I've just learned that Deral Paulk has passed away. I never got to meet him in person, but I kept up with him and his escapades on Facebook and in private messages. I even had the pleasure of creating a custom avatar for him many years ago. He had an awesome sense of humor.
He will truly be missed.
Wendell, I was posting same thing at same time, I deleted my post and will leave my comments here. I communicated with Deral many times over the years and considered him a good friend, I visited him once In Lawton, OK and again after he moved to Paducah, KY. He had been battling cancer recently but was still fairly active on his facebook page. I will miss you my friend.
SHG
A legend.
Wow. I'm almost at a loss for words.
TM and I came up in the same surveying gene pool in the late '70s. He worked for Topographic Engineering and I was at Phillips & Stong. Several of our crew members floated back and forth across the four or five larger surveying firms there in N OKC. We were both fixtures at the monthly OSLS meetings. Back then we had them on week nights at Chi-Chi's. Oh, the beer we drank.
Deral was very active at OSLS back then and (maybe?) rose to take a turn at President for a while I believe. I remember when he packed up at headed down to Lawton. We still saw each other when we could and a few times after he headed to Kentucky, but the miles took their toll.
I remember working a job down in Lawton and taking Deral and Michael to a good sit-down-indoor lunch. All I had to cover the cost was Ms. Money Penny's (my better half) Discover card. She still brings that up to this day... 😉
He was a hard working quick-witted personality, a real Renaissance Man. Surveying was only one facet of Deral. The world has lost a good one. He's in my prayers.
This is a loss.
From what I remember reading on the forums he was a good surveyor who also demonstrated the potential of GIS done right, and a good human.
I always enjoyed his stories. May he rest in peace.
I had always intended to take him to lunch on one of my many trips to Paducah. The trips became fewer over the last few years and I never did. He was certainly one of a kind and he'll be missed.
Sad to hear this news. He was the counterweight from OK to TX Kent. and rode a sweet Harley into the sunset.
We should set a pipe and stone memorial
A good man... A good surveyor. RIP
This was hard news to take; I felt like Deral and I were good friends, and I'd never met the man. We'd talked on the phone a couple of times; we talked back and forth, on the message board of the day. What impressed me about Deral; he was ready, willing and able to help everyone and anyone that needed it. He had some great worksheets in his Redneck Journal, and shared them freely.
He was an inspiration to all of us and he will be missed...
RIP Trimby
Sad news to hear. He always seemed a decent guy and added much knowledge to the boards.
I think I still have an engineers chain he donated when he was doing an auction to raise funds for ?Michael's? transplant.
For those that didn't know him. Trimbleman transitioned to Topcon. We spoke a few times on the phone RIP. Probably 20 years ago. This board, I mean predecessor, was very different back then with the likes of Kent and Dura Dura.
Deral Paulk was also known to be a favorite of the ladies. There must be a covey of them in Lawton, Oklahoma alone that are mourning their memories of Deral. Makes me think of a certain trucker song.
