I met Rex when I was a little girl thru my mom and dad.  He would stay at our house a lot and help my parents with us and stuff around the house.  He was the sweetest, helpful man ever.   When he would  leave to travel back to Amarillo, we would always wait for him to return and tell us about his adventures.  He will be truly missed.  Not for sure when my dad first met him but if I had to guess it  was probably  Gulf Coast Casing also.  

I meet Rex through my mom and we both loved him dearly .

I had met Rex sometime around 87 working for Gulf States Casing later known as Gulf Coast Casing.  We became close friends almost immediately he was an operator for the company I was their mechanic. I didn't know anything about the drilling rigs but I could fix almost anything the boss threw at me. I had let Rex stay with my family at times he would also watch our babies whenever my wife n I needed a break, he even would encourage us to take a break. When we had a truck down in the valley the boss took me down there to repair it.  Needless to say Rex was the operator and I had never been on location much less saw the casing operation. Well the stabber had been  injured not long after we arrived and Rex called me up to the rig floor and asked me if I could stab? I told him I had no idea what he was talking about, he said are you skeerd of nights? I said no and he said climb up there and he will tell me what to do. You know kinda hands on training well I was 40 foot above the rig floor and Rex was operating the tongs, kind of really big hydraulic pipe wrench. He yelled up to me to grab the pipe it was 9 5/8 which weighs about 40 + pounds per foot  and hold it steady. I did what he told me what to do then he had me remove the pick up line and watch the elevators coming down towards me and guide them around the pipe then close them n make sure they were latched. I did as he said the next thing he said was good, can you do that again? I said yeah and that was the extent of my training, by the time we finished the job I was hooked. We had many talks and jobs together we fought like brothers at times and had a respect for each other and loved like we were blood. We both learned from our times together and we even cried together when my 7 year old son died from an accident. Rex was a true brother and good friend that will be missed dearly. Although our lives grew apart our bond was eternal and I was looking forward to his visit within the next few days. We talked on the phone and he was heading this way to visit and I was excited to want to show him all I have accomplished on my land and reminisce about old times. May you spread your wings old friend and soar high as an eagle till we meet again my brother.