Mary Dieli loved to find solutions

Mary A. Dieli was known in the computer world for her pioneering work in computer usability but may be best remembered by family and friends for her passion for helping people.

"Whenever she saw anybody in distress, she had to help them," said her husband, Eric Gold.

She died Friday (June 14) after an 18-month struggle with breast cancer. She was 46.

In the early 1980s, she worked with Apple Computer on the Lisa operating system, one of the first commercially available operating systems to move away from the DOS-like command-line structure. In 1988, she moved to Seattle to create two computer-usability labs for Microsoft.

"Mary's mission was to make complex (computer) systems accessible to almost any user," said Steve Messere, a longtime friend and colleague.

In the labs, Dr. Dieli, who had a doctorate, studied human-computer interaction in order to find ways to increase the usability of computers. Her work contributed to the design of the Windows 3.1 and Windows 95 user interfaces.

Most recently, she started her own consulting business and worked with Cisco Systems, Netscape, Hewlett-Packard and Dow Jones.

Diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of breast cancer in December 2000, she kept a positive attitude throughout her battle with the disease, despite treatments that required almost daily hospital visits.

"She was an inspiring person before she was diagnosed and an even-more-inspiring person after," said close friend Janet Lawless. "The minute she found out, she had a plan together for how she would beat it and did everything she could to learn about it and fight it.

"That's the sad part (about her death) — that such a driven person, with such a plan, could lose."

Breast cancer didn't diminish Dr. Dieli's "high-energy" lifestyle. She stayed active almost throughout her illness.

Last summer, she participated in the annual Swedish Summer Run, a 5-kilometer run/walk to raise money for Swedish Medical Center. She walked the 5k with her husband. At the time of her death she was actively raising money for this year's Summer Run.

Dr. Dieli was also working on a book about practical problem-solving to help people answer questions such as "Should I change jobs?" or "Should I move?"

Lawless, who originally met her at Microsoft more than seven years ago, said she was often able to help her friends solve problems.

"Mary was a great listener — she could come up with solutions to your problems that were so simple you hadn't even thought of them."

She is survived by her husband, of Seattle; parents, Arthur and Alice Dieli of Sacramento, Calif.; brother, Dan Dieli of Monterey, Calif.; and sisters, Alice "Lisa" Greco of Heidelberg, Germany; Annamaria Colburn of Warner, N.H.; Paula Dieli of San Francisco; Nancy Dieli of Park City, Utah; and Sarah Gomez of Pinole, Calif.

A service celebrating her life will be held at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at St. Joseph Church, 732 18th Ave. E., Seattle.

Memorials may be made to the Marsha Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer Research, 1221 Madison St., Suite 1410, Seattle, WA 98104. More information is available at 206-215-6200.

Kennan Knudson: 206-464-2550 or kknudson@seattletimes.com.