My Friend Dave I first got to know Dave in 1972. He was a successful underground utility contractor and very well respected in the business. My first subcontract was working for him installing water lines in Burnet, Texas. It was actually more complicated than that. I was a sub to another sub that subcontracted to Daves company. That happens in our business a lot. Ok if you arent too confused Ill continue. Throughout the 1970s I worked with Dave several times. He had an enormous capacity for numbers. I learned a lot from him. There came a time in the 80s they I couldnt bond the size of jobs (thats terminology meaning I couldnt handle the business / financial end of the business to satisfy the size company I had) so Dave came along to help me. He must have trusted my judgement because he backed me on many multi-million dollar projects, never asking for numbers from me prior to entering in to contracts on my behalf. He was located in Lubbock and I was in Austin. A phone call allowed me to bid any job that I desired. Dave had the ability to handled more work from the business / financial side than he had the employees to actually do the work. So a very mutually beneficial arraignment was entered into. We continued do work as a team for several years, that was only interrupted by his deciding to retire and my decision to sell an interest in my company. Dave and I help to establish a statewide association in 1987 that looked after the interests of our industry and we traveled with our wives to many locations around the country, including regular trips to Washington DC. Dave was a pilot and alway flew his own plane. He, as a young man flew in WW-ll. If you ever watch an old war movie and they talk about flying over the hump, that is in reference to flying over Himalayas, where many planes were lost to the treacherous conditions. Dave flew in that campaign and came home safely. He was a great pilot and a great man. I flew with him many times. I always knew if Dave was at the controls, there was nothing to worry about. He had a $1.5 million turbo-prop plane. The nicest plane in its class. One day in 1992 I got a call from Betty, Daves wife. After a 50 year flying career, he had flown from Lubbock to Pagossa Springs, Colorado where they had a second home. He dropped Betty off at the airport. He just wanted to fly some more to enjoy the beautiful scenery and fly for a while longer. Why he flew into the side of a mountain was never known. But he died, doing what he loved.
Posted on: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 20:56:42 +0000
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