31 Days of Head Shots #18 Darrell

Man-oh-man, do I love the face of an experienced man! Man, can I say that one more time? But I’m serious. Older-than-me folks are probably my FAVORITE subjects to photograph. They have so much story in their face. (That kind of sounds weird, so I hope you understood what I meant.)

This cute fella wasn’t super thrilled with the camera in his face (it wasn’t really IN it, of course), but *I* certainly am thrilled with what I caught (and pleased that he approves of me posting his photo; so I guess he wasn’t THAT bugged by me).

He’s the father (and father-in-law, and grandpa, and great grandpa) of my really good friends, and this is what his son had to share about his dad:

Darrell A. Gremmert was born in Delmont, South Dakota on a cold March day in 1932. His family lived in the town where his father worked for the railroad. Like so many young boys in the Depression era, Darrell led a life of joy in the outdoors: fishing, hunting pheasants, riding bicycles and attending the small school. Upon graduation from high school, he entered the United States Air Force and was trained to be an air traffic controller. He met and married his love, LaVern Jones, near his Mountain Home Air Force base in the Boise, Idaho vicinity in June of 1955. After his military service, Darrell continued his air traffic career with the US government and moved to the Seattle, Washington area where he held positions of responsibility and leadership in the Federal Aviation Administration. He and his wife of 57 years have five children, 19 grandchildren, and eight great grandchildren. Now 80, he still loves to hunt pheasants each fall in his native state with three generations of family. Darrell and LaVern live in Weiser, Idaho.