Maida Ellen Backus of Carol Stream, who learned how to program a computer when most people were still using slide rules, died Wednesday in Central DuPage Hospital. She was 49 and had suffered from complications of hepatitis, said her husband, Martin. Mrs. Backus was born in Libertyville and graduated from high school in Ft. Dodge, Iowa. Skilled in mathematics, she graduated from Iowa State University in 1971 with a bachelor's degree in computer science. At the time, she was one of only a few women studying computer science at the university, her husband said. She began her career as a programmer analyst for United Airlines in Elk Grove Village. She worked there until her late 20s, then devoted the next 11 years to raising her children, Michael and Christine. She was involved in a number of community volunteer activities, including the Cub Scouts, Brownies, Girl Scouts and parent-teacher organizations in the Glendale Heights school system. In 1989, she returned to United Airlines as a programmer analyst, working on the airline's worldwide cargo systems and the Year 2000 computer problem. She was a mentor to many younger staff members in her department. "When people met her, they felt she was a longtime friend," her husband said. In addition to her husband and children, she is survived by two brothers, John and Edgar Wells; three sisters, Grace Strohmeier, Karen Housel and Margaret Wells; and a grandson. Services have been held.
***Info provided by David #47590469
***Info provided by David #47590469
Maida Ellen Backus of Carol Stream, who learned how to program a computer when most people were still using slide rules, died Wednesday in Central DuPage Hospital. She was 49 and had suffered from complications of hepatitis, said her husband, Martin. Mrs. Backus was born in Libertyville and graduated from high school in Ft. Dodge, Iowa. Skilled in mathematics, she graduated from Iowa State University in 1971 with a bachelor's degree in computer science. At the time, she was one of only a few women studying computer science at the university, her husband said. She began her career as a programmer analyst for United Airlines in Elk Grove Village. She worked there until her late 20s, then devoted the next 11 years to raising her children, Michael and Christine. She was involved in a number of community volunteer activities, including the Cub Scouts, Brownies, Girl Scouts and parent-teacher organizations in the Glendale Heights school system. In 1989, she returned to United Airlines as a programmer analyst, working on the airline's worldwide cargo systems and the Year 2000 computer problem. She was a mentor to many younger staff members in her department. "When people met her, they felt she was a longtime friend," her husband said. In addition to her husband and children, she is survived by two brothers, John and Edgar Wells; three sisters, Grace Strohmeier, Karen Housel and Margaret Wells; and a grandson. Services have been held.
***Info provided by David #47590469
***Info provided by David #47590469
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