Smokie, as he was known, was a kind and strong man. He loved and laughed easily and loved to rib people. His daughter-in-laws didn't quite know how to take him when they first met, because of his pratical joking. When you recieved his jokes you were expected to give back as given, he loved to laugh at himself.
Smokie was an avid outdoorsman and loved hunting and fishing, especially deer and quail. Many was the time he went quail hunting with his sons and grandsons. Always ready with 'braggin rights', it was common to sit around the fire at night and recount the times we shot 4 birds with one shot or other gregarious fibs. No fisherman ever had stories greater than those told on those nights.
Smokie started life in eastern Oklahoma at a place called Greenbriar, near present day Pryor Creek, Oklahoma. His family moved from there to Texas, then to Sayer, Oklahoma, Portales, New Mexico and finally to Glendale, Arizona.
It was in Sayer were he married the love of his life Rose Annette Grady. He met Rose in Pampa, Texas, but married her in Sayer on July 8 1933. I'm not sure, but I suspect dad was a bit of a hobo in those days, since the railroad went through Sayer and Pampa, the two towns are a considerable distance and that would be the easiest way to travel. However, that's only my guess.
After moving to Arizona he worked as a welder at Luke Air Force Base in WWII and received many honors for his ingenuity in repair of aircraft. Dad eventually became a Ford auto-mechanic and worked for Grey Madison, Read Mullin and Don Sanderson Ford dealers. He was forcibly retired due to serious back injuries, but stayed as active as his injuries would allow. Besides quail hunting his favorite pass time was exploring the desert and mountains North of Phoenix in his old flat finder jeep, along with his very good friend Clarence Mathis. They were quite a pair and spent many days exploring back roads and mines which are in abundance in the mountains.
(findagrave)
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