Retirement

We look forward to the day it happens and as one moves in that direction, we try to come to terms with how to financially plan for it. But while there are many articles on how to prepare yourself mentally and emotionally for that consequential milestone in our life, when it happens, I think many find it challenging on how to redefine our identity and find balance in retirement.

I was fortunate enough to retire in August 2022 after working for 47 years as a surveyor. My early experience surveying was not unlike many others who were influenced by friends or family members who worked in surveying. For me, it was my father’s influence that set me on the path to becoming a licensed surveyor. My father, a registered civil engineer, began his career as a field survey technician for the County of San Diego in the early 1950’s and then a survey party chief in the early 1960’s.

My father would share his “adventures” in the field with the family over the dinner table and, as a student of history, he would talk not only about the role of surveyors in early American history but would also share stories about historical figures who were surveyors. My father began taking me into the field a couple days during summers starting when I was 11 years old, probably to give my mother a break from her efforts to keep tabs on my whereabouts. I would watch as my father would direct a field survey crew operating survey equipment to establish survey control, recover survey monuments, make maps, etc. I was fascinated as he would perform his calculations using a slide rule and trig and log tables and make topographic maps using a plane table alidade. Calculators and EDM’s were still well off into the future.

Although I only spent four short years working with my father in the field, I learned much from him that would cement my love of the profession. One day in the field while running the rod, I remember asking my father if I could be paid for working. His response was to tell me that in times past, parents would have to pay for an opportunity for their child to be an apprentice and that what he was teaching me was darn near priceless. He was right.

I imagine that for many surveyors, surveying becomes part of our personal identity and when retirement came for me, I was left wondering: What now? Although I had hobbies that I now enjoy in retirement, my love of the profession has moved me to write about my experiences as a surveyor, especially those experiences with my father, to pass along to my children and grandchildren. Finding balance in one’s life after retirement can be a challenge. Although I am no longer interested in working full-time, I still feel drawn to work part-time as a survey consultant and to keep abreast of the fast-moving changes in the profession. I am a surveyor, there is no other profession that I would have chosen. My father’s influence was pivotal. As I worked to establish my career as a land surveyor, my father continued to mentor me which I remain forever grateful.

Frank C. Demling Jr.

CA LS 4969