Neil Parluck Cornwell

On October 15, 2019, Neil P. Cornwell’s body, but not his spirit, succumbed to the ravages of cancer. He was 66. Born in Baltimore to Leo J. Cornwell and Mary B. Cornwell, he grew up in Lochearn on Cedar Drive in the same house where he passed away. He grew up playing Little League baseball, competitively swimming and active in Scouts, but a gift of a short-wave radio when he was 11 opened a world of audio and technical wonder which he readily embraced. His first job was at Radio Shack and he went on to build amplifiers and speakers for himself and friends. He later took up playing electric bass guitar and running sound for local bands. After his education in Baltimore County public schools, he went on to the University of Maryland College Park, where he obtained two bachelor’s degrees, one in Education and another in Electrical Engineering, the latter degree earned in 1979. He started his career at Westinghouse in 1979 where he put both degrees to work as a technical training engineer, working in this country and abroad. He spent 3 years in Europe training troops as an airborne radar instructor at NATO bases in Geilenkrchen, West Germany and Brentwaters, England. He then was stationed for 3 years at Boeing Aircraft Company in Seattle, Washington as an instructor for radar data processing and airborne computer systems. Switching employers to Digicon, a technical support services contractor, he continued his assignments abroad. He designed, installed and integrated computer networks in the former Soviet Union in Kiev, Ukraine. Such work aided the securing of nuclear assets and prevention of proliferation of nuclear materials to other countries. He also designed and supervised the installation of a cable plant with 350,000 feet of cable at the Defense Depot Puget West in Bremerton, Washington (state). He also taught digital logic design at Dundalk Community College from 1989 to 1992. Returning to the Baltimore-Washington area for good, he provided computer support services at the Defense Contract Audit Agency and the Federal Aviation Administration, He finished his career providing 13 years of computer support at the National Eye Institute at the National Institutes of Health in the Bethesda, Maryland area. Throughout his career, he showed extraordinary devotion and intense loyalty to his work and to the persons who relied on him for his expertise. The family would like to thank his most recent co-workers and the federal employees he served for their care and concern during his illness, which provided gracious and meaningful support. He is survived by his brother, Mitchell Cornwell, and his sister-in-law, Julie Cornwell, of Easton, Maryland, and his nephews, John and Peter Cornwell. Donations may be made to the Colon Cancer Coalition via a tribute webpage being constructed for Neil at https://coloncancercoalition.org/donate/ or to a favorite charity

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