Obituary – Frank Forest, Sharewell LLC Co-Founder
Frank (Buddy) Calvin Forest, 80, passed away peacefully with his wife, Dawn, at his side on May 12, 2022. He was born on Dec. 28, 1941, in Liberty, Texas, and was the youngest son of Calvin Bert and Tina Forest.
Frank spent his school years in Richmond-Rosenberg and graduated from Lamar Consolidated High School in 1960. Soon after graduation, he was employed by the railroad service and then served his country in the Army.
After his service, Frank began his career in the oil industry. Little did he know, this career would take him around the world and offer opportunities never foreseen for a boy from Liberty County.
Over the next few years, Frank’s career continued to grow along with his family with the birth of his eldest daughter, Amy, and son, Jeff. In 1980, Frank moved to Singapore where he met his wife, Dawn. Soon after, they made their way to London and welcomed their daughter, Katie, before moving back to Texas.
Facing the economic collapse in the 1980s, Frank and his partner, Tom Wagner, were determined to overcome every hardship coming their way. They created a company whose philosophy was to ‘share the wealth’ and Sharewell LLC was born in 1984.
Frank and Tom named their first survey tool, CHAMP, after their favorite breakfast joint in Houston. This was initially a memory-based survey tool used in oil and gas surveying but was soon converted to a wireline tool used for HDD and oilfield horizontal drilling.
In 1986, Sharewell partnered with Tensor Inc. to solve the problem of magnetic interference while drilling pilot hole bores. This led to the development of a locating system, TruTracker, that provided verification of the calculated magnetic location of the bit using a wire (the coil) placed on the ground surface. This was a pivotal advancement in the HDD industry and has been utilized successfully to complete millions of feet of pilot hole.
In 1993, Frank decided to “retire” and sold his interest in Sharewell, which eventually became Sharewell HDD, to John Teer, Sam Anderson and Todd Caspary. Todd Caspary remains Sharewell HDD’s CEO to this day.
Frank enjoyed sports fishing, real estate investing, and spending time with family in his retirement.
Upon every health issue that Frank was challenged with, he handled it with strength and determination. His trait of being “hard-headed” served him well.
Many lives have been changed because of Frank’s generosity, advice, and mentorship. He was never afraid to share his opinion using his well-known phrase, “If I may make a suggestion.” Those “suggestions” have changed the lives of many people.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Texas Quarter Horse Foundation:
Texas Quarter Horse Foundation – 14 N Main Street, Suite B; Elgin, TX 78621.
