I first met Bert soon after he became a Ham. He was a hiway engineer and like most engineers loved the technical stuff. I had just returned to Ham Radio after a long time away and was just getting active again. We both werer DXers and then discussed contesting. On a lark we decided to try the CQWW DX contest. We decided on Bert's house because he lived on top of the hill and had a bigger basement. The first contest was a disaster! Later I moved to a house just down the hill from Bert and we both decided to upgrade our stations at the same time. We both put up 90' towers and mono-banders for 10-15-20. We decided to keep the contest station at Bert's house and over the next two years evolved it into a true multi-multi station - we took the trophy in 1982, a pretty impossible feat from Alaska.
Bert was always a gentleman and a great team guy. He spent as much time on my towers as he did on his own. He was someone who I never heard say a bad thing about another person.
A rare man.