I met Deral when he came to one of our conferences in Oregon. Just as pleasant and entertaining in real life as he was on-line. More so, actually. We had fun.
I grew up as an Army brat and went to high school in Lawton Oklahoma. Absolutely hated the town and the day after graduation I moved to Oregon. Decades later on a surveyor message board there's this fellow surveyor from Lawton who is very proud of the town as reflected in his posts. I cringed and did eye rolls like a 13 year old girl hearing dad jokes from her old man at the dinner table. But seeing the town through Deral's eyes, through his writings, eventually won me over. I have him to thank for softening my view on the place and the realization that it's what you make of it.
Rest in Peace Deral. You're a good man.
2004 interview in American Surveyor. I think he also made the cover of the Rolling Stone. Or POB or one of the other survey mags. Deservedly.
Whatever topic, Deral was one of the most interesting members of this forum or it's predecessor.
RIP
Nice dedication to the Trimbleman, by Brian Portwood, PLS, at the Oklahoma Society of Land Surveyors 2023 Fall Conference | Red River Boundary Dispute and other Oklahoma court cases! Held in Stillwater, Oklahoma on 9-29-2023. Mr. Portwood held an excellent seminar and dedicated the whole thing to Trimblemans memory.
Brian Portwood is a true gentleman and a helluva surveyor.
