Mathew Joseph Myszewski
(November 1941 – January 14, 2026)
Mathew Joseph Myszewski, known to family and friends as Mat (with one T), was a devoted father, a brilliant computer scientist and inventor, and a loving husband. He was also a deeply humble man, so many people may be surprised to learn just how much he accomplished over a lifetime defined less by recognition than by curiosity and quiet competence.
Mat was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in November 1941, to Theresa and Edward Myszewski. He grew up on two successive family farms they called Grindstone Farm #1 and Grindstone Farm #2. These were working farms with corn and soybeans, a small dairy herd, chickens, ducks, and pigs. That farm upbringing never left him; it shaped his comfort with tools, machinery, and practical problem-solving, and gave him a lifelong respect for work done carefully and well.
He attended a one-room school for grades 1 through 8. He credited the teacher Mildred Monahan and structure of the school for his early success. If he finished his work early, he could listen to the lessons of older students and if he needed a refresher, he could turn his attention to younger classmates.
His early interest in electricity and engineering found practical application in keeping barn cats away from the milking pails. He put the milk pail on a board and wired an electric fence generator to the pail. When a cat put its paws up on the pail, it would be discouraged. The cats quickly learned and after a training period it was only necessary to put the pail on the board.
Mat earned a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and was hired straight out of school by IBM. He wrote compilers for FORTRAN IV, only 5 years after the creation of FORTRAN as a language. This was foundational work, developing compiler theory as they were developing the compilers themselves.
Mat was among a small group of pioneering computer scientists who built the foundations of modern computing and the internet. As a FORTRAN compiler writer at IBM in the 1960s, a consultant to DARPA at Los Alamos National Laboratory working on parallel computing, and a member of the Massachusetts Computer Associates team connected to ARPANET — the direct precursor to the internet — he was present at the creation of the digital world we live in today.
Across his career, Mat was granted four patents, reflecting his ability to combine deep theoretical understanding with practical system design. After leaving Computer Associates, he briefly pursued entrepreneurship, building replicas of mute cornetts, a Renaissance woodwind instrument. To do this, he built tools to bore out cores for the wooden instruments using a 1.5-ton milling machine, a lathe, and other industrial tools in the family basement. Although the market for historical instruments proved limited, the experience reflected a pattern repeated throughout his life: if Mat wanted to do something, he learned how.
He returned to computer science at Computer Associates. Then at Alliant Computer Systems, where he served as Systems Architect and Senior Scientist, designing how multiple processors execute different parts of a task simultaneously to increase computational speed, efficiency, and performance. Once the system was designed, he moved to Technical Marketing Support, traveling widely to evangelize multiple parallel processing computers – so called “baby Crays.” He kept in touch with many coworkers his whole life, who remember him as being full of integrity, wisdom and warmth. Working with Mat was a joy and a privilege.
At home, Mat was playful and generous with his attention. He loved games of all kinds, and his children grew up playing board games and trick-taking card games. He had a particular fondness for Scrabble and crossword puzzles. While at Compass, he regularly played Scrabble with a coworker who was nationally ranked. In untimed games, the coworker usually won, but when they played with a chess clock, Mat often did. Mat always enjoyed wordplay, whether in games, crosswords, or puns.
For the last couple years of his life, he had almost daily video conferences with his children to play the New York Times crossword puzzle to pass the time together and keep his mind sharp. Even until the very end, he was able to make good plays on words that startled physical therapists and other members of his healthcare team. At least some part of him was as good as he ever was.
He was musical throughout his life. In high school he played the accordion; later he played recorder as well as the piano. His family attended many folk and classical music concerts together. He was also a voracious reader, capable of learning nearly anything that held his interest.
After many of his trips to New Mexico, Mat brought recipes and spices back to his family, well before Tex Mex went mainstream. He had grown up with overcooked vegetables that tasted of salt and butter, so color, crunch, and spice opened new possibilities.
Mat and his family often went hiking and camping in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. In 1968, when his children were 4 years and 5 years old, the family climbed Mount Washington, the highest mountain in the northeast. Everyone carried a pack, including the children. Mat taught his children to read, do math, and use hand tools. His farm-bred comfort with work and machinery sometimes surprised others: one memory that still raises eyebrows is that he had his son pushing a gas lawn mower at age six, not as a stunt, but as a matter-of-fact lesson in capability and responsibility. He and his children built an 8-foot-long parabolic solar cooker using mirrors. The project combined math, woodwork, glass cutting, renewable energy, and cooking. Rarely was a project about one thing.
Mat lived Massachusetts, California, New Hampshire, and later Lowell, where he lived with his daughter and her family until his death. He was a good neighbor.
Mat was a loving grandpa, brother, uncle, father, and son. Mat spent time with his grandsons, Luke, Nick, and Liam whenever possible. Throughout Mat’s life he traveled to Wisconsin, Vermont, Iowa, New York, and Connecticut for family events. In his last years, Sarah setup video calls with family.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Theresa and Edward, his first wife Beth, and his second wife, Susan, whom he met in 1977 and married in 1979. He is survived by his siblings Kathleen, Michael, and John; his children Sarah and James; and his grandchildren Luke, Nick, and Liam.
Mat died peacefully in his sleep, not in pain, not afraid, and not alone. Those who knew him will remember a quiet, kind, and competent man who valued learning, curiosity, and time spent together with family and friends. He leaves behind not only inventions and ideas, but generations of people who learned from him how to think carefully, play honestly, and build things that last.
Relatives and friends are kindly invited to attend a memorial service for Mat in the First Parish Church UU, 7 Concord Rd, Billerica on Saturday, May 16 at 2:30p.m. Food and visiting will take place at the Church starting at noon. Zoom will be available at church at www.UUbillerica.org and click on join our Hybrid service.