11 continues This issue marks the first anniversary of my dad’s passing. Fred Gaylord, PLS 929, was my mentor, fishing and hunting partner, and of course, Dad. Several surveyors who attended his memorial encouraged me to publish the eulogy I shared that day. I was reluctant at first, but now seems an appropriate time. I have paraphrased to fit the space available. Fred was born and raised in Eagle Creek, Oregon, with his brother Roy (PLS 1815) and sister Barb. After leaving Eagle Creek, he attended OTI (now OIT) in Klamath Falls and earned a degree in highway engineering. He traveled much of the West while working as a surveyor for the U.S. Geological Survey and the Bonneville Power Administration. I think his favorite work was for the USGS. He spent several years field checking quadrangle mapping by hiking specified transects and checking obscured areas. This included many exciting adventures with ex-Vietnam helicopter pilots transiting to and from the job site each day. Accessing the Mogollon Rim of Arizona by horseback, he spent several very cold nights sleeping between two campfires to stay warm and collecting gear spread far and wide by obstinate horses. My parents met through mutual friends on a blind date while Dad was working for the USGS. During their courtship, my dad went through many rolls of dimes in the payphone at the local restaurant. Eventually the waitress began delivering his coffee straight to the phone booth. Mom and Dad were married June 11, 1966. Honoring Fred Gaylord, PLS 929 After Dad left BPA, my parents settled in Gaston, Oregon, where Dad worked for Washington County for a short time. They then spent the next 30 years in the Milwaukie area and moved to the Oregon Coast in 1997. As his mobility diminished, he loved spending days driving the Oregon Coast or simply watching the many types of wildlife that passed by their windows. He was a lot of things through the years —a surveyor, scuba diver, scout leader, photographer, cook, hunter, fisherman, golfer, volunteer, husband, father, and grandfather. He loved history, was a voracious reader, and loved talking with people. Fred had strong beliefs rooted in honesty and integrity and believed that people just needed to pull themselves up with their bootstraps and get over it. No matter what “it” was. For me, those last bits are really his legacy which I carry with me. I think my sons Mitch and Steve learned this from him as well. Fred loved high school wrestling and attended all my high school matches Professional Land Surveyors of Oregon | www.plso.org The Lost Surveyor Photo by Tim Kent at the last PLSO Conference all three attended. Left to right are Pat, Roy, and Fred Gaylord.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy Nzc3ODM=