Today is one of the saddest days of my life. I just learned that Charlie Glover, retired from the National Geodetic Survey passed away this morning as the result of a house fire. Deeply saddened does not come close to feeling that with his passing he takes with him an era that unfortunately many either never really knew or have forgotten. Charlie was "The God" of EDM. Few (if any) people on this planet were his equal in the development of and teaching about high precision work with EDM than Charlie. His country drawl hid his immense technical understanding of the complexity of what to most seemed like simply pushing a button and getting a number. He was among the original members of the cadre of NGSers that began the very successful seminar and workshop program to surveyors just starting to make geodetic caliber measurements - those of you who may have attended one of those early three day seminars back in the 70s know what I mean. Charlie had a way of taking a difficult topic and putting it into a context that anyone paying attention could understand. Technical arguments with Charlie were always a challenge to your intellect. While I have hundreds of stories about Charlie I feel the need to leave just one. In 1993, during a survey of the U.S. Capital building one evening around 1-ish the two of us were lying on our stomachs on the floor directly beneath the Rotunda marking a center point of a marble star in the floor. There was almost no one else in the building except our small survey crew and a few Capital police. Charlie looked at me with his big country grin and said " Look where we are. How did two dumb asses like us ever get a job like this?"
He was my mentor and friend. Our community has lost a giant. We will not see the likes of someone like him again.
My condolences - it's a rare honor to come across someone like that.
So sorry to hear that sad news. I met him a few times while he was on assignments in Louisiana. I worked with Doug Richmond for awhile in the 80s and he was close to Charlie. I believe he worked awhile with Doug's company in VA after he retired from NGS.
I followed him on FB for a bit but I'm not to keen on FB.
Once again, sorry to hear about your loss of a good friend.
So sorry to hear of your loss and the loss to the profession.
Tragic news indeed.
Loyal
Few people will know it, but it would seem he did more to improve the world than Princess Leia.
I am so sad to hear of Charlie's passing. He was from my area, or at least spent some time in this area. He knew one of my friends and former mentor's parents and uncles. I believe that they went to high school together.
I had the opportunity to talk with him on the phone once or twice many years ago. I wish I would have had the opportunity to meet him in person. My thoughts and prayers are with his family.
Wow, Dave, that is a huge shock. I always loved talking to him about the "old days" of surveying, he was a great guy. I would usually see him at various classes at Corbin.
And, he posted a condolence message to me on my timeline yesterday, which I never got around to thanking him for.
A big loss. Even though we now have GPS for long range measurements, the knowledge that he acquired over the years was definitely invaluable to the profession.
RIP and tailwinds Charlie. Indeed a great loss to the surveying / geodesy profession.
I mourn his passing as well.
I found this thread on the old forum a few years ago and really enjoyed it. I sent it to the editor of our State Association's publication who contacted Charlie to do an interview, but things happened and the interview never did, unfortunately. He sounds like quite the character. Thanks for sharing with us, Dave, and so sorry for your loss and "our" loss.
Sad news indeed, Dave. I am one of those very blessed surveyors who had the opportunity to attend Charlie's 3-day "Coordinate Computations and Instrumentation" workshop back in the 70's. It layed the foundation for a (at the time) young surveyor to really understand in a simple way the intricacies of geodesy. I still have my copy of the course materials. Charlie had a great impact upon all surveyors whether they knew him personally or not. His witty intelligence and humor will be missed.
I found this brief article on this tragedy:
Such a tragic event; our thoughts and prayers go out to his friends and family.
Surveying has lost a great exemplar to our profession...