Memories

Darryl housed me and my daughter during a softball tournament in the area. He took us to NASA and Facebook and to the new Apple site. It was great and we had a good time. He is hilarious!!!

We started working at NASA around the same time, and Darryl definitely made sure I didn't take everything too seriously, even to the point of leaving prank voicemails on my work phone just to make my day more interesting. I still have one from last year that I listen to, just to get a good laugh, and remember that life isn't about devoting yourself to your job or your work, it's about living in the moment, and sharing those moments with loved ones.

Darryl used to send me the most ridiculous greeting cards (for grandpas or bat mitvhas etc) and write the most encouraging thoughts in them to keep me motivated during my grueling grad-school semesters. He would stay up until the wee hours of the morning facetiming with me to help me study for exams. I have never had a friend so committed to my higher education than him and I miss him dearly.

Knew Darryl since he was born, we were neighbors on best friends on 2nd Ave till I was 10 years old, then I moved to cool and we re-connected when we were teenagers and had the internet. Then we were best friends again ever since. Darryl was my passenger one drunken night when I got pulled over for a DUI after partying with him at a BBQ (shout out to Phil Myers and his dad for rad BBQ and Ribs). He stayed up all night, made his way home to Sacramento, then all the way up to Georgetown to rile up some friends to get me bailed out by about noon the next day. He was my best man at my wedding. One year, when Darryl began his college career to become and engineer, I took all his German classes for him(literally... as him) at his college, cause learning a foreign language wasn't his thing, and they still make you do that to get a degree.. so.... I guess... Darryl couldn't have been a rocket scientist without me LOL. Lots of Tahoe, Santa Cruz, Santa Monica, Reno, Las Vegas, Sacramento, Cool, Georgetown adventures and memories with Darryl over the years. For my bachelor party, Darryl purchased and created a website called "IWannaPartyWithTom.com".. where he put up details of the bachelor party event, as well as super uncouth pictures and videos of myself from the past, drunk, half naked, puking, etc. Best website ever. He did this before had a good paying Engineering job, so he couldn't afford to keep it up for more than 1 year till the domain expired.. thank goodness as for my impeccable reputation not to be tarnished. He would often call my parents, to tell them I was in jail or missing.. just as a prank to hear them swear or get worried. He liked sadistic pranks like that, they were always hilarious. He would email from alias account, pretending to be homeless drug addled weirdos responding to various friends and neighbors posts on craigslist for help wanted or jobs available ads they had posted. R.I.P "Unc' D"! (p.s. he loved the nickname, "Unc' D" ever since he very harshly unwantedly became an actual uncle to his sister's first baby)

Admire how eloquent, funny, and smart he was. Every. Single. Day. Certainly setting an example to follow.

Darryl was always willing to help, no matter what else he had going on.

One time I went to a gas station and accidentally left my gap cap open as I went through a car wash. I called Darryl in a panic. He told me everything would probably be fine (the water would burn off the top) but could at worst mess up my engine. I felt immensely relieved :)

Beyond the professional relationship, Darryl was fascinated with my pet squirrel Rocky and dog Luke which were always on hand to greet customers at Zentek. My fascination with him was his constant sense of humor which at times was bordering on the cynical. He also inspired me when it came to tolerating the Rube Goldberg device that was the Saab convertible top mechanism with its limit switches and strain sensors. He turned out to be an unwilling guru of this monstrosity. Rest in peace my friend.

Darryl, that blinker fluid you sold me isn't working, I want my money back. Damn, I miss you. Cheers my friend.

Great colleague to work with.

Darryl, W.A., and I (J.L.) were moving Astrobee from high bay to lab and came across a choking smell in building. Darryl figured out it was the vending machine that was leaking refrigerant. He called the fire dept to investigate. As the fire truck rolled up, the fireman looked at Darryl and said, "What did you do?"

Six years ago, during a tense software review with our Chief Engineer's group, Darryl was a student volunteer and a member of the TechEdSat-1 team, he jumped in and broke the ice with his amazing wit; "Alright, we are bunch of knuckleheads and obviously don't have a clue. Please enlighten us!" I hired him soon after this!

I was on a team of five or so people with Darryl for a class presentation at SJSU. Leading up to the day of the presentation, no one in the team knew if Darryl was prepared to present his portion. No one could get a hold of him and we all assumed he might just drop the ball. On the day of the presentation, he was the last in our team to present. The anticipation of a let-down was at an all-time high. He surprised everyone. It turned out that he had his own separate presentation media to show. He presented the material in a way that made him sound like an expert in the field. He might as well have been the teacher. It was impressive. Darryl was full of surprises and was always a joy to be around. I'll miss him.

Darryl was always the life of the party, full of humor, jokes and wise cracks. He also had a very empathetic loving heart and had good advice when you needed it.

He tried to include me on everything. This ranged from random engineering experiments to drunken parties to spending hours watching goatse videos in his office. There was never a dull moment, even if those moments were exasperating. I'll never forget him.

Going through an audit of the SPHERES Flight Lab. Suddenly Darryl and the auditors are deep in discussion - deeper than you'd choose an audit to go. I was so worried that everything was about to go very badly for us. I was worried for no reason. Darryl’s expertise, passion, and sense of humor completely won over the auditors. They loved him. That’s right, Darryl was so great that AUDITORS loved him.

Oh man-too many to write down.

Darryl choosing to fix or learn to fix his car instead of having it fixed.

Darryl was a tremendous man, both in spirit and in personality. It was privilege to have known him and we are all the worse for his loss.

I remember the day Darryl defeated the squirrel. It was an epic battle that took them both to the brink of madness, but there was nothing in this world that could stop Darryl once he got his mind set on a task. So nearing the end of the day, after many attempts of building the better "squirrel trap", his engineering prowess overcame the devious demon. His feast was well earned that night, gamey, and yet so sweet.

When I met Darryl, I either thought he was crazy or had the best game I'd ever seen! I met him at a sushi dinner with mutual friends when I was visiting Sacramento on spring break from school at Long Beach State. Being the only one he didn't know at the group dinner, he accused me of "giving him the eye." And so, I asked all my friends, who is this guy? They said, oh that's just Darryl, just ignore him. So, I tried to! But he asked me if I could use my phone, so being that he was a mutual friend, I handed him my phone super confused as to why he didn't have his own phone or insisted on borrowing mine. He then proceeded to call his home landline phone with caller ID, then leave the dinner and run home to call me bragging about how he had my phone number! I was still in parking lot of the restaurant with all our friends when he called me! So for the rest of spring break, he asked when we were hanging out. I did meet him and his friends for another dinner but didn't stay long. But one day, everyone was at work or busy and I was bored so I gave in! I met him for a night of drinking at different friends' houses and we ultimately ended up at a nightclub where I ended up losing my purse. Obviously I drank too much! The next day, to my surprise, Darryl spent all day with me trying to help me find my purse and helping me get a spare key to my car. I realized in that day hoe compassionate and resource full he was. Even though we had partied together the night before, I realized there was more to him than just a "party friend" and we developed a closeness that turned into a relationship, and the rest is history. We spent nearly 10 years together and although we weren't together when he passed away, I loved Darryl so very much. He inspired me to grow as a person and to really reach for the stars. I think he would be really proud of me currently and I wish I would have gotten to say goodbye, even though I've never been good at saying goodbye to Darryl. If we met tomorrow for the very first time, I'd still do it all over again. I'd try so hard to make it work. RIP I love you.

When we stayed up until 1 in the morning working on a satellite, and all that we talked about was how we never want to build another satellite. A year later we were up 1 in the morning working on another satellite.

Darryl was always a real big jokester. One Christmas I remember him bringing a real live pigs head from a butcher shop as his gift for the white elephant gift exchange. No one could believe it was real until it was passed around a few dozen times. It was definitely the most memorable part of the party. That was the thing with Darryl, his ordinary was everyone else's extraordinary. He turned moments into experiences that no one could ever forget. We still all talk about the unforgettable times at the Wateron house. Darryl dressed up as BARF from Spaceballs. His voice, I'll never forget his voice. He was the one in the room that everybody wanted to hear from. He lived life.

Flow and Joe the Eskimo

Genuinely Darryl was one of the most kind, giving people I've ever met. Wherever he went he put smiles on people's faces with his unique humor - he never failed to make me laugh whenever I was down!

One of my last messages from Darryl was just so typical Darryl.

It said: Hi. I miss you.

Then, when I didn't respond immediately, he continued with: talk to me or I'll kill a kitten.

I have lots of memories of Darryl, from when I was little and he would carry me around the pool when the whirlpool we created was too strong for me to swim, to when I was an angry pre-teen and cried when Darryl and my brother put my underwear in the freezer when we were on vacation together. Always tormenting me.

I only knew Darryl for a few weeks, but his energy and knowledge made a powerful impression on me and the other interns. In the short amount of time we knew him, he taught each of us an incredible amount and lit up the room every time he walked in.

Constant laughter and the awesome cat crying phone messages and the random notes he would leave for me at my desk. I will truly miss him.

We spent a fun long weekend in San Clemente and San Diego last year. Karen, Regina, Darryl and I wandered all over the beach in Santa Monica, bunked in a hostel-type hotel room and had the best time at a beach bonfire in San Diego. It was the perfect trip and I'll always remember how he made us laugh the entire time.

I didn't know Darryl well, but every time I was around him, he would talk to me and act like we'd known each other for years. He was always immediately engaging with a great personality. When I walked away from an encounter with him, I felt happier.

Married my wife and I

Darryl was a very generous and intelligent person. He was one of those kinds of people that brought a different angle to the thinking table. It was always interesting walking into a seminar or a meeting with him because he would always deliver a message in a way I wouldn't expect. It made things not only fun, but successful.

Darryl was a fun person to work with.

Darryl once said "behind every engineer should be a pile of failed and successful projects; I am a tinkerer - I wouldn't have the knowledge I have now if I stuck safely to what I know." This has stuck with me for years.

Too many stories to name, one of a kind guy

I miss you already, who will help me fix my VW now?

Darryl was the funniest fellow I ever met....he could have been a stand up comedian. He was also very kind and thoughtful