07/10/2024
I’ve been struggling with what to say about the loss of one of our longest-standing Departikans, Tim Shelburn, to cancer. But I also feel the urge to honor him in some way, as he was a huge part of our lives and our business.
I met Tim while working as a design intern at Noble and Associates in the summer of 2000. He was part of the IT department. Within minutes of calling him about a “computer emergency,” he would be there to masterfully and magically fix the problem—typically without even touching the mouse. He was always willing to help without complaint, which pretty much never changed in all the years I worked with him.
In 2010, we were looking for a new developer at Departika and received a resume from Tim. We were super excited, although we never expected him to accept the job offer. We were only four years old at the time and still figuring out many aspects of running the business and where we wanted to take it. Lucky for us, he accepted and was an important part of the growth and stability of Departika.
In true social media marketing form, I think it is appropriate to make a listicle about Tim at work.
👍Tim had no problem bragging about being internet famous.
Tim had organically grown an audience of 50K+ followers on Instagram around cooking and sharing his barbecue, which led to sponsorships and many influencer campaigns. His love for cooking and social media fit right into our business, providing another layer of knowledge as many of our clients sell food and beverage products.
👍 Tim was our unofficial/official director of activities.
He always made sure we had a little fun, along with all of the hard work. He established “Friday Lunch.” This became a weekly tradition, rarely missed. Every Friday, the whole crew would hop into a couple of cars and take the time for team-building and comradery at one of our favorite Springfield restaurants or take the opportunity to try the new place in town. If the sun was out and we weren’t too busy, he would start an office campaign for patio beers via Slack (usually with relentless giphy memes related to beer, patios, and sunshine).
👍 Tim knew exactly how to press my buttons and thoroughly enjoyed “poking the bear.”
Tim loved watching sports, and one of them was the sport of “What can I say or do to make Katie crash out?” As sports go, it was all in good fun.
👍 Tim was our unofficial/official Departika documentarian.
He never missed a chance to capture behind-the-scenes pics at our photo and video shoots or the little moments around the office and throughout our Christmas parties or work-related events. Thanks to Tim, I can look back on the years of good times that have become blurry in my memory.
👍 Tim was our champion ping pong player, taking the crown away from Corey.
He was always striving to improve at his work, including his ping pong breaks.
👍 Tim loved his colorful Jeeps.
Some Departikans traveled to work by skateboard or car, others by simply walking through the door of the connected apartment, but Tim was identifiable in the parking lot and on the road by his subsequent bright-colored Jeeps. If you happened to encounter him at a stoplight on the way to work, you knew it automatically became a race to see who could make it to work first.
👍 Tim was our lead developer, IT director, picture hanger, heavy-thing-moving specialist, office meteorologist, and office prankster.
With a small team, you have to wear many hats, and he was always willing to do what it took to get the job done. He only made us pay for the extra work by scaring us with plastic snakes, rubber dog p**p, and the occasional shirtless belly pressed up against the outside of the office window. A couple of his finest pranks were when he made Corey a Farmers Only dating profile account without him knowing (until he started receiving dating requests) and when he got Corey an AARP membership for his birthday.
👍 Tim will be deeply missed, and we are lucky to have known him.
Sending much love from his work family to his actual family. We can’t believe he is gone. He made a huge impact and can never be forgotten.
—Katie
