Derk Loeks

Derk is the sort of guy who was always willing to walk with you, talk with you and share a coffee, a canoe, a trail, or seat on a plane with you. He always wanted to meet you in any conversation and just explore your mind, your interests, your world with you. This nature of exploring brought him to the far northern forests of Alaska, where the words nearly froze out of his mouth, and the deep deserts of Mexico, where snakes should have broke their teeth on his jeans.  They brought him into the woodlands of Scandinavia, where the tomtem mistook him for a kid, and the mountains and rivers of Colorado and New Mexico where he was seemingly born out of the clay, for he felt so at home. 

Derk is like the wind blowing and dancing alongside the rivers for a while before he is off across another ocean.  This is what kept him fresh of mind his whole life, exploring ideas and solutions for humanity with creativity. He is a fantastic listener, judgment-free, and when you were with him, you were the only person in the room.

He is a mountain stream willow arrow carver, a wild rapid oar driver, a two-pack hill topper, a campfire race-to-builder, and a banjo pickin’, mandolin flickin’, guitar clickin’ musician. 

He is an adobe brick baker, wooden chest maker, wall painter, and old car taker-aparter.

He is a steak and egg, cooks anything I can find, bit-by-bit as I find it, sort of food maker!

He is a tree planting, swale laying, hay bale tossin’, water soaking, permaculture designer!

He is a forest fire, collapsible shovelin’, air droppin’ hot shot fighter!

He is a last-minute, standby, by the seat of his freshly pressed pants flyer! 

He is a coffee-sipping, salsa-ripping, chess checkin’, tall walkin’, even taller talkin’, broken-toed old sort of fella’ who was as curious about flying to Mars as he was visiting the farmer’s market store for an extra bag of salad. 

He is a dream pony-riding cowboy, and he kept heading to the next horizon; we all loved sharing the trail with him and look forward to many trails to come as he blows alongside us all here and there, playfully, inspired, peacefully.

We love him!