[Rick Parker]

Yesterday I received a phone call that I wished I had not gotten. One of my absolute best long time friends had been found by his wife on the floor of his in home machine shop dead of an apparent Heart attack. She said he and a couple of friends were pouring some concrete for a pad for a propane tank and he had gone into the shop to get some tools, when some asked where he was after about 10 minute she went to check on him and found him. I was devistated and cried like a baby. I had known him since October of 1967. He was 64, had a quadruple bypass about 12 years ago and was always active and otherwise appeared in good health, he watched what he ate, didn't drink or smoke. Several years ago he met a woman who he ultimately married, on one of the on line dating sites that really brought a twinkle to his eye and gave him a real reason to live after a bitter divorce several years earlier. They were so good for each other and he had all of his priorities in line and they always spent a lot of time together. He openly allowed me to utilize all of his machinery about 10 years ago while I was redoing my car. We welded, fabricated, machined and made all sorts of parts and spent hours upon hours in his shop talking and doing all sorts of things. He was a self taught genus in a fabrication setting, taught himself Geometry and Trig and used it consistantly while building projects. He was sought out by the people at the San Antonio Toyota Truck plant to make machinery that handled various material such as the bulk and formed carpeting. I will miss him so very much. I hope you all have friends as dear as he was to me.....Dave I'll miss you