William (Bill) Roth was one of the finest engineers I have ever known passed away today.
A veteran, a mentor, and a master of embedded systems, Billās legacy lives on in the tools we use, the code we write, and the communities he quietly nurtured.
šļø A Life of Service and Precision
Bill served his country with honor before embarking on a long and distinguished engineering career. He worked at Dell and many other companies, always bringing his signature blend of rigor, creativity, and humility. But it was in the trenches of microcontroller developmentāespecially with PIC devicesāthat I came to know him best.
š§ Eleven Years of Quiet Brilliance
For over 13 years, Bill poured his time and expertise into the embedded systems communityāespecially into GCBASIC, where his contributions were both foundational and transformative. He never sought recognition. In fact, he actively avoided the spotlight. But I insisted that his work be attributed to him. Because it mattered. Because he mattered.
Bill would work on an issue until it was resolved completelyānot 90%, not almost there, but 100%. Heād write full analysis reports, dissect compiler behavior, and propose elegant, robust solutions. And he enjoyed it. He found joy in the process, in the precision, and in the knowledge that someone else would benefit from the clarity he created.
š£ The Incubator Analogy
At home Bill quietly and successfully built chicken egg incubatorsādevices that maintain the precise temperature, humidity, and ventilation needed for life to emerge. That was Bill in a nutshell. He developed ideas, turned them into reality, and then stepped back as others benefited from what he built.
He didnāt just hatch solutionsāhe created environments where others could grow, learn, and thrive. His work was the incubator for countless innovations.
š§ A Force Behind GCBASIC and Beyond
Billās contributions tp GCBASIC were immense:
Compiler logic and ASM optimization
LATx-safe macros and RMW hazard prevention
A complete library
A complete re-write of libraries
Demonstration programs and reusable code snippets
Annotated documentation and simulation models
His name is forever etched into the libraries, the examples, and the solutions we rely on. His work made our tools smarter, our code safer, and our understanding deeper.
š¬ Personal Reflections
I knew Bill for a long time. He was one of the greatest engineers Iāve ever metānot just for his technical brilliance, but for his integrity, his work ethic, and his joy in the craft. He didnāt just fix bugsāhe understood them, documented them, and taught others how to avoid them. He made the tools we use better, and he made the people around him better too.
šÆļø Legacy
The benefits to the community are his legacy. His name will be forever remembered in the solutions, the demonstration programs, the libraries, and the snippets. Rest well, Bill.
You showed us what it means to care deeply, think clearly, and build things that last.
ā¤ļø
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holy heck, now ive sat down to actually start getting caught up and am actually pating attention to the posts , this is so sad and heartbreaking to hear.
the fantastic goeytex was the one who pointed me in this direction of GCB once i realised id reached my limit with what i could do with the picaxe, but im gonna guess bill managed to bring alot of us here from various forums and learning places when we started asking "this is great, but where can i go next?"
over the years of posting on forums for help that he was part of, no matter the problem it seemed bill would always find some sort of way to make it work or at least get you moving enough so you could keep plugging on.
i always looked forward to reading his replies and the detailed breakdown he would give of why it wasnt working and where you went wrong and how to go about fixing it, and if you didnt quite understand a part of it he had a way of somehow breaking it down and making it more understandable, like many, he gave me a better understanding of what was going on and has greatly contributed to my learning of this thing as a whole
his loss truly is such a great and impactfull one, anyone whos had the chance to converse with him will know what we have lost, im just shocked, definately tying to keep it together now
thank you for the wisdom, guidance and the patience you so happily gave to all mr william roth, R.I.P.
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my latest project idea thats brought me back to making again irionically revolves entirely around bills NRF radio code, thats been my kicker these last few weeks to get organised and started on that,
i only wish i could have known him a bit more, i hope his family know how much he truly was admired and adored by all these forums and the people he crossed paths with along the way
that truly shows the measure of a person when you can barely know them but feel such a loss when theyre gone,
you knew him so much better evan, so i cant imagine how your feeling with this, but my sincerest condolances and sympathy for such a tremendous loss, more so to all of you close to him
as you said, his name is eveywhere now here in GCB, his legacy as an individual already exists, and for anyone of us who did have time and chances to engage and converse with him will truly know that he was in his own unique category as an individual
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im sitting here grappling with the fact that i hardly knew him but, his effect and reach as a person was so immense that it just feels like it should when you lose someone you knew most of your life
i guess it really doesnt take much in life to leave an impression on people in a good way that just lasts, and hes certainly done that over the years.
i think i may just have to go and have a cry, a big comforting hug to you too evan
tony.
š
1
Last edit: tony_g 2025-09-09
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William (Bill) Roth was one of the finest engineers I have ever known passed away today.
A veteran, a mentor, and a master of embedded systems, Billās legacy lives on in the tools we use, the code we write, and the communities he quietly nurtured.
šļø A Life of Service and Precision
Bill served his country with honor before embarking on a long and distinguished engineering career. He worked at Dell and many other companies, always bringing his signature blend of rigor, creativity, and humility. But it was in the trenches of microcontroller developmentāespecially with PIC devicesāthat I came to know him best.
š§ Eleven Years of Quiet Brilliance
For over 13 years, Bill poured his time and expertise into the embedded systems communityāespecially into GCBASIC, where his contributions were both foundational and transformative. He never sought recognition. In fact, he actively avoided the spotlight. But I insisted that his work be attributed to him. Because it mattered. Because he mattered.
Bill would work on an issue until it was resolved completelyānot 90%, not almost there, but 100%. Heād write full analysis reports, dissect compiler behavior, and propose elegant, robust solutions. And he enjoyed it. He found joy in the process, in the precision, and in the knowledge that someone else would benefit from the clarity he created.
š£ The Incubator Analogy
At home Bill quietly and successfully built chicken egg incubatorsādevices that maintain the precise temperature, humidity, and ventilation needed for life to emerge. That was Bill in a nutshell. He developed ideas, turned them into reality, and then stepped back as others benefited from what he built.
He didnāt just hatch solutionsāhe created environments where others could grow, learn, and thrive. His work was the incubator for countless innovations.
š§ A Force Behind GCBASIC and Beyond
Billās contributions tp GCBASIC were immense:
His name is forever etched into the libraries, the examples, and the solutions we rely on. His work made our tools smarter, our code safer, and our understanding deeper.
š¬ Personal Reflections
I knew Bill for a long time. He was one of the greatest engineers Iāve ever metānot just for his technical brilliance, but for his integrity, his work ethic, and his joy in the craft. He didnāt just fix bugsāhe understood them, documented them, and taught others how to avoid them. He made the tools we use better, and he made the people around him better too.
šÆļø Legacy
The benefits to the community are his legacy. His name will be forever remembered in the solutions, the demonstration programs, the libraries, and the snippets. Rest well, Bill.
You showed us what it means to care deeply, think clearly, and build things that last.
My prayers to he and his family, rest in peace.
Sorry to read that, rest in peace.
Just read the news on mmbasic forum. Sad for all who actually knew him.
I am very sad to hear that such a special person has passed away....
holy heck, now ive sat down to actually start getting caught up and am actually pating attention to the posts , this is so sad and heartbreaking to hear.
the fantastic goeytex was the one who pointed me in this direction of GCB once i realised id reached my limit with what i could do with the picaxe, but im gonna guess bill managed to bring alot of us here from various forums and learning places when we started asking "this is great, but where can i go next?"
over the years of posting on forums for help that he was part of, no matter the problem it seemed bill would always find some sort of way to make it work or at least get you moving enough so you could keep plugging on.
i always looked forward to reading his replies and the detailed breakdown he would give of why it wasnt working and where you went wrong and how to go about fixing it, and if you didnt quite understand a part of it he had a way of somehow breaking it down and making it more understandable, like many, he gave me a better understanding of what was going on and has greatly contributed to my learning of this thing as a whole
his loss truly is such a great and impactfull one, anyone whos had the chance to converse with him will know what we have lost, im just shocked, definately tying to keep it together now
thank you for the wisdom, guidance and the patience you so happily gave to all mr william roth, R.I.P.
I miss him.
Yesterday, I was working on a project and his name was in the header credits of the code I was using. His name will be in the code forever.
my latest project idea thats brought me back to making again irionically revolves entirely around bills NRF radio code, thats been my kicker these last few weeks to get organised and started on that,
i only wish i could have known him a bit more, i hope his family know how much he truly was admired and adored by all these forums and the people he crossed paths with along the way
that truly shows the measure of a person when you can barely know them but feel such a loss when theyre gone,
you knew him so much better evan, so i cant imagine how your feeling with this, but my sincerest condolances and sympathy for such a tremendous loss, more so to all of you close to him
as you said, his name is eveywhere now here in GCB, his legacy as an individual already exists, and for anyone of us who did have time and chances to engage and converse with him will truly know that he was in his own unique category as an individual
I am talking with his family. I have collated the comments and shared. They are very very grateful.
thanks evan,
im sitting here grappling with the fact that i hardly knew him but, his effect and reach as a person was so immense that it just feels like it should when you lose someone you knew most of your life
i guess it really doesnt take much in life to leave an impression on people in a good way that just lasts, and hes certainly done that over the years.
i think i may just have to go and have a cry, a big comforting hug to you too evan
tony.
Last edit: tony_g 2025-09-09
Drop a few nice words here.
https://www.westcentraltexascremation.com/obituaries/william-roth