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Counties Served
By Chapter 2:

A Father's Legacy
And the Children
Dads Inspire
Published Sunday,
June 15, 2008 excerpt from the Wise
County Messenger
By Mandy Bourgeois
Tommy and Davey
Edwards
Edwards Surveying
When Davey Edwards graduated from
Texas
A&M
University
with a degree in biomedical science
in 1994, he had dreams of being a
doctor.
"I grew up in this, but I definitely
didn't go to school for this," Davey
said of surveying. "I wanted to be a
doctor."
Tommy founded Edwards Surveying in
Hurst in 1975 and moved
the business to
Decatur
the next year. The family moved in
1978. Davey began working with his
father on the weekends after he
graduated high school, but had his
sights set on a career in the
medical field. When he wasn't
accepted into medical school, he
decided to come home.
"I needed a job and started working
here," he said.
"It was always my desire for me to
have Davey do this," Tommy said. "It
was good that it kind of worked out
that way."
When Davey began his career at
Edwards Surveying, he didn't have
any surveying certifications. But
over the years, he has worked to
expand his knowledge and is licensed
in Texas
and Oklahoma and has qualified to survey federal
lands. He is one of 66 surveyors in
Texas
that can conduct retracements and
survey unpatented lands. Tommy and
Davey are licensed to survey state
land in
Texas.
"It's a great profession to be in,"
Davey said. "These last two
certifications I received put me in
a level of surveying that's kind of
elite - that just makes it all the
more worthwhile. I'm able to do
stuff that others can't do."
What once was his second career
option has turned into a passion for
Davey, and Tommy couldn't be
happier.
"Once it grows on you, it's a
passion. It's always a thrill to
find original corners. It's a thrill
to solve problems. You appreciate
when you help an owner, and they
appreciate you - that's hard to
beat. I've been doing it for 42
years - you have to like it."
"I have grown to enjoy it. Really
recently it's become a passion. I
started gaining a great respect for
it," Davey said. "I'm working on my
graduate degree in surveying and I
plan on pursuing my doctorate and
becoming a consultant."
The two work as a team day in and
day out and Davey views his father's
many years of experience as a great
benefit.
"It's nice to have his knowledge,"
Davey said. "We use each other as
checks. It has ended up being really
good for keeping a quality of work
in our profession and business."
"A lot of times families have a hard
time working together," Tommy said,
"but we have a good relationship."
The two enjoy the history lessons
that come with surveying. Surveying
takes a lot of research on the
original surveyor's work and with
each job, the men get to know a lot
about that first surveyor.
"You're following history all
through surveying - you're tracing
the steps of the original surveyor,"
Tommy said. "You get to know the
original surveyors. Some had
different ways of doing things and
you have to know what to look for."
"Nowadays, I can't drive down the
road and not study the boundary
lines," Davey said.
Tommy and his wife, Suzanna, live in
Alvord, as do Davey and his wife,
Sonja, and son, Ryan.
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