Katherine Dahl-Ahl, Data Analyst

Katherine Melanie Dahl-Ahl, who helped police in the Northwest begin to use personal computers to analyze and process crime data, was a quick study who shared her knowledge easily.

She also brought integrity to her work as an office manager in the Seattle Police Department's Intelligence Division, say colleagues.

"She was very talented," said retired Seattle police Lt. Gerald Adams. "What impressed me was her ability to quickly master a task and train others. In the early 1980s, she briefed the Washington State Narcotics Investigators Association on how to use computers to analyze data in drug investigations - on the cutting edge for police at that time."

Mrs. Dahl-Ahl died last Wednesday of multiple sclerosis. She was 49.

"She did a lot of evaluating evidence," said Karl Ahl of Edmonds, her husband of 16 years and a retired Seattle police officer. "She did the programs that allowed detectives to find associations between people."

Mrs. Dahl-Ahl, who used a Seattle City Light mainframe computer for her early police work, also was among those who wrote and evaluated programs FBI agents could use on personal computers.

Born in Kalispell, Mont., where she excelled in English and worked with computers at a community college, she moved to Seattle with a friend in 1973.

She worked for an insurance company, then became a clerical assistant in the pawn-shop detail of SPD's crimes-against-property unit.

Promoted into the Intelligence Division, she made herself indispensable with computer work. She spoke at law-enforcement gatherings throughout the Northwest. In Seattle, she sharpened the spelling and grammar in reports written by associates and superiors.

"That ruffled a few feathers," said Ahl. "But it made the department look better."

She also briefly was a consultant to a software firm that created and evaluated programs for Microsoft.

After Mrs. Dahl-Ahl was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1990, she cut back on work. She retired in 1993.

Also surviving are her mother, Jenny Dahl, of Columbia Falls, Mont.; brothers Craig Dahl, of Kalispell; Doug Dahl and Ladd Dahl, both of Parlier, Calif.; and stepdaughters Diane Reid, of Huntington Beach, Calif., and Karla Van Dien, of Brazil, Ind.

An open house to celebrate her life is set for 1 p.m. Saturday at her home. Donations may be sent to the Multiple Sclerosis Association of King County, 735 N. 35th St., Seattle, WA 98103.

Carole Beers' e-mail address is: cbeers@seattletimes.com