He Lived With Grace

*Update/Correction: These photos were taken in late 1995 or 1996. I have corrected my post to reflect his correct age and passing.

He was never rich, except in spirit; he was never famous, unless you count being a much loved local legend; and he never put in a less than full day's work all of his adult and most of his childhood life. My great Uncle Vernon was the real deal, a working cowboy who toiled long and hard all his life on the ranches of others, but never owned his own spread or herd.

I truly regret not taking the time and effort to get to know him better, to hear all his stories and life experiences. He passed away in 1996, at the age of 89. There was ample time, and then there was no time.




As a young man, Vernon loved living "the cowboy way". He delighted in dressing the part, and perhaps even considered the rodeo circuit. Amazing to me is the similarity in the shirts, comparing the long ago young Vernon to the present-day elder Uncle Vernon, it is not inconceivable for it to be the same, but impossible knowing how hard he worked. The shirt would have been reduced to paper-thin rags.

He married late in life to Marie, his best friend, his soul partner, and sadly outlived her by several years. (This photo is with a cousin, not my Aunt Marie.) He always seemed like a lost calf separated from the herd without her. They had no children, but loved each and every nephew and niece that came along.







This pensive pose was taken on the Regency Bridge, near Locker, Texas. On this same day another photo was taken of his younger brother and soon-to-be sister-in-law, Willis and Ava, my grandparents. I don't even know if Uncle Vernon stood in as my grandfather's best man - perhaps he did; it would have been exactly something he would have deemed very honorable.

A few years ago, another cousin shared a short letter written by one of Uncle Vernon's employers - more friend than boss, the man's words spoke of the passing of a unique and steadfast gentleman, a man whose earthly departure would weigh heavily on those who loved his cornflower blue eyes and crinkley slow smile.

Uncle Vernon was the real deal...