August 12th, 2007

This is the speech that Tim Backer gave at the Memorial. He sent it to me today to post here. It was enjoyable, funny and exceptionally appropriate for the occasion. Thanks Tim for sharing this with us!

We are here to celebrate the life of Ted Backer, what a life it was.

I would like to introduce his family that is here, his wife Cindy, whom you all know, his daughter Shawna and her husband Zack, and son Brody, Ted’s son Jarrek, and his son Ted, his mother Clel Shore, his brother Bob, his sisters Joan and Kim, and my wife Pat.

I would like to thank everyone that put this memorial together. I know Ted is here with us in spirit and watching over us. I would like to recognize our mother Clel Shore. The news of her death is premature, but I think it the mistype would make Ted laugh. When Ron asked me to say a few words I thought right of way there is no way to tell a story as well as Ted did, I just hope I don’t embarrass myself.

We will all miss Ted’s evil smile but I think we are all better for having known him. He had a good work ethic, and was always telling me stories about work and the people he worked with. He seemed to really like his job. Any time I was with him he had his computer and cell phone so he could take care of work. He told me that people would try to figure out what he did for Halliburton. Everyone knew he worked there but no one seem to know what he did. He said he hoped that Halliburton never figured out that he didn’t do anything, cause they pay me an awful lot to do nothing.

Ted loved his friends and was always willing to help them in a moments notice. He could certainly make you smile with a good story. My children would sit and listen to him for hours, which would only encourage greater stories.

Ted started telling stories at a very young age. As many of you may have seen on the web site, there are numerous pictures of Ted when he was young. When I was about five and Ted was 9, I found a large drawer full of pictures of Ted. I mean hundreds. I asked Ted why there were so many pictures of him and none of me. He simply said He Was the Favorite and then calmly walked away. It was many years before I learned that our parents had a good friend who was becoming a professional photographer and was practicing with Ted.

Ted loved his family and was very proud of them. Every time I talked to him he would tell me something they had done. It was not always about being too young to drive and flipping a car or skipping school or some other misdeed, but usually about great accomplishments that the kids had done such as excelling in sports or school. In later years he started bragging about the grand children and how soon he was going to get to see them again.

As a younger brother, you always try to one up your older brother. The only time I think I came close was actually last year. I had gone to Las Vegas with my wife for a conference she had and for my 50^th birthday. While she was in meetings I went to Hoover Dam. I called Ted that morning. I asked are you busy and he said of course not, I am at work! I said I was looking at Hoover Dam. He was quite impressed and said it doesn’t get much better than that. I said yes it does if you are on a 2006 Road King. He said Son of a Bitch. He was totally jealous.

Ted came to Florida one year for Thanksgiving and brought his Harley. That is the only time I ever got to ride with Ted. I am an auxiliary deputy sheriff and I was the departments motorcycle officer. I had a police road king. So Ted and I went for a ride. You need to realize that the department required me to only ride in uniform. So Ted had me chasing him several times with lights and siren. After it got dark, I turned between some houses and told him to follow me, We were on the golf cart path of a very exclusive golf course. He was amazed that his conservative little brother was turning a little wild. Actually The people in the area new I rode through there at night and actually were appreciative. But I let Ted think we might get caught.

The next day, Cindy and Ted went over to Sarasota and rode with KAT who is a friend of Ron’s and they rode the whole day along the beaches on the West Coast. About 5:00 PM I get a call from Cindy. They are at the hospital in Sarasota and Ted fell and broke his collar bone. Being the loving brother that I am, I asked if the bike was OK. Cindy said oh yes, he didn’t fall off the bike, he just can’t walk on a sidewalk.

The next year Ron came through town and it is probably the only time that the Sheriff escorted him with lights and siren to a bar.

I would like to thank our sister Allyson and our brother Bob for coming down to help care for Ted the weekend before he died. I think it meant a lot to him to have them here. I am grateful that most of his brothers and sisters got to talk to him on his final day. Ted’s cancer came on quick, and I am thankful that he had very little suffering. I am glad that he and Cindy had just been to my house in May for my son’s wedding and we all had a great time. Ted told me he had a great life with very few regrets. I can safely say that Ted lived each day to the fullest. I have always admired his positive and can do attitude and hope as I get older I can keep that kind of attitude as well.

The next time you hear the rumble in the sky, it’s probably Ted firing up his Harley.

To finish this up, I will quote my mother, actually Dr. Suess

"Don’t Cry because it’s over, Smile because it happened."

TED - God Bless and ride safe

Photos from Ron Balliet

These are some photos that Ron sent me from this past weekend. These are all from dinner on Saturday night at the Blue Dog with the family. As Dave Anderson commented at the beginning of the Memorial on Sunday, we were gathered together to remember the life of Ted, not to mourn his passing. The occasion was somber at times, but was otherwise very jovial as you can see from these pictures. That's just how Ted would have wanted it.

1-Tim Backer (Ted's brother), Guzzi Dave and his girlfriend Nicole.

2-Obie and Mike, some of the first Numar-ians.

3-Brother Bob, Tim's wife Pat, Daughter Shawna and her hubbie Zach,
family friend Brenda, Mother Clel, Obie's wife Shawnee, and Sister Kim

4-Sister Joan and old Numar-ian Morris

5-Sister Kim, Brother Tim and Sister Joan

6-Brother Tim, Nicole and Guzzi Dave, and Sister Joan

7-Sister Kim, Brother Tim, Son Teddy, Sister Joan and Mother Clel

8-Sister Joan and Ron


9-Sister Joan and Mother Clel

Haunted house in Scotland??

Hello Neal,

I was very shocked and saddened to hear of Ted’s passing; Ted was such a nice guy, always willing to help and made you feel welcome. I last saw Ted in Houston in March of this year for Halliburton’s OTC Seminar; he had such a cheery disposition. I remember him telling me that a long time ago he had a trip to Aberdeen Scotland and lived in a house called Greenacres; he asked me if I knew where this house was.

On driving home from work one evening I was sitting in a queue of traffic right outside Greenacres, so I rolled down the window and proceeded to take some pictures of the house, which had been renovated (not sure what the other motorist thought I was doing) and I sent these pictures to Ted who was delighted, he told me that when he stayed there that he thought the house was haunted..! He was full of stories.

My sincere condolences to Ted’s family, he will be sorely missed.

Jackie MacGregor

Aberdeen, Scotland.

More Pics from Tod Backer

Teddy always had a helping hand. The stories here make me proud that he was my brother.

Thank You,

Tod Backer

Ridin' "The Dragon"

Here's a great pic of Ted and Cindy on a big ride in North Carolina. The Dragon, I think. Ted's mom Clel sent this to me. Thanks!

I'm sure somebody somewhere has a story to tell about this one!

(Click HERE for more info on "The Dragon" at Deal's Gap, NC)

BIG THANKS from Numar/Halliburton friend

In 1997, I had been out of the petroleum industry about 15 years, having lost my first career in the industry down turn of the mid-80's. Sometime during the summer I stumbled over a recruiting ad for NUMAR. I quickly replied and much to my surprise got call from Dave Marshall. I interviewed and was told I had a job as an analyst. Well, things didn't turn out that way. Halliburton purchased NUMAR and the job offer disappeared. Somewhat desperate, I called Ron Cherry and inquired about the possibility of getting a field job. He told me to
contact Ted, which I did. A few days later I had an interview…and not too much later a job!

Now the important part of this story is this: in 1997 I was 51 years old. When Ted told the NUMAR engineers in Brenhem he was hiring a 51 year old engineer they told him he was crazy, but hire me he did. To make a long story short, I broke out as an engineer on my first training job (though Ted did say that that wasn't the usual practice) and six months later received a promotion (encouraged by Ted) to the analyst position I had lost the previous summer.

Over the last ten years, whenever I saw Ted, I made it a special point to thank him for giving me the chance to rebuild my career. Ted being Ted just smiled. To this day I can't hear or think of his name without thinking of how lucky I was.

Thank you, Ted, for the second chance. Thank you for my career!

Wyatt Canady

Memories from old Numar friend

I worked with Ted, Ron and the Numar 1 gang!

It was a sad day when Ron informed me of Ted's passing away. So many memories of Ted, lock picking equipment, his plethora of guns and knives; sharpening his knives when "boyfriends" came to pick up Shawna. All the times I had to pay the "friendship" dues during the multitude of happy hours, Ted then saying "you know I have Alzheimer's and am going to forget all of this fun we are having, so …. (long drawn out Missouri drawl) we need to do this again."

His antics, smirk and words of wisdom are truly going to be missed.

This is one of my favorite sayings and really reminds me of Ted …

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense. " (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

Sincerely,

Obren Djordjevic (Obie)

Obituary

For those who missed the obituary in the Daily Advertiser, here is a link that Ron Balliet sent to me.

(Click HERE to read the obituary)

Ted always had a story to tell...

Hey Neal

My deepest sympathy to Ted's family as well as his friends. He will be missed dearly. I worked at Cajun Harley-Davidson for years as the bookkeeper/title clerk/secretary. I was always busy, but when Ted walked in the door it was time for a story. All work stopped while he was there.

I had an office right by the restroom which was always his second stop because Ted always took the time to come in and say hello first. I don't ride nor have I ever. I was Harley by association. But to Ted I was no different. He would get a soda and stand at my filing cabinets and tell us some of the wildest stories of his travels. Hell even his day to day life was interesting. If he didn't make you smile or down right laugh out loud then you weren't really paying attention
to what he had to say.

He was a great guy. I'm proud to say I knew Ted Backer. I know he's up there standing around telling someone about something. I just hope they're smart enough to listen. And Neal, thanks for the blog. It's nice to read other stories about Ted that I may have missed.

Sincerely,

Vickie Mitchell

Ted's Mom says Smile!!

To all of Ted's friends:

"Don't cry because it's over,

Smile because it happened."

from Ted's Mom, Clel Shore

(This is actually a quote by Dr. Seuss - CLICK HERE)

Update: Memorial August 12th

The memorial service for Ted will be Sunday, August 12th at 11:00 AM at:

Catfish Haven (The site of many bike rallies)
1554 Cypress Island Hwy
Lafayette, LA.
Click HERE for map

The brief service will be presided over by Dave Anderson of CMA (Christian Motorcycle Assoc.). Following that, there will be a ride to The Benchmark Lounge in Broussard where we will have food and drinks.

Benchmark Lounge
220 Tubing Rd.
Broussard, LA
(337) 837-4830
Click HERE for map

Thanks to "Guzzi" Dave Munnerlyn for setting this up!

Here are some hotels nearby (CLICK HERE). I will be checking on getting a "block" rate at one nearby the airport.

Cool pic of Ted and Cindy

Clare Martin sent me this recent picture of Ted and Cindy, I think from Mardi Gras recently. She said she thought it was particularly remarkable because of the cool effects of the lights at night. I agree.

Thanks Clare!

Travelling back from Colorado

Ted and I were coming back from Colorado and he was asleep in the back seat of his car while I was driving. A young guy started to show-off his driving skills which was fun to see. The next thing as you can imagine is that Ted woke up, sip the bottle first, then took his gun out and said to me "is everything alright?' And with my eyes wide open and a surprised look I pulled to the side and said "Everything is ok, just need to change my pants."

I worked with Ted at Numar for about 3 years. But I remember him for life.

Mo Azarian

Ted Backer - integral part of the NUMAR Commandos Nigerian Division

I have so many stories about Ted, I really don’t know where to start. I joined Numar in March 1992, and my first introduction to Ted (and Cindy) was in a hospital in Houston. He was suffering from a bad bout of pancreatitis and for a few of days I wasn’t sure if he was going to make it. I spent a number of hours at the hospital with Cindy trying to be supportive. How little I knew Ted in those days! Within a couple of weeks he was home and feeling on top of the world. Only a year later I asked him to travel to Nigeria (that’s right where all the kidnapping is taking place at the moment) to help us log some wells for Shell. He stepped up right away.

We had managed to get our equipment set up in the Schlumberger yard in Port Harcourt, and I found Ted (and Isaac, his operator) accommodation at one of the Sperry Sun staff houses. That’s the way we operated at NUMAR; never afraid to ask a favor of old friends! However, despite being there for a long time, Ted and Isaac had not managed to log a single well. Later I traveled to Nigeria and arrived to discover that on the very day of my arrival we had finally been given a callout. I went to the yard – no sign of Ted – then took a taxi to the staff house to discover Ted and Isaac lounging around the staff house. “What the blazes?” I screamed. Ted (very calmly and casually) informed me that they could not go to the rig because there had been a strike at the yard where the equipment was being staged. They had been turned away by the strikers. After much deliberation, and with the help of the Schlumberger manager, we hatched a plan that in the dead of night we would break into the yard and liberate the equipment. We must have been nuts! 3AM found us in a car idling with its lights off near the yard. At a prearranged time, a second car, also with no lights drew up to the gates. Out jumped four men, two carrying automatic rifles and one a set of bolt cutters. In no time we were inside the yard and shortly thereafter a crane and truck showed up to load the equipment. An hour later we were done – high fives all around. Boy, weren’t we smart (and brave)!

The truck took off and we headed back to the staff house. And that’s were the fun really started. Our driver suddenly accelerated. “Bad men, Mr. Ted,” shouted the driver, and there began a wild ride around the industrial estate, our beaten up old Peugeot being pursued by a truckload of heavily armed individuals. After some long and terrifying minutes our driver spotted a police car and pulled up beside it. But wait, the bandits pulled up right beside us! And out stepped a number of very angry cops demanding to know why we were racing through the estate with no lights on – they thought we were robbers. Much discussion, apologies and arm waving later and we were allowed to go (as the sun was starting to come up). And I have to hand it to Ted, he seemed to be enjoying the whole thing. He walked into the house, showered changed and left with Isaac about an hour later to follow the truck to the rigsite. The result? We got a fabulous log which justified all the excitement of the night before, not to mention the $1 million Shell would eventually pay us? Not on your life. Remember, this was Nigeria. About 10 hours later Ted and Isaac were back in Port Harcourt - couldn’t get the tool in the hole!

Me? I was a basket case. Ted? Took it all in his stride and didn’t miss a beat – a true commando.

Ted was a great bloke, and I mean that sincerely. He was a steadfast employee and a good friend, although I regret to say I had not seen much of him since he moved to Lafayette after the purchase. I was stunned when Ron contacted me last week. Unfortunately I was in Dubai and unable to get back. Cindy (and family) please accept my heartfelt condolences for your sad loss. Ted, though sorely missed, will be there with us in our conversations for many years to come.

Paddy Keenan

Patrick G. Keenan
President
GeoMechanics International Inc.

The "Condom" Waveform

Some of Ted’s humor became common terminology around the Numar shop. When I started with Numar in late 1994, it wasn’t long that I was sent up to Malvern, PA to absorb some knowledge on how to maintain the then new “C” tool.

I returned to Brenham several weeks later with a notebook full of waveforms I had measured and printed from an oscilloscope. One of the most important ways to determine the health of the C tool transmitter was to measure the output to the antenna. The waveform had a distinctive shape and while demonstrating this to the other techs, Ted happened to walk in the shop, look at the o-scope, and said,” That looks like a condom!” – And he was right, it did.

So was born the term “condom waveform”. Some times this was just abbreviated to condom, so it became common practice to ask a field tech calling in for support “if he had a condom” or “what does your condom look like?” I could just imagine what someone eavesdropping on Jimbo’s technical telephone conversations may have thought.

A year or so later, it was determined that the “condom waveforms” were not exactly the best type of waveforms for NMR and were technically called “hard pulses”...

On a different note, the attached picture is of Ted checking out the wolf pelts in a market place in Bergen, Norway - August or September 1995.

Neal Naumann

HOG HEAVEN

MY BEST FRIEND PASSED TWO YEARS AGO AT THE AGE OF 43, NOW I CAN TAKE SOME COMFORT IN KNOWING THAT HE HAS SOMEBODY TO PARTY WITH. TEDDY ALWAYS KNEW "HOG HEAVEN" LONG BEFORE HE GOT A HARLEY, NOW I KNOW HE'S TRULY IN HOG HEAVEN.

TOD BACKER

Teddy thru the years

He had a wonderful life.

Tod Backer

Email update

Some of the posts (particularly the ones with pictures) are not coming in correctly when sent to the @blgger.com address, so please send all stories directly to me at neal.breakfield@gmail.com. Also , please be sure to include your name at the bottom of the email.

Sorry for the confusion. Thank you all for the GREAT stories! I know that Ted would be pleased.

Stranded on the Interstate

I remember sitting at work one day having a normal day until Ted called. He was coming back to Lafayette form Houston and his bike broke down right across the state line. He wanted me to go to his house, pick up his trailer and come get him.

So I get to his house and he starts to tell me how I’ve got to crawl through a window that is 5 feet off the ground to get into the garage for the tie down straps. Despite being worried about being shot and being eaten by Ruger I proceeded.

When I get to Ted 1hr 30min later, he is parked under an overpass sleeping. So, we start to put the bike on the trailer and a guy pulls up, he gets out of the truck with a six pack of beer, he’d passed by a few minutes before and evidently knew Ted. He’d asked Ted if there was anything that he could do to help and he said a beer would be great, so he went and got him some.

Leave it to Ted to be stranded on the side of the road and have someone bring him beer. I guess the whole point is that Ted was the type of person that you didn’t mind helping because you knew that you could call him for anything. He had a genuine quality about him that made people want to be around him. He was a great friend, my kids favorite pirate and one of the last real people I knew. We miss you already.

Mike Watkins

Old friend from elementary school

This brought tears to my eyes. I can not remember being so sad. I am truly sorry for your loss. I think I was 5 or 6 years old when I first met Ted; we went to grade school together, it seems so long ago and yet the time has passed so quickly. I will always remember him as a small boy, with big smile, rolled up jeans, fixing a bike.

Randy

Old friend from New Jersey

Thank you for sharing this very sad and shocking news. My deepest sympathy to you and all your family. Ted and I were childhood friends, from Flynn Park and Hanley. I moved to CT in 1965 and he came to see me once from NJ, maybe in 1967. That's the last I ever saw him.

We became 'reacquainted' through Conrad Sansbury, who I found through classmates.com about 5 years ago. We were email friends since then, though. He'd send interesting jokes, etc. and we'd exchange weather stories, both living in the South, and in hurricane-prone areas.

I lived in Fl. many years and now have a house in the Outer Banks, though I live in Charlotte. I do think Ted would appreciate going quickly, he seemed to love being active, especially the biking. When we were kids, he came and took me for a ride on his tandem, much to my embarrassment at the awkward age of about 12 or 13. He had a great smile.


With sincere sympathy,


Janis Dorsey
Charlotte, NC

Elemntary school friend

My name is Bob Lochhead.

Ted and I were best friends in elementary school, and we had continued to stay in touch over the years by email. I wanted to share my sadness with you and tell you how warmly I regarded your father.
We were very different in many (most) ways, but somehow we always got along well. For years I'd go up to Ted's house at 7470 Washington in U. City virtually every day after school to play. We were in the same Cub Scout den and were as close as brothers for a long time. On Christmas morning I could always count on a call from Teddy to compare notes on what Santa had brought.

[This was an email to Shawna Tucker, Ted's daughter]

Memorial: Sunday , August 12th

Dear Friends of Ted and Cindy,

Guzzi Dave informed me yesterday that there will be a memorial on Sunday, August 12th at 11:00 AM. I will post the details when I have more information. Please mark that date and time on your calendar. There will be a ride as part of the service.

Thanks,

Neal

its a start as there are so many stories I could and should tell!

Hi Neal,

Great idea for the blogsite, I’ll email out links to as many as I can. I’ve attached a few pictures in case they can be put on the website as well

Here’s a start:

Ted was a man that was hard to ignore and impossible to forget. I will be forever grateful for what he taught me over the past 16 years, how he counseled me through several times of indecision and trouble, and the laughter and joy he brought into my life. The man knew how to live and have fun along the way. I will miss the man terribly, but I am so thankful for the time I did have with him.

Thanks,

Ron Balliet

Old friend from Numar

I was once traveling through West Texas with Ted, returning to Brenham from
a tough logging job in NM. We were tired and hungry when we pulled into a
little place to eat and relax. The waitress asked me what I'd like to drink,
and I said just water for now. She asked Ted, "Would you like some water
also, sir?" Without missing a beat he replied "Water?! Hell, I ain't dirty,
I'm THIRSTY".

Loved that guy. What a unique, nice, fun, interesting, and intellectually
curious person.

We've all lost a good friend and a good man.

Earle Drack

Email your stories

Dear Friends of Ted,

You can email stories to neal.breakfield.tedbacker@blogger.com instead
of emailing them to me directly. They will automatically go into the
site as drafts and I will go and publish them manually. That is
exactly how I posted this one... very easy. PLEASE BE SURE TO INCLUDE AT LEAST YOUR NAME IN THE BOTTOM OF THE EMAIL.

Don't worry about editing or making it look pretty. I will take care
of editing for spelling, punctuation, etc. I will also be sure to
strip out any personal information that you may have in an email
signature except for your name (unless you specifically ask me to
leave it in).

Regards,

Neal

The Aberdeen Scotch-Trader

This is my FAVORITE Ted story because it is indicative of the creativity that he applied to everyday life to solve problems in ways that most people don't think of... or even if they do, don't have the guts to try.

Ted was a wireline Field Engineer for Schlumberger early in his career. Later, he joined his good friend Ron Balliet at a startup oilfield company called Numar as one of their first field engineers (I think Ron was the first and Ted was the second). Ted, Ron and many others enjoyed the pleasure of working at a small, but well funded startup company where they got to write their own rules of how things were run and travel the world on the company's nickel. What a job!!!

Several years ago, Ted told me the story about a time when he was working for Numar on a job in Aberdeen, Scotland. I believe that Numar had a shop there to run operations, but they were having trouble getting some of the electronics that they needed to repair their tools in a timely manner. Ted, having been a former Schlumberger field engineer came up with a uniqe solution.

There was a Schlumberger shop nearby that he knew had many if not all of the parts that they needed. So Ted put on a pair of old Schlumberger coveralls (still with his name stitched on them) rented a car that looked like one of the vanilla Schlumberger company cars and took a trip to the Schlumberger shop. I believe that he told the guards some line of BS about being newly in from the states, and they let him right in.

Ted drives up to the open-hole tech lab at the shop and proceeds inside. Without knowing a soul in there, he plops a case of good scotch on the counter and starts handing out bottles. He then pulls out a laundry list of electronic parts that he needed, and says "Alright boys, think you can help me out with some of these?"

Ted left the Sclumberger shop about 30 minutes later with a carboard box that was once filled with scotch, and was now filled with transistors, capacitors, resistors, op-amps and other electronics that he needed to fix his tools.

He got everything on his list and drove back to the Numar shop with a smile bigger than Texas!

A Man of Many Stories (READ THIS FIRST)

My name is Neal Breakfield. I have known Ted and Cindy since 2000 when I went to work with Ted at Halliburton where he was my boss for a while. Ted was definitely one of the more interesting bosses that I have had in my life.

The purpose of this blog was inspired when I went to Guzzi Dave's to get a haircut on Friday, July 27th. After Dave told me about Ted's illness, we got to talking about some of Ted's stories... the man had a MILLION STORIES!! Ted is one of the most unique people that I have ever known in my life, and one of the things that make him so unique are the wide variety of very interesting, and in fact some down-right CRAZY things that he has done in his life.

Dave and I discussed getting a tape recorder to capture some of those stories directly from Ted's mouth if we can. I also decided to start this blog to let Ted's friends and families share some of the many stories that they remember about him with all of us.

I am opening this forum to any and all, so post away. If you have trouble posting, please email the stories to me at neal.breakfield@gmail.com.

He is still with us, so some of these might even help to cheer him up a bit, or maybe cheer up Cindy and the family.