Michael Heath Buchanan, 64, of The Villages, Florida passed away in his sleep on March 22, 2023. He was born in Oakland, California on June 10, 1958 to Charlotte Stark Buchanan and Ralph Heath Reeves. In his teen years, he and his brother David were adopted by their stepfather Charles Breneman Buchanan.

Michael always had a deep passion for computer science. Upon graduating from Kimberly High School, Michael attended Dartmouth College where he was the first class to graduate with a computer science degree in 1980. Michael's career began in 1980 with Hughes Aircraft as a systems programmer followed by being an engineer at Basic Four in 1985 where he helped write one of the first commercially available operating systems called Basic. His career continued at Chips and Technologies where he helped shape another operating system in 1990, this time dubbed Baby Dragons Boot DOS. The remaining 8 years of Michael's career was focused on network engineering for National Semiconductor followed by his final employer Sun Microsystems.

In 1985, Michael married his first wife Karen Bergman. He and Karen had two children, Nicholas and Courtney in southern California and the Bay Area. Michael and Karen divorced, and he married his second wife Judy Sonzogni in 2018.

Michael had a keen ability to find creative solutions to problems. He had a great sense of direction and good sense of humor. He also had a need for speed, starting with motorcycles and a Porsche in his 20s to his Jaguar XK8 which he continued to enjoy driving.

During Michael's youth, he loved to race down steep ski slopes, sail on Lake Winnebago in Wisconsin or in the ocean in California, and take landscape photos. One of his later passions was playing golf, frequenting the golf course multiple times per week while living in the Bay Area and eventually leading him to move to a golf course in Nipomo (central California). In 2015 he moved to The Villages, Florida where he had access to more than 50 golf courses in the community.

Michael is survived by his children Nicholas (Lindsay) Buchanan and Courtney (Arif) Damji; granddaughter Stella Buchanan; parents Charlotte Buchanan and Heath Reeves; wife Judy Buchanan; and siblings Douglas Buchanan, David Buchanan and Clare Lowery.

A celebration of life for family members will be held in the coming weeks.  Arrangements entrusted with BALDWIN BROTHERS Funeral & Cremation Society-Spanish Springs, 352-430-1449.  Sentiments are encouraged at www.baldwincremation.com .