I know several folks with their own /24's. We were all on the early Internet ("early" meaning before 1995 or so.)
This is basically why he had such a big interest in it. He was old enough to have been around to get a subnet but either didn't or lost it or something (he never said) and had worked for our employer forever. He seemed to be very "Internet hipster" about it. One of his big claims to fame was operating a FidoNet BBS that Clifford Stoll logged into.
We weren't exactly sad to see him go but it really cemented for me how wrapped up some people get in things. (We also have a four-digit ASN and he loved being snide about sites with six-digit ASNs, like I have.)