Monte Berry Has Passed Away

[abenson]

He will be missed. I have spoken on the phone with him a few times and about a year ago bought a metal detector from him. We had a good hour long visit at his home here in Utah. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family.

[GB_Amateur]

Metal detecting has lost a legend.  I was fortunate to meet Monte just last June at one of his Welcome to the Hunt Outings (WTHO).  He was already quite limited in activity due to both severe spinal degradation and diabetes, but his enthusiasm even under those impediments was contagious.  His son Monte Jr. was kind enough to bring him from Utah out to Nevada for the WTHO week and come back to get him when the expedition was over.  Monte had a faithful dog (can't remember her name but someone here will post it) who was always at his side.  I feel bad for how she will take this....  (Addendum:  I read in Dick Stout's interview, the link posted by Steve, that her name is 'Rikki'.)

Monte could (and likely would) talk to you as long as you were interested in sticking around from dawn to dusk and into the night.  He was an encyclopedia of knowledge about detectors as well as stories of many decades of hunting for jewerly, relics, and old coins.  His success stories made my mouth water.  He loved trying out, testing, and using detectors of every make and model, but as Steve mentioned he had a particular fondness for the Tesoros.

Monte is well known around the world for his Nail Board Performance Test (NBPT) as he liked to call it.  I guess he was too modest to accept the common and popular name it was given -- Monte's Nail Board Test.  He had actually developed a series of tests with numerical scores well beyond the NBPT, though.

There are some members here who knew him quite well, including Oregon Gregg and Utah Rich.  I hope they will post at least some of their memories of Monte here.

P.S.  Both Gregg and Rich have made moving, personal posts on Monte's site in the thread Steve linked above.

[Chase Goldman]

Never met him but did have forum discussions with him.  Was impressed by his assessments of recently released detectors like the Ace Apex and Vanquish.  He quickly identified the flawed implementation of fixed ground balance on the Vanquish (each mode responded to the same patch of ground differently) and gave advice on how to work around it.  I was also amused by his tendency (with lower cost detectors) to buy a detector for each accessory coil that he owned instead of buying just the accessory coils so he didn’t have to futz with changing out the coils in the field, just grab the detector with the coil he wanted out of the vehicle.

His Nail Board test has worldwide recognition and that legacy will live on.

RIP Monte.

 

 

[Jeff McClendon]

Monte was one of the truly good guys in this hobby. I never met him. I did exchange letters, emails and online posts with him. He was always very quick to offer technical help when it was asked for, encouragement and support for me when I was having issues with a detector conundrum. He never preached at me, never got cross or put off with me for respectfully questioning his thoughts or for disagreeing with him. He was very generous with his time both in his correspondences with me and with friends of mine who actually knew him.

Most of all, I will miss reading his posts on all things metal detecting.

Thank you Monte.

Well wishes to Monte Jr. and all the rest of Monte's family, many friends and detecting acquaintances.

[Steve Herschbach]

7 minutes ago, Jeff McClendon said:

He was always very quick to offer technical help when it was asked for, encouragement and support for me when I was having issues with a detector conundrum. He never preached at me, never got cross or put off with me for respectfully questioning his thoughts or for disagreeing with him.

Monte was good about that, and always up for some good discussion, even if it was to disagree. My actual last post to him was to disagree with him about something. And he responded, as always, with class. 

Monte's last post on this forum was only two days ago. A typical kind, atta boy type post. Here two days ago, gone now. Never take life for granted folks, as that's how fast it passes.

https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/22065-nice-barber-quarter-to-round-out-the-days-finds-mixed-bag-of-mint-marks-today/?do=findComment&comment=238081

Here is Monte's profile page here and his post list:

https://www.detectorprospector.com/profile/904-monte/

https://www.detectorprospector.com/profile/904-monte/content/

[Bill (S. CA)]

I, like many of you, corresponded with Monte many, many times over the years.  I always got a kick out of his way of writing up doctoral dissertations to answer any question.  The guy could have written the metal detecting version of Homer's Odyssey!

It's hard to lose the old, classy guys from our hobby, who were in it just for the fun of it.  I hope the good Lord has a Tesoro waiting for him at the Pearly Gates.

Bill

[Tom Slick]

I met Monte years ago at one of his W.T.H.O. hunts and attended most of them over the years. Monte was all about helping folks improve their detecting abilities and was always open to trying new equipment, and testing to find their best attributes.

Monte had another WTHO scheduled for early June this year which I was planning on attending. It's a sad day learning of his passing and my thoughts and prayers go out to his family at this time of sadness. 

R.I.P. Monte

Tom Bush

 

[Rattlehead]

I've only had the pleasure of speaking with him on the forums over the years, but I can attest that he was a very knowledgeable person who was always willing to help his fellow detectorists. RIP Monte.

[Tom_in_CA]

There is more memories and fitting thread here too :

 

https://metaldetectingforum.com/index.php?threads/loss-of-one-of-our-own.301875/