospitals or UCSF Foundation, Box 45339, San Francisco, CA 94145-0339 or the charity of your choice.