Memorials

Terry Hawkins

Terry Hawkins passed away December 21, 2014.

Terry was a long time member of the German Shorthair Pointer Club of Lincoln and a long time member of the Nebraska Field Trial Assoc.

Terry's great smile, wonderful personality, dedicated support to the Branched Oak Field Trial Grounds will be deeply missed!!!!"

Dagobert Joseph Fingerlin III (Joe)

Joe Fingerlin passed away quietly Saturday, December 21, 2013 at a care facility in Houston, Texas. He had just turned 48 years old in early November. Those who field trial in the Midwest will remember Joe. He was an active judge who spent many hours in the saddle looking at all breeds of dogs. Joe enjoyed judging and all facets of trialing in general. He judged a number of national breed championships along with judging the AKC Gun Dog Championship in Idaho in 2011. Joe was truly breed-blind when judging. Like me, he just loved watching dogs perform in the field.

When Joe passed away, he was vice president of the Nebraska Field Trial Association (NFTA), president of the German Shorthaired Pointer Club of Nebraska and vice president of the Western Iowa Pointing Dog Club. If you looked up hard work in the dictionary, it should have had a picture of Joe Fingerlin! His contributions to these clubs and their members are too numerous to mention. His last assignment was chairperson for NFTA, hosting the 2013 AKC Gun Dog Championship.

The Nebraska Field Trial Association is a group of Midwest clubs that that are in charge of the care and grooming of the Branched Oak Trial Grounds in Raymond, Nebraska. Grounds rented from the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission solely for the purpose of running dog events. Joe’s contributions to the NFTA and the Branched Oak grounds can be seen in any direction that one looks from the work done on the lodge, to the grooming of the grounds to the horse corral panels.

Joe was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma on November 2, 1965, and he truly enjoyed life. He was an accomplished hunter, whether birds or big game. He was an excellent cook and really enjoyed smoking different kinds of foods and feeding friends and colleagues. He loved all dogs and was good with horses. He had a champion Shorthaired Pointer he called K-Man, but his passion was with the Weimaraner. He spent a lot of effort trying to improve on the bird dog traits of the breed.

In closing, Joe Fingerlin was a good friend of mine and a lot of others. He is gone but never will be forgotten. Just look up to the sky the next time you watch a great dog run, and you will see Joe’s smile in the clouds.

Written by David Borg