TSPS MAR 2025 FINAL REV - Flipbook - Page 22
FEATURED MEMBER
J. STAN PIPER
RPLS 1974, LSLS
Chapter 10 - Permian Basin
HOW/WHY DID YOU GET INTO SURVEYING?
I was an incoming freshman at Texas Tech University the summer
after Lubbock was hit by a tornado on May 11, 1970 and I needed a part time job. My cousin’s husband played in a band with
Tommie Anderson (President of TSA in 1988), who worked for
Hugo Reed. Hugo hired me as soon as I applied because I grew
up on a farm and ranch and I knew how to feed and take care of
his animals. The only real question Hugo asked me was if I was
going to Texas Tech for 4 years or 2 years then transferring to
A&M for Vet School. My grandfather and uncle were County Surveyors, so I knew a little about the profession even though I never
had the pleasure of working with them. I started as a chainman
while going to Tech and left the company in 1981 as vice-president to establish Piper Surveying Company in the Permian Basin.
Between my freshman and sophomore years at Tech, Tommie let
me borrow an old textbook, “Surveying Practice” by Phillp Kissam, which I read and studied that summer since I didn’t own a
television. My training started by running an old K&E transit. I
borrowed my grandfather’s and uncle’s old Gurley light moun-
tain transit and worked on setting up and turning angles on triangles and added them up to check the angular closure.
WHY DID YOU JOIN TSPS?
I was invited to attend the 1975 “Short Course Meeting” in Fort
Worth by a competitor of Hugo Reed, Johnny Wilson, owner
of Wilson Surveying. I joined TSA in March of 1977 and my
membership certi昀椀cate was signed by Ken Gold, President, and
R. C. (Ray) Wisdom, Secretary, I joined the organization then
for the education to be able to pass the Registered Public Surveyor (RPS) test and have not looked back. The Short Course at
Corpus Christi in 1977, chaired by President Ken Gold, passed
the 昀椀rst Texas Surveyor Association Survey Standards, which I
attended and learned what a professional organization could
accomplish. I took and passed the RPS 16-hour exam the following February and have registration number 1974. My study
buddy, Robert Pounds, who I learned a lot from while studying
for the test, also passed the exam and was registered as RPS
number 1976. We also studied and passed the Licensed State
Land Surveyor exam in February of 1981.
Robert served as a member on the Board
of Registration.
WHAT DO YOU GAIN OR HOPE TO GAIN
FROM TSPS?
I was elected to the Board of Directors
in October 1987 and was active on the
Education Committee through 1990,
by teaching seminars in Corpus Christi,
Laredo, El Paso, Midland, Lubbock, and
Amarillo. I stepped back from statewide
involvement because of my wife’s (Judy)
health issues. I continued to be a member of TSPS and active with the Permian
Basin Chapter but was inactive at the
state level. I taught Legal Principals I and
II and Surveying Measurements at Odessa College. Since being re-elected to the
Board of Directors in 2016, I have tried
to show how much the leadership and camaraderie of being with like-minded people has meant by being a mentor to the
younger generations and teaching what I
have learned in the 50+- years of experience. The High Plains Experience, which
was started by Craig Alderman (deceased), J. D. Davis (deceased), Maxey
Shephard (President-TSPS 2003), Robby
Christopher (President-TSPS 2023), Mi-
20 THE TEXAS SURVEYOR March 2025
