Inquisitive Quest

Ole Blue – 1966 Ford F-100 – V8

.  Ole’ Blue was stationed at the Murrow’s residence in Kiowa,  the acronym given to Gary’s blue 1966 Ford pickup by the bands Bob Wallace.  Gary, Jan, their new infant Robert and four legged  Mitzi having journeyed from Oklahoma City to acquire  household items, including bedding  her parents had stored in their basement.  The embodiment of furnishings and other articles surfeited the bed of the Pickup, Gary humorously remarking about the load looking like Okies from the movie The Grapes of Wrath.  Sunday after church,  the family embarking on the 175 mile encompassed journey, Gary opting to take highway 11 east rather than 58 thru Cherokee.    Approaching an area just north of the Great Salt Plains State Park,  a sudden clatter resonated from  the V8 engine.   Gary’s first reaction was one of disbelief, receding the accelerator,  engaging the clutch, turning the engine off,  the Ford coasting to a stop at the road.  Making an attempt to see if the motor would turn over, from the response it was pretty much locked up, Gary almost certain Ole’ Blue was about to throw a rod.

.  The summer afternoon heat suddenly becoming a proponent, Gary activating Ole’ Blue’s under dash CB radio,  a call on channel 19,  the trucking industries channel, but being a Sunday there weren’t many 18 wheeler’s or CB operators on the road.  Switching  to  channel 9,  the emergency frequency, still getting no response,  deciding to raise the  hood and flag the first approaching vehicle.  As the time passed a concern was beginning,  but then from the east a pickup appeared, and from the markings on its door,  it was a ranger from the State Park.  Gary explaining their situation and the need to make a phone call to Kiowa, the ranger suggesting they accompany him to the Park station to make the call.  Jan holding Robert, Gary holding Mitzi, the family squeezing in.    Gary placing a call to Kiowa, the resolution activated, Jan’s Father, his pickup and a tow rope on his way to their location.  With Bud’s  arrival, Jan and little Robert finally out of the heat in his air-conditioned pickup,   Gary and Ole’ Blue at the end of a 10 foot rope, the towing endeavor commencing for the slow journey to Kiowa.

.  With Ole’ Blue incapacitated, the bed of the pickup still fully loaded,  a plan to resolve the situation to get Ole’ Blue and the furniture back to Oklahoma City was contemplated.  The Willson’s would stay the night, Gary calling Greyhound in Alva to see what time the bus heading to Oklahoma City would arrive.  The morning finding his father-in-law Bud transporting him to the convenience store on Oklahoma Boulevard that served as the Alva Greyhound stop. Once arriving in Oklahoma City,  Gary giving Jerry Willis a call to retrieve the Torino at their rental. Gary conjecturing the Torino should have the ability to ferry the fully loaded Pickup to Oklahoma city, securing a tow-bar.  On the 175 mile trip back to Kiowa,  he began to question whether the Torino with its automatic transmission was up to the task, finally concluding, the results would be soon be known.

.  The morning Kiowa sun giving new light on the day, the journey beginning, the family once again attempting to traverse to Oklahoma City, only this time in the Torino with Ole’ Blue in tow.  Gary driving with kid gloves on, manually shifting the cruise o’matic transmission, gradual accelerations and braking, having noticed the Ford stressing under the load.  Once back home, making  some inquiries about restoring the ailing pickup, with most of the estimates being questionable until they tore down the engine,   but even then,  the ballpark estimates were financially unattainable, a decision was made to sell it as is.  By chance, gary running  across Glenn Froman’s cousin Paul Ambrose, and when told of the fate of Ole’ Blue, mentioning he might be interested,  and later after a look was confident,  over a period of time he could repair it, but the only foreseeable problem,  was the rule about working on cars at the Penn Apartments where he still resided.  Paul asking if he could leave it at Gary’s rental and work on it on his day

.  Gary mulling over the idea, not too keen on having what could be a long-term automotive project on the rental property,  but an idea occurred to him.  He still maintained a very cordial relationship with his ex-wife Kaye, approaching her about Paul’s dilemma, Paul,  like his cousin Glenn were like family when Kaye and Gary were married.  Kaye agreeing to let  the pickup park on the extended wide part of the driveway  Gary had poured for their boat and trailer.   Paul was not without accountability, Kaye securing an agreement that he would help with any needed household projects.  Paul’s weeks of diligence paying off, having only to replace a rod and piston, no damage to the cylinder or crankshaft, the total amount for parts being cost-effective’s off.

.  Gary was sadden with the departure of Ole’ Blue.  thru the recent-past troubled years, a comforting refuge.  a haven, having  spent untold solitary hours behind the wheel, and within its confines,  able to process, analyze and rethink outcomes, events and future possibilities. The bright note, Ole’ Blue had been restored to serve another.

Mom, Jan and Robert

.  Gary and Jan having decided to make a brief visit to California and introduce the newest Willson to his grandmother and namesake grandfather.   Richard the bands drummer  facilitating the Willson’s departure,  his 1973 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser stopping at  their southwest 41st residence to provide transportation to the Will Rogers World Airport.  Richard’s occupation, when not playing drums,  was transporting the U.S. Mail for a trucking enterprise between Oklahoma City  and outlying mail distribution centers, the drummer having become close family friends,  even to the point of offering to help Jan and Gary with the airfare expense. 

.  Arriving at Will Rogers,  Gary never ceased to feel a sense of vividness when gazing at the row of signs designating the entrance to the many airlines,  the gateways to the wonders of the world.  Standing at the Braniff reservation counter,  the memory of the four engine turboprop Lockheed Electra of the 1960’s coming to mind, it presence having inherited the past, a  Boeing 727 its replacement,  and with it came what Braniff called,  the ‘Jelly Bean Fleet’, the end of the plain plane, a host of rainbow colors, each craft painted a bright solid hue and the added attraction of boisterous flamboyant fashionable uniformed stewardess.

.  The Boeing 7 27 making it’s 5 mile approach to  the Dallas Fort Worth Regional Airport, a first landing at DFW for Gary,  who was impressed with its  vastness in comparison to Love Field,  noting it seemed that each major airline was provided its own tarmac and stand-alone terminal.  Disembarking,  the family soon discovering the only way to get to the American Airlines terminal was to board a driver-less tram,   the tram ride providing a new experience.  Arriving at the terminal to begin boarding for their nonstop flight to San Francisco.  It was another first, a McDonnell Douglas DC 10 Luxury Liner, having two aisles, five seats across in the center, seating over 200,  cruising at 37,000 feet at 600 miles per hour, finding it hard to believe the flight would take less than three hours, mentioning to Jan,  it took over six hours for him to fly in a DC 6B  from Oakland to Dallas,  on his way to Fort Sill in 1959.

.  The DC 10 setting down in the city by the bay,  Gary discovering a new inheritance at SFO,  the arrival of a  commercial helicopter line providing services to Oakland International, having never flown in a helicopter before.  The San Francisco Airlines helicopter rides was a disappointing short one, the trip but a hop, skip and jump across San Francisco Bay, the craft continuing on to Walnut Creek and Concord.  An ovation of predominance, Gary’s father having arrived as the official greeter at the airport.   A slightly different situation with the couples baggage, it failed to get unloaded in Oakland and apparently was still aboard the helicopter on its way to Concord.  The bad news being,  it would be over an hour before it could be returned to Oakland, but the good news, they would dispatch the luggage in a cab to the Greenly Drive address, the Pianist concluding, all’s well that ends well.

.  Gary noticing that his childhood home seem to have diminish in size thru the years, each room smaller than he previously remembered or could the remembrance from his childhood be over-shadowed by the  expanse of his world today.  Looking down Shone Avenue from his boyhood home, the possession of eminence once provided by Mountain Boulevard, the two lane  blacktop that snaked  below the Oakland Hills no longer in existence,  the 580 interstate freeway a replacement.  The adjoining wheat field affiliation,  once view from his bedroom window, it’s fragrance of recently mowed hay able to infiltrate his childhood room, now expletive with development,  the memories having been absorbed, but the reality snatched away with life’s temporal progression.

.  The dawning of a new day,  Gary and Jan with an armful named Robert,  Grandma Betty sporting as tour guide as they set out for San Francisco,   Gary’ Dad depositing them at the Bay Area Rapid Transit Station at 98th and San Leandro Boulevard.  This being a first for Gary, a journey beneath the waters of the bay aboard the Rapid Transit, better known as Bart.  The underwater venture,  no comparison to his youthful view from the lower deck  aboard the key system bay bridge electric train where one was able to gaze upon Alcatraz, the Golden Gate Bridge and the majesty of san francisco bay.  Disembarking at the Market Street terminal, Gary very much surprised at his mother knowledge of public transportation, then realized he has been gone for 18 years, his mother’s life having graduated from rising a family,  to one of joining the world of commerce, having worked and conducted business in San Francisco.

.  The transplanted Oklahoman back on youthful san francisco familiar territory, the traveling family desiring the presence of Golden Gate Park,  leaving the Bart station, it was up Market Street to McAllister and the number 5 bus, it’s numeral still remaining the same after all these years.  The electric  bus with its rear mounted  telescoping arm,  reaching upwards embracing the power lines, acquainting Fulton Street, which  journeys the full length of Golden Gate Park to its greeting with the Pacific.  Jan being taken back with the coming and goings of the passengers on the bus, the small town Kansas girl never having experienced so many different languages being spoken.   The familiar 10th Street stop unchanged, but the pedestrian tunnel under the roadway circling the park to enter having changed to an auto entrance.

.  With the day’s activity to include, the De Young Museum, the California Academy of Science with the Planetarium, the Steinhart Aquarium and Natural History, the giant Kodiak Bear still standing guard at the entrance.  A visit to the Japanese Tea Gardens, the three adults having a toast of  refreshments of the Gardens delicacy

.  Gary’s youthful remembrance,  his monthly ventures for so many years to san francisco,  golden gate park, playland across from the breakers of the Pacific, his thoughts, a sharing experience,  but found that many didn’t grasp the significance it played as  a youth.  The  late afternoon found a retracing of steps to return to Oakland,  deciding to stop at Jack London Square.  Another memory, a boy name Mike touring a Coast Guard Cutter with his Burckhalter fourth grade class.  The family could feel the leeward breeze giving notice of the late afternoon incoming fog,  an essence of the water accompanying them on the bay boardwalk,  viewing  the many small sailing craft.   The three deciding on an early dinner meal at the Bow and Bell restaurant, Gary placing a telephone call,  beckoning the elder Willson to chauffeur them back to Greenly Drive.

.  The hastily arranged  visit, the lack of time engulfing the couples inherent return, only instead of returning to San Francisco,   they left from Oakland on PSA to Los Angeles, once again boarding the large DC 10 for the journey to Dallas  and a  Braniff flight home to Oklahoma City.  Gary understanding his west coast family proclivity was  not invective of a Oklahoma or Kansas aptitude.  Having experienced the conjectured impression made by his parents from his previous marriage to Kaye, concluding although this first introduction was brief,  his parents welcoming Jan as family without qualification.

.  It wasn’t surprising as life is full of surprises, a wedding announcement.   Gary’s ex-wife Kaye’s father,  Kermit Van Leuven , who thru the years had never acknowledged his presence until eleven years ago, making a decision to renew his acquaintances with Kaye’s mother Helen in Oklahoma City.  Helen,  having initiated a meeting between Kermit and Kaye years earlier in Long Beach after the birth of  grandson Scott, a meeting arranged during a family vacation to Gary’s parents’ home in California.   Kermit’s wife of 47 years Violet, having passed away in Long Beach, Kermit having retired as an attorney and head clerk of the Los Angeles County Superior  Court.  It wasn’t long after his Oklahoma arrival nuptials were proclaimed, and Kermit and Helen Pirie Street were united in matrimony,  39 years after the birth of their daughter,  Gary privileged to attend the Oklahoma City courthouse ceremony.

.  On occasion Gary was called upon to provide transportation for his daughter Marlo’s dance class attendance,  when her mother was unavailable.   He was very much aware of an upcoming dance studio event, the dance studio students would be performing a full dress rehearsal at the Civic Music Hall for an upcoming recital.  Gary aware he couldn’t make the recital date, but could attend the full dress rehearsal.  The afternoon found Gary’s and Jan joining the many relatives of the participants in attendance. When the curtain was drawn for the opening act the background adorning the stage was simplistic but commanding, as was the stage presentation for each class.  The music addressing their choreographic was most impressive, the musician expecting a continuous flow of Swan Lake or similar classic instances, but was delightfully surprised at the inventiveness of the dance instructors selections.  The theme music chosen for Marlo’s class was very inventive, and the audience as well as Gary was literally knocked over when a dance routine was presented to the theme from the television series,  The Rockford Files.  Gary, noticing his ex-wife seated up front, stage right,  deciding  not to acquaint the viability of  his presence,  but savoring this visual event and his daughters capacious performance.

.  The evening was about to be enhanced, Gary and Jan entering the auditorium at U S Grant  High School, at Southwest 50th and South Pennsylvania Avenue,  the couple attending a capacity filled presentation of the high school stage-band.   The encountered group of student musicians were the corps d’elite of the high school band class,  the assembly presenting a program of songs featuring the big band sound from an earlier era.   The meritorious conclave of musicians that made up the Stage-Band were all junior and seniors,  but an exception having been made, discovering two freshman,  a procurer of the trombones,  Scott Willson, Gary’s eldest son one of the two.  Seemingly, it was apparent that Scott was an inheritor of music ability,  but that could be questionable, the father apprehensive of his son’s ability was one of prodigious acknowledgement and  recognition, but he was more of a listener than a creator,  and within,  Gary held an abjuration and hope that his son would not proceed in a like profession.    The stage band’s performance was provoking,  the talent on stage instilling an aura of a bygone time, the youthfulness of the musicians giving hope to those in the audience for a better generation of application, and a proud father witnessing a talented son.

.  It had been twenty year since he initiated this, telling himself the paper route wouldn’t be arduous.  Gary having volunteered for this short termed endeavor, his responsibility for a three day weekend,  substituting for his son Scott on his morning paper route.  He found himself reminiscing his junior high years delivering for the Oakland Tribune,  his route being in the afternoon,  an aberration from this morning delivery circumstance.  Scott giving hiss dad a list of customer addresses and paper placement instructions to adhered to,  but soon found difficulty in reading the customer’s home address in cimmerian shade of darkness in the dawning morning hour.  Scott’s route enduring southwest 45th to 47th street between south agnew and south Youngs,  a scant distance from the youth’s  home.  Jan offering to be a willing assistant, but after an initial experience,  Gary deciding it would be best to go it alone.  Scott,  returning to his appointed  paper dispensing  task,  the father gratefully alleviated from this capacity,  a willing subject,  but in the future he might have second thoughts, recalling the words of his Oakland Tribune’s District Manager, Scotty, “Paper delivery is not about service, it’s about customer satisfaction”,  and like the dawning of a new day the same can be said about music.

A true Texan with a horned adorned Cadillac

.  Jim was a Dobie Gray vocal talent able to perform a perfect Drift Away,  the guitar playing singer having sit in with Gary on several occasions.   It wasn’t his music talent that elicited the pianist attention, but word of his recent endeavor,  having leased a lesser known private club adjacent to the Broadway Motor Inn on the Northwest Highway’s junction with the Broadway Extension.  The pianist having notice the rundown motels location during his commute to Edmond during his Derrick Club days, especially with its extra-large billboards on the highway, exclaiming rooms for $16.95 per night, registering an apprehension for a servile clientele, better known as ladies of the night.  Visiting with Jim, finding that his recent acquired club’s prospect for entertainment was dependent on the completion of the ongoing motels renovation.  During their conversation,  Gary found out the remodeling was not being done by a contractor,  but the owner and a journeyman carpenter,  who in turn hires transient workers  from off the road, and  was having trouble keeping a full time crew.  An alarm bell going off,  realizing opportunity was knocking, Gary deciding to check out the motel situation,  curious about the possibility of employment.

.  The front desk directing him to a section at the  rear of the complex, told that the person in charge should be there.  The sound of a hammering leading to a room on the second floor of the building, Gary entering a room,  a middle-aged carpenter at work.  The room sporting recently installed sheet-rock, unpainted and still lacking any ceiling, floor or door molding.  Gary apologizing for interrupting, then briefly stating his purpose, relating his experience and that he had heard they might need someone to work on a steady basis, then asking the all important question about a job.  Gary could tell from the man’s expression he was being scrutinized, finally receiving a tentative approval, told to show up at eight in the morning and they would go from there.  Gary had hoped his potential employer would have mentioned salary, but he didn’t,  so the inevitable question had to be asked, discovering starting  pay was nonnegotiable  minimum wage, but could change depending on the person.

.  Gary found his new employment acceptable, joining an ever changing crew,  engendering a repaired freshly painted and cleansing look to the rooms.  The work progressing,  the crew starting on the backside of the double tier rear structure, then arriving one morning,  finding he was the only one to show up.  Not sure of what to make of it,  he checked with the front desk clerk who was of no help, but mentioned they were expecting the motel owner who was driving up from Texas.  Gary having heard about the owner from Jim, that he was somewhat of an anomaly, an elderly man and played the part of a true Texan, wearing a white Stetson, western boots, and driving an unbelievable white Cadillac Convertible with hood mounted bull horns.  Gary returned to the project at hand,  then later in the afternoon noticed a bullhorn Cadillac parked near the entrance,  deciding to make himself known.  He was somewhat apprehensive but approached the unmistakable owner, introducing himself and the situation,  the Texan disclosing it wasn’t unusual for his “makeshift collection of nomads” as he referred to them, having moved on,  and for Gary to continue his work, utilizing the maintenance man if necessary until some other hires could be found.

,  The maintenance man was a person in his early fifties of American Indian descent,  apply named Chief.  Gary soon discovering he had lived and worked there for a number of years and like the furniture he was more or less a fixture and came with the  motel.  It came as no surprise that Chief was well acquainted with an afternoon partaking of alcohol and a indulgence of cannabis, which never seem to effect his work. .Gary found the motel unlike any others, the completed south building rooms at the rear of the complex were rented by the week or month to the street members of a renowned profession.   Work on the north side was approaching completion when Gary was approached by the desk-clerk manager to come to the office, there was a change in ownership, the Bravado Texan had sold the motel.  Walking to the office Gary’s immediate concern was about his status and paycheck,  soon being  introduced to the new owners, three Iranian brothers recent arrivals from their homeland.  The nightly news making all aware of the demonstrations and problems confronting the Shah of Iran and the recent mass immigration of Iranian to the United States.

.  Besides a change in ownership, Chief  seemed to have acquired a departure, his room remaining with all his belongings, but he was nowhere to be found.  Gary beginning to have a concerned,  conjecturing that he might have had confrontation during one of his weekend binges, or possibly one with the law.  With Chief failure to return, the newly acquired owners requesting  Gary remove Chief personal effects, relegating them to a storage area , and make his room ready for rental.  During the process,  discovering among Chiefs  possession were two jars filled with cannabis seeds, apparently saved when cleaning his resolve before lighting up.  Gary in a jester of levity,  instead of depositing the contents in the trash,  taking the proceeds of the jars outside to the banks of a water  drainage ditch behind the motel, dispersing the probable flowering seeds for a possible future generation of growth.  With the disappearance of Chief, Gary was approached by the new owners to fill a now vacant maintenance position.

.  The three brothers presented a difficulty to work for, first their broken English was a communication adversity,  second each of the three assuming an individual commanding authority.  Gary  finding it onerous to even complete a task  because one brothers project determination was interrupted by another brothers project, the maintenance  position arduous and frustrating,  too many supervisors,  a sense of embarkation beginning to prevail.  Then an omen prevailed with the arrival of a person whom he had met only on one occasion, the motels contracted pest-control exterminator, the Busy Bee Exterminating Company’s owner. Bill Guice was a slight soft-spoken man in stature and meaning,  Gary visiting with the pest control man about the difficulty of working with the Iranians and that in all probability he would be leaving as soon as he could find another job.

 .  Bill listened sympathetically  to his dilemma and then the quiet spoken man approached him with a recourse.   Questioning if he would be interested in enclosing a porch for an office addition to a house he had just purchased across the street from his rented office on SW 29th. Besides the front addition, the residential part of the house also needed some interior and exterior remodeling.  Bill saying that he wasn’t interested in a formal contractual bid, but if Gary was interested he would be hired by the hour,  pay him weekly by check like a regular employee until the job was completed.  Gary was awestruck, from out of the blue comes Bill Guice with an offer he couldn’t refuse.

A passing thought when discovered, but just a thought.

.  Gary having accepted Bill Guice,  the owner of Busy Bee Exterminators, offer to enclose the front porch for a his recently purchased house on southwest 29th street for a business office.  Bill explaining his resources were limited,  the company was on a tight budget.   The business employing his sister Helen, abiding as the bookkeeper, office receptionist and client dispatcher, his two  sons, Tim and Tom, a third son, Terry, available after school and on weekends.   Busy Bee was a full service extermination enterprise,  including pest control,  termite prevention, foliage treatment,  liquid lawn fertilization, coloring, and maintaining three apply administered fully equipped trucks.

.  Bill and his youngest son Terry having moved in to the recent purchase,  asking Gary to expedite the residential part of the house.  Gary being more of a layperson than a  journeyman carpenter or electrician,  the remodeling blueprint conceived as an idea, and was pretty much fixed in his head.  The porch already framed with studs, needing the framing for windows, office door, and interior sheetrock before adding the exterior sheathing and later the asbestos siding.  The progression was deliberate, the interior work more detailed than expected, especially when Bill decided he wanted the attic crawl space insulated, Gary taking advantage of Sears loaning a blower when you purchased a quantity of insulation.  The new office addition beginning to come to fruition, the replacement of the ancient fuse box with a  breakers box the finale, even with the additional projects the job was completed in six weeks.

.  Gary being asked to accompany Bill and his sons on an extensive  termite job, Busy Bee having been awarded the termite prevention bid for the Midwest City Library,  which meant drilling  treatment holes every 18 inches around the perimeter of the outside and inside  walls of the building, which had concrete carpeted slab floors.  With the completion of the library project, Gary wasn’t surprised when Bill proposed that he  remain as a fulltime employee, adding,  he needed someone to reinstate customer termite damaged,  and to assist with pest extermination.  Gary suspecting the real reason was to supervise his three sons, Bill’s sister Helen having related,  she had received complaints about their lack of enthusiasm on the job when dad wasn’t around.    Gary finding Bill’s soft-spoken demeanor, his older sister Helen,  and the three boys easy to get along with, their relationship beginning to feel more and more like family, Gary agreeing to the proposal.

.  The Musician discovering the exterminating business to be intriguing at times and mundane at others.  A most interesting aspect was the roach treatment of a complete apartment complex, gaining entrance to every apartment and observing the diversity of the apartments physical environment.  Gary witnessing everything from passed out naked person,  to a stash of drugs left on a table. It never amazed him of the denial expressed by some customers to the extent of their roach problems, especially those living in the upper echelon Nichols Hills community.  The most thorough method to rid a residence of an extensive roaches problem is to don a  mask with a fogger filled with pyrethrum, the pyrethrum affects the roaches nervous system making them scurry from their hidden recluse before succumbing leaving an unexpected visual host of expired roaches

.  During the servicing of the Apartments near the state capital, which served as an auxiliary residence for many of the congressional delegates, a surprising event took place.  The complex management providing a passkey,  and as always Gary announcing himself before entering.  During an entry with no response  the occupant  apparently having left, the suite being maintained by E Melvin Porter,  a notable black State Senator from Oklahoma City District 48, and the past president of the Oklahoma Chapter of the NAACP.  Starting as usual, he began spraying the diazinon along the baseboards in the main room, upon entering the bedroom,  he stopped noticing that on the bed in plain sight was an open metal carrying case,  it contents drawing his full attention, it looked to be  filled with bundled 20 dollar bills. A passing brief thought about the mother lode of bills, but only a thought. without hesitation, he immediately left the room deciding it would be best to continuing his work in another apartment.

.  The Musician beginning to have a concern about his undertaking,  a musical endeavor several night per week and his Busy Bee employment.  Jan was approaching the final days of maternal expediency,  and once again, even when reminded Tiffany Rose came into the world as a Robert, she still insisted the newly arrival would be a girl.  Her and Robert spending more time with family in Kiowa, Gary could see a change in Jan, the Apostolic Christian Church having a profound influence on her, the absence of makeup and jewelry, her hair styling or lack of it in keeping with Church tradition.   The visits to Kiowa, the Murrow family, the introduction to the Apostolic Christian Church, its old world approach to a new world America had its influence.

.   Gary noticing a change in himself, for the first time questioning his presumptuous objective in music, accepting the precept of obtaining a music goal which was once foremost,  and had influenced all his adult world decisions for better or worse.  Music still flourished within, but with an open mind,  and new sense of approach, this time when an alternative opportunity knocks, he would answer

.

Jan and Sandra Lynne

.  The overture having commenced announcing the coming event,  Jan’s labor pains beginning a prelude to the aria nine months in conception.  Gary patiently placing a telephone call to his friend and trumpet virtuoso, Bob Kneemiller and his wife Pat, the couple having agreed to watch year old Robert, enabling the expectant couple to proceed  the short distance to South Community Hospital.   Jan enduring her distress, her water having broken, the labor pains persisting more frequently, less than two minutes apart when the Kneemiller’s arrived.   The couple without hesitation expeditiously proceeded to the hospital,  entering the reception area Gary immediately giving a quick but obvious explanation, Jan immediately provided a wheelchair and whisked upstairs to the maternity floor.   Gary being directed to Admitting,  hurriedly addressing the forms for Jan’s admittance,  when finished questioning the person as to the floor for labor and delivery.  Arriving on the third floor he was instructed not to a labor room, but  questioned about observing the birth and with an urgency was instructed to a fitting area,  adorning the required gown,  cap,  gloves and shoe covering.

.  Entering delivery Jan reclined on the birthing bed,  her awareness of activity partially recessed because of medication, the administering nurse speaking to her,  Gary standing at the foot of the bed beyond the physicians  able to view the event that was about to transpire.  He was very much aware of his wife’s voice with an expression of pain, knowing her desire to cognizance of this miracle as she   attempting to comply with the given instructions.  The newborn emerging from its protective womb,  shedding the protection of her past environment, Gary very much in awe able to witness the unveiling testimony of God’s gift.   Sandra Lynne Willson having fulfilled a nine month journey arriving at 5:44 p.m., on July 29, 1978.   Dr. Reynolds her attending physician finding her 5 lb. 4 oz. weight unacceptable for immediate release, mother and daughter to remain the night.

.  The arrival of Sandra found an awakening of Jan’s family, her parents visiting Oklahoma City for the first time, her sister Gayle Robb and daughter Shawna traveling from Iola Kansas to assist with the new family addition.  Gary recalling Jan’s conviction that Robert was supposed to be a “Tiffany Rose” and thankful for a princess named Sandra who could have been a prince named Christopher Roth, Jan’s alternate name if the new addition had been a boy.  With the advent of  Sandra, the family asserting numerous journeys north to be with family and especially with Jan’s desire to become a sister in faith with the Apostolic Christian Church.

.  A term of repentance was the first requirement, to demonstrate and acknowledge the wrongdoing in one’s life and to make amends,  privately or personally,  approaching those whom you have offended,  giving a penance for your censorial action and beseeching absolution.  The traditional repentance temporal for those seeking affiliation with the Church  was thirty to sixty days,  the Elder Ministering Brother Ron Nelson setting a date for the attendance of the total congregational membership for an open discussion of the aspiring sister and her new-found life in Christ,   Gary being granted special permission to attend what was referred to by non-church members as A Proving, the baptismal open to the friends would follow the coming Sunday.

.  The change in his wife was phenomenal, Gary being introduced to something new, discovering a totally new world, the  Apostolic Christian Church steeped in German heritage much like the Mennonites of Pennsylvania still complying with the customs of the past.  The serving of a meal between services on Sunday,  the tradition of the men sitting on one side and the women on the other, their cappella hymns, no choir or musical accompaniment in the sanctuary,  only in the fellowship hall  and absolution from many worldly acceptances.  Jan was the second daughter of Bud and Helen Murrow to find the Lord through the Apostolic Church,  older sister Gayle called upon joining her mother and her mother’s line of heritage as a sister in faith.  Bud although having wed into a family of devout believers and through the years without hesitation attending services every Sunday, having bared witness to the multitude of  blessing bestowed upon the brothers and sisters of the church but inexplicably never achieve the conviction to publicly acknowledge what was apparent in his character, an undeniable faith in the Lord.

.  Gary found his father-in-law to be a man who never smoked, indulged in any form of alcohol or cuss, and never one to anger or argue.  His beliefs and opinions if stated were just that,  a statement, end of discussion.  His passion, though seldom expressed was the life of a prior generation, he enjoyed the solitude of farming, his time with a horse, the reading of Louis L’Amour western novels.  But most amazing, this quiet ready to help person, when called upon, possessed the analytical ability of a mathematician and the skills of a carpenter which enabled him to catapult, from the life of an employee to a fortuitous building contractor employer.  Gary acquiring a better understanding of his new Kansas family, and with Jan’s transformation, for the first time he recognized the blessing of a spiritually anchored life.

.  Gary felt like he was adrift in a prosaic world,  the ongoing experience of an eight hour day with Busy Bee, coupled with a weekend music ambition, plus struggling to find musicians, especially with his best friend guitarist Jerry Willis having recently remarried and no longer was enthusiastic about playing.  An atmosphere of uncertainty prevailing,  Jan understandably wanting to move closer to her family and the Apostolic Church.  Unbeknownst to all, Gary having silently also reconciled his desire for a change, his ambition and 16 years of music having finally played out.  Oklahoma City once a bastion of opportunity to a young man, now held the cobwebs of past endeavors.   His employment with the exterminating company was only meant to be a temporary means of income,  Jan’s suggestion of moving to Kiowa was not without merit, but in principle Gary knew it would mean starting a new life in a new land,  and like the morning sunrise, giving birth to a new day, its presence would embolden the perspective of the future.

.  It was late fall during a visit to Kiowa that Gary made some employment inquiries,  filling out an application at Humphrey Implement,  located just west of town with its proclamation,  Combine City USA, then moving on to Coontz Implement and the Kiowa Service Company, a John Deere dealership.  Gary soon discovering that agricultural related hiring was almost nonexistent in the winter, that once the winter wheat had been drilled in the fall, the farming activity all but came to a standstill until spring.  With the winter months traversing, the Christmas holidays having come and gone,  Gary having set aside any conjecture about a job in Kiowa when in February he received a call from the Kiowa Service Company.  The call was from the owner of the John Deere dealership, Steve Miller,  mentioning that he had been visiting with Bud Murrow, and wanted to know if Gary was still interested in going to work and that if he was, he would have a parts job opening in March.

.  Jan reminding Gary of a promised, “if you can find a job and we can find a house, we can move”.   With the Kiowa employment opportunity,  a renewed energy emerged, the  couple researching the town for an available home.  Jan was intrigued with a vacant  four bedroom, two-story dwelling on North 11th Street,  the two-story house having apparently been empty for a long period of time.  The couple able to gain entrance,  and with further investigations discovering the water heater and water pipes had frozen with damage to the kitchen and bathroom, it was apparent the previous owners had failed to winterize it, but the vintage residence was structurally sound.

.  When approaching Jan’s parents about its location, they were astounded that Jan didn’t recognize or know the structures history.  The house  was  “The Home Place,”  build for Jan’s Grandfather  Henry Roth.  It was the house Jan’s mother was born in when it was situated on the families section of land, 4 miles east of town on the state line road.    At the conclusion of World War 2 and in the fifties,  long time Kiowa resident Roy Keifer bought many of the abandoned farm houses adorning the rural countryside, Roy blocking up, and transporting these once vivant houses into town,  placing many of them on lots on the northeast side of town,  soon to be  known as  “Keiferville”.

.  Gary’s first step was to  inquire about ownership of the discarded property,  discovering the Farmers Home Administration having title.   Visiting the FHA office in Medicine Lodge, discovering the property was in receivership,  having been vacant for over a year, the previous owners walking away.  Gary inquiring what it would take to gain title,  being told it could only be attained if it was brought up to an acceptable federal standard.   Gary and the FHA agent coming to an agreement, the property was valued at 75 hundred dollars and an additional 2000 could be added to the mortgage agreement for improvements to meet standards.  Gary’ father in law Bud,   a building contractor, agreeing to position his construction crew to accomplish the improvements and ready it for a mid-March accommodation.

.  March having arrive, Gary thanking and bidding his friend and Busy Bee owner Bill, his sister Helen and three sons a goodbye.  The couple making ready everything for the move, agreeing it would be best for Jan and the kids to stay at her parents during the actual  moving process.  Gary driving the family to Kiowa, returning  to Oklahoma City and calling upon his good friend Jerry Willis who offered to help with the encumbering  project.  Gary’s plan was to lease a U hual truck for a one-way trip to Kiowa, returning it to Alva in the morning, then taking a bus back to Oklahoma City, where jerry agreed to make himself available and transport his friend from the Greyhound Bus Station to his car.  Gary having secured the truck, the two filling it to capacity, discovering there was still a quantity of boxes remaining,  but not enough to warrant a larger truck.   Gary deciding to acquire a trailer and hitch from U Haul for the Pontiac, like the truck it could be returned in Alva.

.  Gary getting a late afternoon start to Kiowa, thankful,  Bud and Jan’s uncle Charles Terry available to help with the unloading,  It was decided to store everything in the bedrooms, as Bud’s carpenter crew hadn’t completed all their work, and would be best to wait for Jan’s input on the furniture’s location.  With the dawning of a new day, Gary returning the truck to Alva, walking the short distance to the convenience store that served as the Greyhound Bus stop.  Sitting back in his seat, it was nice to let another provide the driving.  With his arrival at the Greyhound Station in Oklahoma City, initiating a telephone call to Jerry,  his friend responding saying he was on his way.

.  Gary patiently waiting, thirty minutes having passed but no Jerry.  Placing a second call but again no answer.  Another fifteen minutes, a third call and still no answer.   then a surprising  perplexing event.   Kaye, Gary’s ex-wife pulled into the Bus Station parking area, rolling down her window smiling   “Do you need a Ride Stranger?”.    An explanation was in order,  Kaye explaining:  ” Jerry’s car battery was dead ”  and the only person he could think of to call was her and she was happy to oblige.  Gary very appreciative of his ex-wife’s concern.  The  move to Kiowa was completed with the return of the trailer to Alva. it would still  be a quasi-period of time before the family could occupy the house, Bud apologetic for the delay,  but his contracted business jobs took priority.   Jan’s parents advocating, the family could reside in the basement bedroom of their home until Bud’s construction crew could finish up, Gary was more concerned about Kiowa Service Company,  he was to start work Monday morning.

Kiowa Service Company

.  It was Monday, March 19, 1979, a day after his 38th birthday when the entered the John Deere franchised Kiowa Service, a stranger to the agricultural and farming world of rural Kansas.  Gary was greeted by a younger person behind the parts counter,  introducing himself with a cordial smile as  Jerry Whitney, the Parts Manager.  Gary briefly explaining the situation, Jerry acknowledging that he was expecting him, and with assurance the two walked across to a smartly furnished corner office.  Looking up from a desk, rising, extending a hand, introducing himself as Steve Miller, welcoming the newcomer to Kiowa Service.

.  Steve Addressing the Parts Manager to introduce Gary to the facility, and to get a new employee form from Sandy Palmer, the office manager.  As the two were leaving, Steve reminded Jerry,  he wanted Gary to get started with Homer on assembling the new parts bins. The company tour beginning with the time clocks location, a first step and the beginning of an uncertain journey,  finding Jerry Whitney an applicable instructor,  more than willing to educate this novice to the world of John Deere.  The recent employee from Oklahoma City experiencing some difficulty making acquaintances in his new environment, but meeting someone who recognized his dilemma, sales representative Larry Swonger taking it upon himself to intercede.

.  Kiowa Service proper  encompassed more than a city block, bordering Main Street on the north, across Miller Street on the south, 7th Street on the west, 8th on the east.  A long abandoned ice house and the town’s telephone company building occupying space on Main street and the relic of an old shop building on the corner of 8th and Miller.  adjacent north of the business office on 7th  stood an old building used as a paint shop, the domain of Service Company painter Leon Gashler.    Across Miller Street was an old warehouse with an extended wooden loading dock and on the corner of Miller and 7th was a building housing a feed grinding mill, the grinding unit still intact, a heirloom from a bygone era.  Kiowa Service having been given a face lift inside and out,  the sales department receiving two new offices,  the parts department extended with a new concrete loading dock.  The service department expanded, now in a 72 by 96 foot attached metal building, with an additional attached 72 by 96 foot building for pre delivery implement servicing still under construction.

.  Kiowa was home to four farming implement services, Humphrey Implement, a Massey-Ferguson  dealership owned by Bud Humphrey, Shoson Implement, a Case Tractor Dealership managed by Norvin Price, Coontz Implement  and the John Deere franchised Kiowa Service owned by Steve Miller, his brother John having an interest.  The agronomic application was a new assessment, Gary a long time resident of city life discovering a knowledge deficiency,  never having acquainted the variety of farming implements employed by the agricultural community, a totally new learning experience.

.  Miller and his brother John having raised the standard, the John Deere franchise no longer the laid-back agricultural store once owned by Fred “Jumbo” Shoe bah,  previously known as shoe bah Implement.  The Steve Miller enterprise expanding to the third largest employer in the Township.   The spring of 1979 finding Kiowa Service in transition, with wheat prices of two sixty two, in 1978 having risen to 3 75 and futures pushing 4 dollars plus, Steve Miller saw the handwriting on the wall, Katy bar the door.

.  Gary’s finding the retail parts counter a challenge, John Deere having a separate parts manual for each tractor model and every implement, and as a novice, not familiar with any of the farming equipment terminology and wasn’t surprised at the looks he received from the local farmers.  It was Larry Swonger who finally clued the novice in,  on how to deal with his lack of knowhow, it was basic and simple,  and it satisfied,   making the customer feel knowledgeable,  just turn the book around and let them find what they were looking for.

.  Gary’s continued employment seemed assured,  disappointed in his starting wage of $3.15 per hour,  having left $6.00 an hour employment in Oklahoma City, plus discovering  Steve Miller had visited with his father-in-law Bud Murrow,  extracting a conditional agreement if Miller employed Gary, down the road Bud wouldn’t hire him for his construction crew.  The transition from the briskness of a vibrant  City to the patience of a rural community was sanctioned, Gary beginning to accept the change of his life’s proclivity, its meaning and the beckoning of the new horizon.

 a

.  Occupancy achieved,  the Willson family crowning  a residency in Kiowa at 324 N. 11th,  Jan and Gary rendering the front downstairs bedroom, Robert and Sandi,  residing in the two upstairs berths.  The turn of the century non-insulated draft prone structure,  providing a quandary in maintaining an acceptable temperature disposition.  Gary immediately beginning a caulking exercise on the established vintage window frames,  providing some relief from the temporal audacity and blusterous Kansas winds.  The two-story edifice, once a family icon,  was moored  a scant eight feet from the rear property line, a single strand wire cattle electric hot wire separating the house from the adjacent pasture acreage.  The acreage,   a provisional residency for seasonal grazing cattle.  The couple learning  during harvest,  the property was aptly named  Thoroughbred Trailer Park,  providing hookups and RV parking for visiting wheat harvest Custom Cutters.

.  The owner of the property north and east of the Willson’s newly acquired residence belonged to Chuck Payne, his house residing on the northern section of a pasture,  Jan acquainted with the Payne’s, their son Kent a member of her high school class.  Payne by profession,  was a well-established plumbing, heating and air contractor working out of his shop located adjacent to his home on N. 11th.   Gary found it was rumored Chuck had a reputation for his abruptness and was held with questionable esteem by most of the community,  mainly an antecedent of his required plumbing fees,  and his gruff nature.  Gary assessing the backyard or what little there was of it,  when a slight balding older man approached, introducing himself as Chuck Payne, mentioning his acquaintance to Gary’s father inlaw Bud Murrow, then acknowledging the Willson’s new residency.  During the conversation,  Chuck with a concerned look mentioned  the cattle hot wire,  telling Gary he would move it further away from the house so the family could have a little more back yard space.  Gary finding Chuck a very pleasant person, thanking him for the consideration and within, acknowledging something about the man others may have failed to recognize,  compassion.

.  He knew this day would come, with the budding family there was a need for an additional vehicle.  Gary inquiring at work if anyone knew of an inexpensive car for his wife to get around in,  discovering that Chuck Payne had a 1970 Volkswagen Beetle for sale.  Gary visiting with Chuck,  found him hesitant in selling it, noting that it had what he called an irregular problem, most of the time it ran find, but there were times when it would just die.  After a test drive, the excursion going well,  Gary considering what Chuck had said and the implied risk, deciding it’s considerably low price was an overriding factor.   The German made conveyance proved to be non-compliant.  Jan with two little ones on a trip to Alva having car trouble, Gary visiting with Keith Rathgeber at D and W Body and Repair about the intermittent problem, surprised when Keith offered to buy it.   The couple once again in need of a car,  deciding to venture to Wichita in search of a more appreciative application.  Traversing East Kellogg,  known as automobile row,  probing for an inexpensive  but reliable mode of transportation.  The endeavor successful,  Jan returning home,  driving a small red 1976,  2 door 4 speed manual shift, front seat only Chevrolet Chevette hatchback. The Chevette wasn’t exactly what they wanted,  but the good news about the compact, besides being air-conditioned, the rear compartment was perfect for mounting a platform that would accommodate child restraining  car seats.

.  With the approach of wheat harvest,  Gary discovering a new demeanor prevailing at the Service Company and within the abounding farming community.  An aura of concern with the readiness of the wheat,  a meaningful watch of the sky, the elements now dictating their time-table for garnering the fruits of their labor.   Gary exposed to a new experience,  witnessing a whole community bonding with nature to complete the harvesting cycle, a prerequisite for an agricultural ambition.  What the rural community took for granted,  the new John Deere employee found engrossing, the word livelihood used in context to a farmer,  was more than just a descriptive word,  the label fulfilling an agglutination of meaning,  and encompassing the effort and toil of the farmer.