So we have all been without DB for 2 months as of today. I still check my emails and PM's hoping to see one flashing with Dick's name on it, still waiting on that one. Guess God is a little slow when it comes to getting internet or maybe they ran outta line between here and there. Still waiting on my call back from the internet company.
I got a stack of cans that i wish i could send and have relidded but shipping is ridiculous!!
I know that alot of us will never be the same without the professor, just wanted to say that he is gone but never forgotten.
RIP my friend, you are missed....

On a side note, i have been thinking about taking on some relidding projects. If anyone has an idea to where i can get equipment please let me know. I am interested in doing quart cans for the time being. Please send me a PM if you have any suggestions.

Dan

I'm with you. I miss his wisdom on this forum.

Yes A lot of us feel the same about our freind DB.

Gene

Yup miss the wisdom delivered with candor sarcasm and humor.
As to equipment I would ask GPR he might have a lead for you Dan.

Still have the PM from him where I still look for him to read my reply!

Keep us posted and good Luck Dan, hopefully Rob can help you find a way to take over DB's can repairs!

I have been waiting for someone to post this kind of "Where do we go from here, now that DB is gone." We all feel a personal relationship to him, for me, he is the one that did 1/5 of all the values for my first gas pump ID pump, then because of our relationship, I asked him to do all the values for my second book. At the time of his passing, we were discussing him doing the values for the third book.

Naturally, I am trying to work with someone who will take his place doing the values.

We all looked to him to do something special for each one of us. We enjoyed his smart comments, that was DB, but more than that was the answers to almost every question about something to do with a very rare gas pump. I get calls from people thinking I am a gas pump expert, I am NOT, I just have a lot of literature and have used it to write some books. The true expert was DB, he knew more about gas pumps than....no need to finish this. Everyday on this site a question comes up with only an answer that could have been given us by DB.

Now it is time for the rest of old timers to step forward and try to answer questions posted here. We don't have to copy the way DB answered most questions, we each have to establish our way of answering.

We all have to wait to see what will be done with not only his collection, but what is in his computer. Hopefully his wife will seek guidance from who is not self serving and will do the best for her and the hobby.

DB, I not only miss you, but is miss the oranges.

Jack Sim

The suggestion to ask GPR to see if he had a lead on the equipment sure sounds like using one of DB's friends to get at DB's stuff, and is not cool!

If and when DB's wife is ready to part with DB's stuff she'll let someone know. I'd have a very low opinion of anyone that approaches her about buying any of DB's stuff until two or three years have passed. Give the lady a chance to work through the grieving process.

She has no obligation to do what's best for the hobby. I don't think those in the hobby could even agree on what would be best for the hobby. She needs to do what's best for her.

We miss ya DB.

I honestly miss someone telling me weekly I look like puke.

Lastgas 15 in a way is right.
Judy has appointed two of Dick Bennetts closest freinds to organizs and price most of his collection. Their are a few things that Judy will keep for her-self, and I think that is great. Both people I consider freinds and are as honest as can be. I do know when peices are ready for sell, people will be contacted. I would hope everyone will give it time to get it set up without hounding JUDY. She is a very neat person, and was very strong at Dick's celebration of life services.
I would like to say thanks for everyone who donated toward that cause . I was their at the house when she opened the card from old gas after services. And Jack, it was a really nice card.
Not a dry eye in the room, including mine.
In closing; Please let it get set-up.
DO-NOT Hound JUDY and give her time.
mcguffeyd1 - MAybe wireless
Cold Pizza- Come on. It does look like puke. Be real

Gene

Gene as you know that was not my intention. It is the failing of a line written without context. I was there and do respect Judy's wishes and common sense to leave his collection alone until its time, whenever that is. However the machines used for lidding were not a part of the collection and were part of a mess, Dick said so himself. If someone were to continue on with his enterprise then a bit of DBs legacy would live on.

Yes, 2 months and it feels as if forever... I find myself picking up the phone and/or starting an email to db, most everyday...

It is like my mind, is not accepting that this isn't just a bad joke....

Next to my desk is one of the "Tydol Switch plate covers" he made me... In the 1/2 bath is another, plus the switch plate at the back door... In the house and garage are cans and other items that db made for me and/or just gave me...

Most everywhere I look, is a pleasant reminder of my friend...

Nicole, contacted me the other day... She says She misses the Oldgas Community, especially db... Because of circumstances... She has found it better, that she move in a different direction with her life...

She sent me one of her paintings. It is a small nod to our Hobby and I have it hanging with the Oil Company Game Boards and Her other Painting...

I admit, I probably send maybe too much time looking at it. As it reminds me of old Friends that I have in the Hobby and those that are gone...

db and Nicole had become very good friends and I know He would have enjoyed the picture, She gave me... And He also, would have thought that the rest of Oldgas would/should also enjoy the talent of this very special Lady...

IMO Lastgas, I don't know you (no name in your profile) but I think your taking this conversation wrong. Having Dan contact Rob so that he knows that if it becomes available is not like showing up at Judy's house to hound her! I miss DB like most everyone on here and not one of us probably can understand how Judy's handling his death or anything at this point. But what DB meant to this hobby is well known and I believe myself that at some point when the time is right DB himself would love someone to keep his Oil Can dynasty going.

It's been a long 2 months since we lost Dick Bennett. It is still tough to not see all his knowledge and humor shown in the posts! He meant so much to this hobby, his wealth of knowledge was immense. We all miss him, but we must move on. I think it would be good to see somebody try and start the relidding process. Someone has gotta keep it going! RIP DB.

Thank you Gene,that's all I ask.

I miss my friend every day.. Lately have been cleaning out my garage,and find stuff I received from him all around. Decals he made,parts, silly stuff I guess. One thing I have found that is giving me a lot of enjoyment is emails. I was cleaning up my. Ipad( we all know what Ihe thought of those!lol) and found emails going back years that I had thought were long deleted. Literally hundreds of em,from smart aleck comments,bad and sometimes dirty jokes(usually always funny,) and conversations about pumps and oldgas!itsnot the same,but they all bring a big smile to my face.RIP Dick, you were one of a kind!

Doesn't seem like 2 months, still fresh and still hurts. Dick made this a better place and on an upbeat note I think it will last as long as those who knew him and remember him keep his spirit alive.

Like sharks circling, with the smell of blood in the water... The Re-lidding machines, ARE a part of the collection!

Has ANYBODY, asked Dick, to teach them about re-lidding cans?
Has ANYBODY, asked Dick, to teach them about how to fix cans?
Has ANYBODY, asked Dick, to teach them about the decal making process?
Has ANYBODY, asked Dick, to teach them about how to use "Photoshop"?
Has ANYBODY, asked Dick, to teach them about the Union Oil Company?
Has ANYBODY, asked Dick, to teach them about how to copy, and make reproduction parts?
Has ANYBODY, asked Dick, to teach them about metal casting?


My Dear friend is GONE NOW!!! Please allow him, to Rest in Peace! Please allow, his Wife, to recover from this. Please allow, his FRIENDS, to recover from this!!!

He is GONE NOW!!! If you wish of ANY of this, and have not obtained any of it... Then maybe you should have asked, BEFORE he left us!!!

And YES... I did ask...

Amen to that Nick, bickering will serve no purpose but bring this site down and DB would NOT want that. Miss him too as one of the older guys on here.

I always liked to hear Dick's opinions, even though I often asked him privately to soften his public posts a bit. I valued his perspective on the statements and actions of many people in the hobby. He wasn't shy about privately recommending what I could do about a situation or person.

I wish that I had asked to learn more from Dick. Not sure I ever had the capacity to retain all his knowledge, not to mention his skills in old-school and computer techniques. I guess I just thought he'd last a long time and there was no rush.

If the timing of DB's demise were different, maybe he could have had time to take on an apprentice or several. "DB and the Grasshopper" could have been a story that we'd enjoy for the ages. And the grasshopper apprentice would have stories to tell as well.

Well said Jim...

Rick, Your avatar does look like puke.

Mick, Most of DB's and my email conversations got deleted but I found several recently. They put a smile on my face when I read them recently.

Jeff, Good to see you posting.

Jim, You're right, when I was a moderator DB wasn't shy about recommending what to do about a situation or person!

To those of you that care, Dick and I had a good conversion about can repair and relidding them. He was a hard one to crack and share the secrets of the art he mastered. I have no intentions of contacting GPR or Judy about DB's machines he had. I will be buying my own and have been contacted by a member with some for sale. Dick and I had talks about how to make his cans better. He asked my opinions on what types of labels to use and was debating on vinyls the week before he left us.
I am so disappointed at some members for taking this thread the wrong way. Dick was a good friend and never once have I wondered what I could get from him in monetary gain. Seems like some try to cause controversy on any topic they can
Judy and the family are in my prayers daily as DB was a great mentor to me. I plan on doing cans in the near future as a tribute to a good friend. If anyone has any other suggestions let me know or if you want to do can lidding be my guest.

Thanks to all that posted positive comments.

Dan

He is gone but will never be forgotten.

Larry

I miss the emails from him. He ALWAYS put DB in the subject line, I always thought it was funny. I have never put Ryan in the subject line of an email to somebody..

Same for me, Ryan. It actually made his emails stand out from the ton of messages that I usually get.

He hauled my drag boat from out west a few years ago. He had a blast hauling that thing around. He sent me more emails than you can imagine with different things photoshopped in the boat. He filled the thing up with oranges, peels, and anything else he could fit in there. He was an all around good dude...

For sure DB is missed. I was pretty green to computers,web sites,true collectors,and close friendships that old time members had formed over the years. I Contacted a member here that no longer posted much asking some questions and then DB and several others seemed to follow my post around different forums. Maybe I scared some thinking I was a thief in the night, maybe they wanted to figure me out,maybe they just wanted to help. I sure knew more about members then they knew about me as I read old post for weeks before posting my first post. I say all this to just say DB was a hard guy to take some times just had to let it roll off your back and keep being a pest to get the correct answer in a newbie form I could grasps. I considered him a friend and hope he seen me as the same. R.I.P. Dick

Ahhh... good ol' DB. Sadly, I don't save my emails, so I do not have many from him, only the ones from the last few times we corresponded. Just days before he passed, I believe he bought a bunch of items and amongst the bunch, was a Tok 39 door that had a Red Lion decal still on it. He said he had it sold immediately, seems he just wanted to rub it in as he likely knew I would have wanted it.

Our last conversation was about a company called EAST-WEST Gasoline. I sent him some images showing pumps with their decals and some signs. It must have been a small west coast company as I haven't been able to find much on it. DB hadn't heard of it before nor did he recall seeing any items from the company. Anyways, one of the images shows the Gilmore flagman. The initial version where face/eyes have an "Oriental" characteristic. He sent this back to me with a little DB Photoshop humor. Thought I'd share...

I just find it so funny that he emailed so many of us and many of us including me had no idea. This hole time I thought I was special lol. Miss you buddy