My first HP-35 and a happy end

[aurelio]

(09-24-2014 01:18 AM)Mark Hardman Wrote:  

(09-23-2014 10:50 PM)jebem Wrote:  And as a side note concerning the previous owner:

When I was opening the HP-35 calculator back cover, I noticed a metallic label stuck to the side of the battery compartment.
This label has the following information:
"Property of Richard T. Hawkins"

A quick search in the Google machine reveals a number of people with that name.
However, just one fits the typical user profile of such machine, epoch and age, and motivation to put a professional label in their equipment:
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602

Searching just a bit more, I found this obituary:
A retired Brigham Young University organic chemistry professor Richard Thomas Hawkins passed from this mortal existence December 12, 2013, in Orem, Utah, at the age of 84.

And I bought this calculator less than one month ago from a large eBay seller in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States.

Too many coincidences for a random event.
I think I have found the original owner's name. May he rest in peace.
I will take good care of this nice piece of computer history for him.

It is a very small world Jose. I took Organic Chemistry from "Brother" Hawkins as an undergraduate at BYU in 1982. At the start of the semester, he was amazed that I was taking notes on my HP-75C and proudly produced his HP-35 for me to admire.

He was an excellent instructor and I remember enjoying his class.

As a side note, I severed as secretary/treasurer of the university's HP Calculator club during those years.

People die and things survive
But things help people in reminding other people

And it's so interesting with the old stuff, to think about and to guess who owned it before, what's his history?