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Puente & Sons Funeral Chapels – Northeast
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Tom Stolhandske
June 28, 1931 – November 1, 2025
Tom Stolhandske, a dedicated family man, beloved husband, esteemed public servant, and legendary athlete, passed away peacefully on November 1, 2025. He was born on June 28, 1931, to Karl Eber Frederick and Janie Stolhandske in Baytown, Texas.

A Remarkable Football Career

A proud Baytown native, Tom (Swede) attended Robert E. Lee High School, where he was an All-State High School football player before becoming a celebrated member of the Texas Longhorns at The University of Texas from 1949 to 1952. A three-year letterman, he earned First-Team All-American honors. He was a force on two Southwest Conference Championship teams and played in two Cotton Bowls. Tom showcased his versatility with a memorable 123-yard receiving game against North Carolina, including a 62-yard touchdown. His collegiate career culminated at the 1953 Hula Bowl, where he was honored as the game’s Most Valuable Player.

Tom’s talent earned him the 10th overall pick in the 1953 NFL draft, but he chose to play for the Edmonton Eskimos. His professional career was temporarily paused when he was drafted into the U.S. Army. After his military service, he returned to the field and played for the San Francisco 49ers.
After his playing career, Tom was inducted into both the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame in Waco and the University of Texas Hall of Honor.

Missing Tom. He played for Coach Daryl Royal in the Canadian League. The Royals and Stolhanskis were lifetime friends. Tom left pro football to go back to college at St Mary’s Law School in San Antonio. He stood for honesty and community service as a County Commissioner in Bexar County, and leader at Woodlawn Methodist Church in San Antonio, soon to become University Methodist Church, a Mission Church started when Woodlawn fell on hard times due to an aging membership. Tom will be remembered among other things for his friendliness, kindness, and illustrious football career at Baytown High School, the University of Texas and the San Francisco 49ers. Bill Nash

Captains Dick Ocho, Tom Stolhandske

1952-1953 9-2 Coach Price’s team was ranked #10 nationally.

This was Coach Price’s best team. Seven members of the 1952 team are All-SWC. Tom Stolhandske and Harley Sewell earned All-American status and helped the Horn beat Tennessee in the Cotton Bowl.

Texas lost to #3 Notre Dame and #4 Oklahoma but beat Tennessee in the Cotton Bowl.

Texas Longhorns Career (1949–1952) Stolhandske was a three‑year letterman and one of the most versatile players of his era. Key highlights:

First‑Team All‑American (1952)

All‑SWC in 1951 and 1952

Played on two Southwest Conference championship teams

Appeared in two Cotton Bowls, winning the 1953 game

Led Texas in receiving in 1952 (30 catches, 519 yards)

Recorded a legendary 123‑yard receiving game vs. North Carolina, including a 62‑yard TD

MVP of the 1953 Hula Bowl

He was inducted into the Longhorn Hall of Honor in 1976.

Service, Law, and Public Life

Following his professional football career, Tom transitioned to a life of law and public service in San Antonio, Texas. He attended law school and became a highly respected attorney. His commitment to the community led him to serve as a Justice of the Peace before being elected to the Bexar County Commissioners Court, where he served for sixteen years from 1967 to 1982. His work in public office reflected his strong sense of justice and dedication to the people of Bexar County. Some of his most notable accomplishments included initiating the groundwork for the Wurzbach Parkway, creating the current EMS system, and introducing electronic voting in Bexar County.

My father (George Gentry, Jr) played at UT from 1947-1950 and knew Stolhandske well. My father graduated from Temple HS, but had indirect Baytown roots as his father (my grandfather) was Supt. of Schools for the Baytown schools from 1946-1970. My father could have transferred to Robert E Lee for his senior year, but chose to stay in Temple and graduate with his long term friends. Although he had a very good high school career (played in the North/South all star game), his time at Texas was marred with injuries and he played very little after starting his freshman year. He graduated in 1950 and became a career Marine officer and later a teacher at Southwest Texas. George Gentry III

Family and Personal Life

Tom’s greatest pride was his family. Tom is survived by and shared an extraordinary life and a 72-year marriage with his beloved wife, Betsy Stolhandske. Together, they raised three children.
Tom and Betsy cherished time spent together at their ranch in Kerr County, a place where he was an avid hunter and found peace in the Texas Hill Country. Tom and Betsy were longstanding members of Woodlawn Methodist Church, which later became University Methodist Church, where he served in various leadership capacities.
A Memorial Service was held on Sunday, November 16, 2025, at 2:30 pm at University Methodist Church at 5084 De Zavala Road.

I remember writing about Tom when I was an intern at Baytown Sun in 1980. Reid Laymance

The post Tom Stolhandske Celebration of Life appeared first on Texas Legacy Support Network.

Walk-ons have to carry and balance a load to succeed.

Texas Football by Dave Campbell and more.

The post 3/20/2026 Volume X newsletter #6 – Bill Bonham, Dave Campbell’s Texas football by Larry Carlson, Garretts Song, Walk-on Nate Boyer, Todd Smith, Ruth Stivers, Emily Anderson, Debbie Otto,sss appeared first on Texas Legacy Support Network.

The photos below are Granbury High School’s 1966 Class 2A state finalist football team. Future Texas Longhorn Jerrel Bolton is the fourth man from the right on the top row, wearing #85.

In the photo above, Jerrel Bolton #85 was a blocking tight end and the team’s kicker. This photo was published in the 1967 Pirate yearbook. Jerrel is #85 in the front row.

In 1967, he was named to the all-district football team on both offense and defense.

In 1967 and 1968 he started for the district champion basketball team.

In December 1976, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram named Bolton (at linebacker) to its Class 2A all-state team,

On February 13, 1968, Coach Royal signed Jerrel to a letter of intent in an atmosphere buzzing with excitement, flying into the municipal airport to secure Jerrel’s signature.

Above photo Jerrel Bolton signs a letter of intent to attend the University of Texas with his parents in the background and Texas Longhorns head coach Darrell Royal on the left.

In February 1968, news articles on college football signings listed Bolton as a linebacker. Of the Longhorn signees was Leon O’Neal from Killeen, who became the first black student-athlete to receive a football scholarship from Texas.

Before enrolling at Texas, he played in the 34th annual Texas High School All-Star game. Bolton started at linebacker for the North team and also served as its kicker. Bolton kicked the extra points following both touchdowns and made a 23-yard field goal in the 4th quarter.

Later that month he played for the Texas squad in the annual Oil Bowl, a charity all-star game that pitted recent high school graduates from Texas against a team of stars from Oklahoma. Bolton started at defensive guard for the Texas team, which won 39-7 before a crowd of 18,000 spectators in Wichita Falls.²³

Bolton was a starter on the Longhorn freshman team at offensive guard and a backup at linebacker. He began the spring of 1969 as an offensive guard, then was shifted to linebacker, and finally moved back to right guard.

By the spring of 1970, Bolton was back at the tight end position, but he suffered an injury to his knee during Spring drills. Bolton began 1970 fall practices as a backup offensive tackle and third-string tight end

Longhorn historian Jonathan Wells says, “Bolton recorded his first collegiate reception in the season-opening 56-15 win over California. Three weeks later he appeared in the annual rivalry game against Oklahoma at the Cotton Bowl and recovered a fumble by Oklahoma’s punt returner late in the 4th quarter, which gave Texas the ball at the OU 7-yard line. A Longhorn touchdown run with 21 seconds left sent the Sooners home with a 41-9 loss. He later made two catches for a gain of 54 yards in UT’s 52-14 Thanksgiving Day win over Texas A&M.”

Jerrel Bolton was awarded two letters for the part he played in the 1969 and 1970 seasons.

The Longhorn coaches moved him to offensive tackle during spring practices in 1971. Depth charts published during different weeks in the 1971 season listed Bolton as a backup at tight end or left tackle. He received his second letter in 1971.

Below are some photos of Jerrel’s Longhorn letterman events at his ranch, many years after our playing days. The first photo: Jerrel is in the top row, far right. Second photo: Mac McKinney, Cotton Speyrer, and Jerrel Bolton. Third photo: Billy Dale, Julius Whittier, Jerrell Bolton, ???, Mike Campbell, and Ted Koy.

The post The Recruiting of Jerrel Bolton appeared first on Texas Legacy Support Network.

William Bonham- Longhorn

Athlete, Lawyer, and Builder of Institutions.

12/27/1930 – 01/03/2026

Known to the rest of the world simply as “Bill,” William Donald Bonham passed peacefully in his sleep on January 3, 2026, with his head resting on a Longhorn pillowcase, surrounded by the love of family and friends.

His gift for tennis emerged at the University of Texas, where he was affectionately nicknamed “Bird Legs Bonham.” After an early baseball injury during his freshman year, he earned a place on the Texas tennis team and loved the University so much that he enrolled in law school to use up his remaining years of tennis eligibility. A three-year letterman at Texas, Bill was undefeated in singles and doubles in Southwest Conference competitions. He was an active member of Delta Tau Delta, the Silver Spurs, and the Phi Delta Phi Legal Fraternity, and he was honored as Outstanding Intramural Athlete of the Year in both 1953 and 1954 while in law school.

1951 tennis Bill Harris (inset left) , Allison, Bill Bonham, Chas Blundworth, Dick Smith, Bernard Gerhardt, Jim Saunders, Penick Manager,Julian Oates

In the late 1960s, Bill hired two young law students, Wayne Fox and Ed Carrington, who became his associates, then partners, and ultimately co-founders of the highly successful firm Bonham, Carrington & Fox, which opened its doors in 1971. By the 1980s, the firm had grown to nearly 50 lawyers in One Shell Plaza. Decades later, his fourth “favorite” daughter followed in his footsteps as a Houston litigator and, shortly before his passing, was named Office Managing Partner of her firm, continuing the legacy he began.

Bill’s fierce competitiveness and love of tennis stayed with him throughout his life. By the mid-1960s and continuing well into his 80s, he captured numerous Texas age-group state championships. He also won national titles, earned international rankings after competing in enough qualifying events, and represented the United States in the Osuna Cup against Mexico for many years. He was a founding member and frequent champion of the Houston Racquet Club, a place he cherished and where he practiced, competed, and spent treasured time with family and friends.

The post Bill Bonham has passed away appeared first on Texas Legacy Support Network.

UT’S King-Sized Robert Guevara

By Larry Carlson

When Robert Guevara signed a letter of intent to play football with the national champion Texas Longhorns in early 1970, he was the biggest thing to come out of Marfa, Texas since Liz Taylor.

When Taylor completed work on “Giant,” in 1955 and left the tiny town in the Chihuahuan Desert after a months-long summer shoot of “Giant,” she was just 23, buxom, beautiful and violet-eyed. The London-born actress was the entertainment biz’s brightest star. She wasn’t. however, built for the Trans Pecos region of Texas in spite of the Lone Star State’s hospitality and was reportedly quite relieved when it was time to wrap up filming. The movie “Giant” is below

https://youtu.be/5_pny1xCW2g

The big movie got big audiences across America when it was released in 1956, starring Taylor alongside Rock Hudson and James Dean. Based on an Edna Ferber novel, it was all about big Texas, with big, stereotypical characters who lived and worked in big, wide open West Texas. “Big” was the key word.

Robert Guevara was only five years old when the stars and crew cleared out of their headquarters at the Hotel Paisano on Highland Street, just steps from the Presidio County Courthouse and Marfa’s classic “tin-man” water tower. Soon enough, young Guevara would grow into his own role, one in which he would be billed as “The Marfa Giant.” It’s the kind of tale you might say was straight outta Hollywood.

Guevara would develop into a strapping young man in his hometown over the coming decade. A tackle for the Marfa Shorthorns, Robert stood out because of his ability and his remarkable size. He chose The University of Texas for a college education with some football mixed in.

The Longhorns would later list him at six feet six inches tall, 280 pounds.

Consider this: When UT aimed for its fourth straight Southwest Conference title in Guevara’s first year of eligibility, 1971, the Horns’ best player on a stellar defense was, like Robert, a tackle. His name was Greg Ploetz and he would be honored as the SWC Defensive Player of the Year. Ploetz was 5-10 and weighed 205.

https://texaslsn.org/greg-ploetz-painting/

https://texaslsn.org/a-self-portrait-of-cte/

Jay Arnold, another distinguished member of the signing class of ’70, fondly recalls Guevara’s bona fides. “Robert ran a 5-oh 40 as a freshman and was a genuine 300-pounder. He was big but not fat,” Arnold says. “He was tough and durable.”

The nicknames came easily and naturally wnen the towering teenager from the small town arrived at the Forty Acres. Darrell Royal, himself, the deified head coach, likely with an assist from funnyman publicist Jones Ramsey, dubbed Guevara, “The Marfa Giant.”

“When Robert arrived, the media had already named him ‘the Marfa Man Mountain,'” recalls Mark Halfmann, a tough, gritty center who checked in at 6-0, 210. “And in person, he deserved that moniker. Nobody had ever come across a player of his stature.”

“Coach (Mike) Campbell called Robert “Man Mountain Guevara,” placekicker Billy “Sure” Schott remembered. Jay Arnold, Guevara’s roommate when they were freshmen, recalls that All-American offensive tackle Jerry Sisemore, the biggest Longhorn — at 6-4, 260 — until Robert joined the squad, kiddingly referred to Guevara as “Cloud.” Translation: He was so big that a teammate standing near him during a late afternoon practice might get the benefit of a fleeting bit of shade.

Arnold still often refers to his late teammate as “The Marfa Mad Dog.” But that pet name might be more alliterative than descriptive.

“Robert was a very good teammate and good natured,” says Bob Tresch, a standout tackle and center. “He was big, strong and very agile for his size.”

Schott, at 5-8, was dwarfed by Robert, as was the legendary trainer, Frank Medina, a five-footer. “I remember Frank Medina saying something along the lines of this about Robert,” Schott laughs, “…that young man doesn’t have a mean bone in his body…and that’s too bad.”

“Robert was very athletic but was almost too nice to play football,” Schott concluded.

But if the Marfa Giant had a reputation as a laid-back good guy and gentle giant, he never had a problem getting down and dirty in the trenches. “Robert got a lot of action as a sophomore,” Arnold says. “I remember watching Robert and Bill Walker running in for the goal line team defense as interior tackles…someone once remarked, ‘Here come the elephants.'”

Bobby Giles, a 213-pound offensive lineman describes Guevara as “a hoot” and all around good guy. “I don’t know anybody on our freshman team who didn’t like him…he was big, for sure and mighty hard to block,” Giles testifies. And Giles could vouch for Guevara’s nasty, competitive, football side.

“We break the huddle and come up to the line of scrimmage, get down in our stance and Robert just jumps offside and knocks me into a a somersault. I happened to land in a half-stance with my feet underneath me and I could see his big ol’ size 14s right in front of me. With all the love I could muster, I came up under his chin with my forearm and knocked him on his keister,” Giles says, warming to the vivid memory. “As I recall, we commenced to usin’ personalized expletives while standing nose to nose.

(Then Giles notes that “of course, I was lookin’ up mine at him, and him down his at me.”) “Anyways,” Giles continues, we got separated and the rest of that practice was like the Cotton Bowl for the two of us…he won a few, I won a few and by the time we got finished we were back to bein’ teammates and friends..as the ol’ sayin’ goes, just part of the game.”

One part of the college game that did not come easily to Guevara was the change in weather. It’s a 430-mile cruise from the stately Presidio County courthouse to the dome of the state capitol building. As the terrain changes during the drive, so does the climate.

“He did have trouble acclimating to the Austin humidity,” Halfmann recollected. “Running the six 440-yard laps, he keeled over. The trainers, fortunately, helped him recover quickly.”

Big Bend area aficionados know that the temp in spots such as Marathon, Fort Davis and Marfa can dip into the luscious 50s overnight in August. Ten percent humidity can deliver substantial favors. Arnold, who went on to start two years at defensive end, then transformed into an All-SWC defensive back as a senior, still recalls enlightening exchanges with his freshman roomate about hometowns and geography.

Guevara told Jay that Marfa was cooler and much drier than his new college home. He thought Austin was like a steam bath. Arnold admits he had never heard of Marfa, nor had Guevara heard of Jay’s southeast Texas hometown of Liberty.

Arnold fixed that, taking the Marfa Giant to Houston in October of their first semester. They visited several of Guevara’s cousins there, then took in the varsity’s beatdown of the Rice Owls.

With the Longhorns sporting a 31-7 lead going into the fourth quarter (UT won 45-21), the freshmen decided to get an early jump on the drive to Jay’s parents’ home in Liberty. They were in for a treat out amid the vast sprawl of Rice Stadium’s parking area.

“We saw LBJ and probably five secret service surrounding him. Robert and I stopped as they were walking our way,” Arnold says. Jay, never short on friendliness or moxie, shouted out, “Hello, Mr. President.” The Texas teens ended up shaking hands with the former White House resident and Arnold says Guevara talked about it all the way to Liberty, more than an hour east into the steamy Piney Woods.

According to Jay, Mrs. Arnold wasn’t quite prepared that night for the size of her son’s visiting buddy.

“Mama was mortified because Robert was about a foot longer than the bed she had prepared for him.”

As Arnold tells it, she made Robert get up and then she remedied things with a chair, padding and extra sheets and a blanket so the big ‘un’s feet wouldn’t hang off.

Problem solved.

A pleasant weekend was had, but Arnold recalls that Guevara couldn’t get over one thing about Southeast Texas, where mosquitos carry mockingbirds away.

“On the way back to Austin, he asked what it was like growing up in a swamp.”

If adjusting to climate differences was physically challenging for The Marfa Giant, it was matters of the heart and soul that posed a higher hurdle.

That sticks with Bobby Giles, who hailed from a hometown even farther from Austin, the panhandle city of Amarillo.

“When Robert first got here, he was homesick for Marfa and his dumplin’, Rose, who would later become his wife,” Giles says. “Not knowin’ any better, or bein’ told otherwise, he thought usin’ the phones in the coaches office was a perk of his scholarship…when the first month’s bill came in, there was a thousand dollars worth of calls to Marfa. We thought Coach (Bill) Ellington was gonna have a conniption.”

The presence of a longtime Longhorn follower helped soothe some homesick blues.

Louie Murillo, a longtime “gopher” around the football and baseball programs, a friend of DKR’s and eventually his driver, was 40 when Guevara got to UT. The diminutive, personable man who had grown up in East Austin and boxed as a bantam-weight, had built relationships with countless coaches, players and other officials at the university for years.

“Louie would come to the dorm and visit Robert regularly,” Bob Tresch remembers.

“He loved him.”

“Louie would take Robert to the East Side of Austin to meet Hispanic people such as the owners of Cisco’s Bakery (Royal’s favorite spot for Mexican food) and the coaches at (the former) Anderson High,” Arnold said, looking back fondly. He remembers frequently accompanying Guevara and Murillo. “The coaches out there would get Robert to speak to the high school players and junior high players and even the elementary PE boys and girls. He was a giant of a man. Louie was probably 5-5 or 6.”

The Marfa Giant no doubt inspired many who listened to him and spoke with him on his mission in Austin. He played for the unbeaten UT freshman team, named “the Shorthorns,” just like his high school team. Guevara was a member of the 1971 and 1972 Texas teams. Both squads won the Southwest Conference championship and both played in the Cotton Bowl Classic on New Year’s Day, falling to Penn State and then defeating Alabama. No doubt plenty of good times in the big time for the biggest Longhorn of them all.

Guevara decided to return home before his senior season at UT. He then married Rose Marie in August 1973 and earned a degree from Sul Ross State University. The Presidio County Sheriff’s Department in Marfa was where he began a long, distinguished career in law enforcement. Decades later, he retired from the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department where he worked as a game warden.

Robert and Rose Marie, who had earned a nursing degree at UTEP, had three childen.

After retirement, the Guevaras relocated from West Texas to Katy in order to be closer to family. Robert passed away in 2008 at 57 years old, survived by Rose, the kids and a dozen grandchildren.

But the memories of The Marfa Giant are held tightly by those close to him.

“He is the pride and joy of our family and I just love that he is not forgotten,” says Josh Guevara, a San Antonio engineer and one of Robert’s nephews.

The storied Old Borunda Cafe was shuttered long ago, back in the ’80s. But there are constants. Starry summer nights are still pleasant in contemporary Marfa. The little settlement is still home to the Hotel Paisano, a fine establishment with a classic lobby sporting a Western motif and a Spanish-styled courtyard. “Giant” souvenirs and photos are plentiful. Let it be duly noted that 2026 marks 70 years since the debut of the film.

And though Marfa has this century been best known for the Chinati Art Foundation, increased interest in the mysterious Marfa Lights that dance across the southern horizon late at night and a bohemian, Austin-ized vibe that brings in the El Cosmico Music Festival, weekdays remain sleepy and quiet. Most attempts at establishing hipster eateries and taverns have failed. The population, which peaked in the 1930s, continues to slowly shrink. It hovers around the 1,600 mark.

When the Marfa High football team, featuring Robert Guevara and one of his brothers, March, stomped Lilliputian opponents in the late 1960s, the Shorthorns played standard issue, small-town Texas football and sported a squad of more than 30 members. Nowadays, the herd of Shorthorns has dwindled and the team plays six-man football, the field marked into a gridiron that’s 80 yards long, 40 yards wide.

With Marfa’s reputation as “Austin, Away From Austin,” property values soared last decade. It seems to be de rigeur to dress in black, outfits accented by cheekily ironic Western headgear (think LBJ Stetsons).

But on a fine October evening, after you’ve downed an icy margarita at Jett’s Grill, the Paisano’s bar named for James Dean’s “Giant” character, Jett Rink, stroll two blocks over to Martin Field at Marfa High.

Visit the concession area for Frito pie and get in line for a char-broiled burger that will come off the pit right in front of the Coke stand.

The seven rows of stone seating — all on one side of the field — make it easy to sprawl out, a tad tougher to get comfy. There won’t be as many folks as there were, back in the day, some 60 years ago, when Robert Guevara made his high school football debut. The last two times I visited, fans numbered about 100.

But the refreshing, dry breeze will still snap in the air. Amtrak’s Sunset Limited will still rumble by, F-150 traffic on nearby Highway 90 will whisper in the distance.

And there will be football. Glorious football.

And you can glance up at the magnificent Milky Way, visible to the naked eye, and remember that this is where it started for a Longhorn legend, The Marfa Giant.

He is laid to rest nearby at Cementario De La Merced.

In the land of big dreams , big sunsets and ranches bigger than Yankee states, big heroes and legendary figures never die. They stand sentry in the wondrous nighttime skies, they ride shotgun with the ever present wind. The lore remains, even grows.

The Marfa Giant lives on.

https://texaslsn.org/latin-longhorns/

( TLSN’s Larry Carlson is a member of the Football Writers Association of America. He teaches sports media at Texas State University and lives in San Antonio.

Write him at lc13@txstate.edu )

Journey through Texas “Big Human” Longhorn sports history

Gordon “Fats” Conley (1916-18) — 270 pounds-

The 1916 Longhorn team was the first in the program’s history to wear uniforms with numbers on the back. Gordon was #9 .

Harlan Wetz (1943-46) — 275 pounds – Henry Harris (1941-42, 1946) — 270 pounders

Jerry Oliver (1962) — 270 pounds

The first 300-pounders to see the field at Texas was Ken Hackemack (1986-89) — 305 pounds

Charles Seafous (1986-90) — 308 pounds

Sam Adams (1988-1992) — 320 pounds

Longhorn sports historian Jonathan Wells says in his very detailed link about big Longhorn humans at the link https://texasandlonghornhistory.substack.com/p/history-of-texas-longhorn-large-humans-baby-myers-keondre-snacks-coburn-leonard-davis?triedRedirect=true, “There was a gradual upward progression in the average weights of Longhorn linemen in the two decades between the early 1970s and the early 1990s. The five offensive line starters for Texas in the 1971 Cotton Bowl averaged 218 pounds, with sophomore right tackle Jerry Sisemore being the heaviest at a listed 241 pounds. Notre Dame’s four starting defensive linemen in that game were ten pounds heavier on average.”

“Twenty years later when Texas faced Miami in the 1991 Cotton Bowl, the Longhorns’ offensive line starters averaged roughly 275 pounds, with the lightest one being center Todd Smith at about 260 pounds.”

“Gene Chilton, who received All-America honors as UT’s starting center in 1984 and 1985 at one time weighed 315 pounds.

Casey Hampton, was the first defensive All-American from UT to weigh above 300 pounds.

Jonathan Wells says, “In the quarter-century since Leonard Davis was picked second overall pick of the 2001 NFL Draft there have been a few other UT products who entered the pro football ranks with an official weight closer to that of Davis than the 300-pound Blake Brockermeyer.”

2002 Offensive tackle Mike Williams weighed 370 pounds.

Offensive guard Derrick Dockery in 2003, was 6’6” and 347 pounds.

Jonathan Wells says “In the five full recruiting cycles that have taken place during the head coaching tenure of Steve Sarkisian (2022-26), the Texas Longhorns have signed no less than ten high school recruits who were listed at 335 pounds or more on UT’s signing day press releases. The 2023 class alone included four players weighing 350 pounds or more (three of whom have since left the program)….” , which prompted a tweet in which I jokingly compared that group to the Celestials seen in the 2021 movie Eternals.”

The post THE MARFA GIANT BY LARRY CARLSON and OTHER BIG HUMAN LONGHORN FOOTBALL PLAYERS appeared first on Texas Legacy Support Network.

Nicole Poole

Friend

12/31/2025

Michelle & family – Although it’s been years since I last saw you and Gerrald, my heart aches for you and the children. Hew was always the nicest ever, full of laughs and I appreciated the times we all spent together. Hold fast to your memories and carry him always in your dreams. The prayers of the righteous availeth much. With love and admiration.

Gerrald is #33

He went on to build a 30-year career as an elevator mechanic, a title he wore proudly, and became known across the industry for his strong work ethic, dependability, and genuine kindness. On March 16, 1996, Gerrald married his college sweetheart, Michelle, and together they shared 29 years of love, partnership, and treasured memories while raising their three children- Kayla, Anthony, and Phillip. In 2009, Gerrald and his family planted new roots in McKinney, Texas and built a life filled with close friendships and a strong circle of family, friends, and coworkers.

Brian Martin
Friend
01/01/2026
One of the first guys I meet when I starting working in Atlanta in the late ’90s. Always a kind word. Always with the positive energy. Condolences to this strong family and long time friends and coworkers. Appreciate the blessing of having the opportunity of crossing the path of this cool individual.

Gerrald was the kind of person who never met a stranger. His smile was welcoming, his humor uplifting, and his stories legendary- always told with animation, laughter, and a sparkle in his eye. He loved to entertain, gather people together, and make others feel like family. Whether cooking a meal for others, telling tales that made everyone laugh until they cried, or simply showing up when someone needed him, Gerrald brought joy into every room he walked into.
Gerrald is survived by his wife, Michelle Houston; children, Kayla Houston, Gerrald Anthony Houston II, and Phillip Houston; siblings, James Houston Jr. (Britta Houston), LaTarsha Martin (Robert N. Martin), Adrian Houston, Darryl Houston (Tina Houston), and Sonja Allen (Byron Allen); and many nieces, nephews, extended family, and friends. He is preceded in death by his parents, James Sr. and Brenda Houston.
Let the way Gerrald lived inspire us to love deeply, give freely, laugh often, and show up for others just as he did.
A Celebration of Life will be held on January 4, 2026, at 1:00 P.M. at Ted Dickey West Funeral Home in Dallas, Texas. A memorial service will also be held in Atlanta, Georgia, with details to be announced soon.

On behalf of IUEC Local 21 Mike Mayshaw Jr

Colleague

12/30/2025

The many hours Gerrald sacrificed to continually learn and perfect, his craft were truly exceptional. We are grateful for the time he shared with his brothers and sisters of the IUEC. The gifts Gerrald leaves with us, are the distinct memories of his dedication to our trade and his contagious laughter. We stand with you as you reflect on Gerrald’s memory with love-his most precious gift.

Aunt Angie Washington
Family
01/04/2026
Sending lots of prayers and condolences. We are saddened to hear of Gerald’s passing, yet truly grateful for the time we enjoyed together and memories we made in D.C., Atlanta and Texas.

Gerrald Houston was a Texas Longhorns forward from the early 1990s, remembered as a steady role player who contributed across four seasons and later built a respected life and career beyond basketball.
Gerrald Houston — Texas Longhorn Basketball
Position: Forward
Height: 6’8″
Years at Texas: 1989–90, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94
Career Games: 111
Career Averages: 3.1 points, 2.6 rebounds per game
Best Season: 1992–93 (Junior year)
20.6 minutes per game
4.9 points, 4.8 rebounds
Strengths: Hustle, rebounding, interior defense, energy off the bench
He wasn’t a star in the box score, but he was exactly the kind of glue guy those early‑90s SWC teams relied on—physical, dependable, and willing to do the dirty work.
Life After Texas
Gerrald Houston went on to build a long, successful career as an elevator mechanic and became known for his kindness, humor, and ability to bring people together. He passed away on December 25, 2025, at age 54.

Sheronda Sweet
Friend
01/03/2026
Prayers to the Houston family during this time. I’m saddened to hear of Gerrald’s passing. He will always be remembered. Hook ‘Em Horns – forever a Longhorn.

The post Gerrald Houston has passed away appeared first on Texas Legacy Support Network.

December 21, 1961 – December 25, 2025

Obituary of James T Harris

IN THE CARE OF

Cook-Walden Capital Parks Funeral Home & Cemetery

In Loving Memory of James T. Harris

December 21, 1961 – December 25, 2025

There are souls who arrive in this world already carrying light, and when they leave, that light does not disappear—it simply changes form. James T. Harris was one of those souls. He passed from this life on December 25, 2025, surrounded by love, at the age of 64—gone far too soon, yet having given more love in his lifetime than many give in a century.

James was a man who loved deeply, sincerely, and without reservation. He was the most devoted and adoring husband to his wife, Maricela, and the most loyal, proud, and loving father to his sons, Jake (wife Victoria) and Matthew (fiancée Maddy). His family was his greatest joy and his proudest accomplishment. He spoke of them constantly, his love for them woven into every conversation, every smile, and every plan for the future. James was the cornerstone of his family, their steady presence, their safe place, their home.

He is reunited in eternal peace with his cherished parents, Charles (Poppie) and LaVan (Vanna) Harris of Austin, TX, his grandparents, David and Rubye Roe of Teague, TX, and J.T. and Gladys Harris of Andrews, TX, and many other loved ones who went before him.

Kevin Kebodeaux

Friend

01/05/2026

James was a great guy and will really be missed. When I was a freshman at UT, he was a senior and he became a mentor and friend, and was always incredibly kind and helpful to me. I’m glad to see he lived such a good life and I’m so sorry for your loss.

He is survived by his wife, Maricela of Austin, TX; their sons, Jake (wife Victoria) of Round Rock, TX, and Matthew (fiancée Maddy) of Liberty Hill, TX; and his brother, Chuck (wife Carrie) of Palestine, TX. He is also survived by his sister, Susan of Pflugerville, TX; his nephews, Kyle of Palestine, TX, and J.D. (wife Amber) of Austin, TX; his niece, Marisha Alford of Medina, TX and two great-nephews, Jaylen and Eric Alford of Medina, TX; and many cousins, extended family members, and countless friends whose lives were forever changed by his presence.

James was a teacher, a mentor, and a gifted healer who knew early in life that physical therapy was his calling. In 2004, he co-founded Austin Manual Therapy Associates, fulfilling a lifelong dream of owning his own clinic. Even more meaningful was seeing another dream realized—working alongside his family in the clinic he loved so dearly. To James, physical therapy was never just a profession; it was a healing art. His patients often spoke of the power of his healing touch and the deeply compassionate care he brought to each session. Healing, through James, extended beyond the body and mind and reached the heart with intuitive grace.

Photo below James is middle row 8th from the left

James Harris was a Texas Longhorns baseball player, and he played a meaningful role on two of the most iconic teams in program history. He pitched for Texas in the mid‑1980s and was part of the 1983 National Championship team.

– Listed on the 1983 Texas Longhorns roster as Pitcher #17.

– Teammates included Roger Clemens, Calvin Schiraldi, Bruce Ruffin, Mike Capel, and Billy Bates — one of the most talent‑dense rosters in UT history.

– Harris was a member of the 1983 College World Series Championship team, which defeated Alabama in the title game.

– This team is widely considered one of the greatest in Texas baseball history.

– Born in 1961, he passed away in 2025 at age 64.

James was also known for giving the very best and endearing hugs—because they came straight from the heart. He was attentive, kind, and intentional in caring for others. He was also unapologetically himself, endearingly human in his habits—locking the car three times, being intentionally verbose or loquacious, and rotating through favorite snack indulgences. Every beautiful strength and every small peculiarity made him who he was, and made him all the more beloved.

My deepest sympathies to Maricela and the boys. I got to spend some time with James when I needed some physical therapy. He was so easy to talk to and helped me feel comfortable being there. He always had a smile on his face and always said hello. And of course we loved to talk U.T. I would have rather just hang out than do my exercises. His kindness was truly genuine. I’m glad I was able to meet him and share in his light. God be with you! Tonia Swartz

One of the greatest sorrows of losing James is losing the very person who would be doing everything in his power to comfort everyone else through this loss. An enduring light has left this world, but in its place remains a legacy of love, belief, healing, and connection that will ripple through generations. His impact cannot be measured, only felt.

To know James was to witness grace in action. He moved through the world with a heart of gold and a rare, intuitive warmth, making everyone he met feel profoundly seen and deeply loved. His presence left an indelible mark on our souls, rooted in a spiritual compassion that turned ordinary moments into sacred reminders of our own worth. Those fortunate enough to know him would tell you there was no one who believed in them more; even when someone could not believe in themselves, James believed enough for both. Through his infectious humor and his ability to find light in any shadow, he lived with a generous spirit that mended hearts as much as minds. James leaves behind a legacy of unwavering belief and a warmth that continues to guide all who were touched by his light.

01/09/2026

James was a truly special, unique, and compassionate soul. As a mentor to me 20 years ago, he left an indelible mark on my life, and he will be deeply missed. Rest in peace, my friend. Arthur Hastings

As we gather to remember James, we do not say goodbye—we say thank you. Thank you for the love you gave so freely, the faith you had in all of us, and the way you taught us to heal, to believe, and to love more fully.

“Do not pity the dead. Pity the living, and, above all, those who live without love.”

There is no one who lived with more love than James Harris. His spirit endures, his love remains, and his light will continue to guide us until we meet again.

Rest in eternal peace, James/Dad/little brother/dear friend you will forever be our guiding light.

A Celebration of Life honoring James will be held on

January 9, 2026, from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM

at Cook-Walden / Capital Parks Funeral Home

14501 North IH-35, Pflugerville, TX 78660

Brandi Smith

Colleague

01/08/2026

I was 16 when I first met James.

He was my mentor during my physical therapy clinical internship in high school, and it was through my experience with James that my calling to become a physical therapist was formed.

I grew up in a small town in Texas—Smithville. One of our best running backs, a college hopeful, was hit by a drunk driver one night, requiring 14 surgeries on one leg and 12 on the other. Doctors told him he would never walk again.

I watched James meet him exactly where he was. He didn’t just treat injuries—he had deep compassion for the loss my friend was facing: the loss of the sport he loved, the loss of a lifelong dream, and the mental anguish that followed. Session by session, James worked through this with him, motivating him daily with steps that may have seemed small, but always moved him forward.

Eventually, James got approval to bring his personal Olympic lifting station into the clinic. We set it up and began lifting weights, which brought immense joy back into this former football player’s life.

Then something magical happened.

What started as electrical stimulation, leg lifts, and curls turned into standing… then squatting.

Then came the miracle.

One day, when the former football player least expected it, James said,

“I think today we’ll walk.”

I will never forget that day. With tears in his eyes—and in James’ and mine—I watched him stand and walk. He had been told he never would, and at times he believed it. But over time, James wore down doubt until belief was the only option left.

Years later, I was eating at a local barbecue place when a big guy walked toward me with tears in his eyes. It was him. He shared that he owned his own house-painting company, climbed ladders, worked on roofs, and even ran with his kids.

James changed both of our lives that day.

From that moment on, I knew physical therapy was where God wanted me.

James and I crossed paths many times through PT school and our fellowship years. The greatest lessons he tau

The post James Harris passed away on Christmas Day 2025 appeared first on Texas Legacy Support Network.

His commitment to Texas embodies the heart and soul of Longhorn ports. For four years, he pushed the game players, showed up for every workout, every film session, and every meeting, yet received no recognition or honor.

While Coach Royal was tough on his players, he also had tremendous respect for those who competed hard in practice. Garry Brown was that kind of teammate. But unfortunately, he had never suited up for a varsity game.

His patience and perseverance were rewarded by Royal in the final conference game in 1964 against Texas A & M. With 2 1/2 minutes to play and the Texas victory secure, Royal told Garry Brown to go in on defense.

On A&M’s next three plays, Garry had one tackle and two assists. Then, with 30 seconds to play, Royal put Garry in the game on offense, and Garry caught a 19-yard pass, followed by a 10-yard TD catch as the clock ran out. Garry said, “I was in the form of shock. My teammates were more excited than me. They were in unbridled joy. It is and was a great memory.”

I could not find a photo of Garry Brown, and he is not listed on the 1964 team roster, yet he is part of Longhorn Sports history, and I love it!

I would love to receive more insight stories from fans or players across all sports for the archives. If you don’t feel comfortable writing about an important event in your life while at Texas, then write something about a player you admire.

Horns Up!

The post 1964 Longhorn football player Garry Brown appeared first on Texas Legacy Support Network.

A 1964 graduate of Abilene Christian University, Blackwood has been married to Dr. Susan Blackwood, executive director of the San Antonio Sports Foundation, since 1989. Blackwood has one daughter, Jessica, and one granddaughter, Taylor.

Melvin Pat Patterson

We had some fun times together at Texas as coaches. I recently had the opportunity to visit on the phone remembering old times

Blackwood began his coaching career in 1965 at Corpus Christi W.B. Ray High School, where he served as an assistant track and cross-country coach. His cross-country team won the state championship in 1965 and was runner-up in 1966. From 1967-70, he was the head track and assistant football coach at Corpus Christi King. The next two years, Blackwood assumed the same duties at Richardson High near Dallas.

Blackwood began his collegiate coaching career at the University of Texas in 1972 as an assistant track and field and cross-country coach with the Longhorns. In addition to the All-Americans produced at Texas, Blackwood’s teams captured 13 Southwest Conference Championships. During his 12 years as an assistant at UT, the Longhorns finished in the top 10 at the NCAA Championships 11 times.

Randy Clay

My coach, my mentor and my friend.

RIP Coach Blackwood

Olympian Patrick Sang (1992 silver medalist), Johnny “Lam” Jones (4×100-meter relay gold medalist), Henry Marsh (American record holder in the steeplechase and four-time Olympian), and James Lott (NCAA high jump champion) are just a few of the outstanding athletes he has coached. In all, Blackwood has mentored 17 Olympians.

In 1985, he was named recruiting coordinator for the Texas football team. The Longhorns captured one Southwest Conference football title and went to three bowls during Blackwood’s recruiting tenure. Twenty-five of his players went on to play in the NFL.

He left the collegiate ranks to work with the Houston Astros Baseball Club. Blackwood returned to college coaching in 1997 as the head cross country and assistant track and field coach at Southern Mississippi University.

Jim Deitrick

RIP, James! . He was a good man and funny dude.

0 approved

Gene Coleman says, James Blackwood was a good friend, great coach, and loyal Longhorn. He will be missed.

Sad to learn of the passing of my lifelong friend James Blackwood. Growing up, my godfather Cleburne Price was the Men’s Head Track Coach for the University of Texas. James was his assistant. I spent countless hours on the track (back when it was still in Memorial Stadium). Coach Blackwood always had some of the best, craziest recruiting stories. As an adult, through my involvement with the Texas Relays Officials Association, I maintained my friendship with Coach. He never failed to stop, ask me about my girls, my law practice and laugh about how Coach Price was so meticulous regarding every detail of the Texas Relays. Godspeed Coach and thank you for all the memories.

Blackwood joined the UTSA track & field coaching staff for nine seasons, the last seven as head coach of the women’s program.

Blackwood, a major figure in Texas track and field, has played a key role in turning the UTSA Relays—now in its ninth year—into one of the premier early outdoor meets in the Southwest. He’s also been an associate director of the Texas Relays since 1972 and has worked on five NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Len Jackson says, ” Coach Blackwood was the track coach at King HS in Corpus Christi when I attended school there. He was a great coach and teacher who helped his athletes achieve their best performance. But more than that, he taught the was a good example to the young boys and helped them become responsible citizens. I treasure the memories I was blessed to enjoy when being a part of his legacy in Corpus Christi. RIP Coach, and thanks for being a part of my life.”

Len Jackson

King HS ’70

On March 13, 2008, 39-year veteran of athletics in the state of Texas, seventh-year UTSA women’s head track & field coach James Blackwood announced he will retire at the end of this season. He will continue to serve as meet director for all UTSA cross country and track & field meets and as a consultant in the development of the future UTSA track and field complex.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at UTSA,” Blackwood said. “From Dr. Romo to Lynn Hickey and the support staff and student-athletes, we have a great group of people to work with here. It’s been an absolutely wonderful place to work.

Guys, not all of you will know Coach James Blackwood, but those that knew him lost a good friend recently. He was a great friend of mine, we had football tickets next to each other, shared a love of Golden Retrievers, and talked track and Longhorn sports all the time. Cleburn Price hired him in 1972, so we all missed him as a coach, but he ran Texas Relays for many years, was recruiting coordinator for Akers and McWilliams, and probably came to your town to speak at Longhorn gatherings. Ricardo Romo hired him at UTSA until James retired.  Longhorn Sports lost our biggest fan. L J Cohen

During his tenure in San Antonio, Blackwood tutored Rhonda Ray and Ryanne Dupree to a combined five All-America certificates and has coached more than 60 all-conference performers and 26 Southland Conference champions. Seventeen school records were broken under his watch.

Coach Blackwood says, “I’ve been around track since 1964, and I’m turning 67 now, so I felt like it was time for me to do some other things. I will really miss the interaction with the kids the most. However, I will still get to be involved with UTSA in running the home meets and helping with the design of the new track and field complex.”

The awards his student-athletes have received are not limited to the track. Roadrunners have garnered two ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America certificates, four Academic All-District accolades, four SLC Student-Athlete of the Year honors and 11 Academic All-SLC awards.

The UTSA administration said, “We are very proud that we have had Coach Blackwood on our staff for the past nine years,” Athletics Director Lynn Hickey said. “He has made a major contribution during his coaching career to thousands of young people, and we are honored that part of that career was here at UTSA.

“We are glad that he has committed to staying a part of our program as the director of our cross country and outdoor track and field meets. Even though he is ready to step away from day-to-day coaching duties, it will be very helpful to still have him as a part of our program in assisting with events and the development of our new track facility.”

Rodney Page page says:

Coach Blackwood and I arrived at UT in 1972. We officed together for the first year, I believe. We shared the same big office space in Gregory across the hall from Rec Sports with the others who were newly hired: Coach Dave Snyder, Coach Dave Woods, and Mr. Harold Pearcy (Instructor). Gone, but never forgotten! Lots of memories! Old ones! Photo is of Rodney Page

These are my heartfelt comments I shared in response to Chris Plonsky’s FB post:

“RIP, my friend. A good man, a good soul! Genuine to the bone! We shared many early morning runs before work in the late 70s. We also shared many personal life stories of significance. He always stressed the importance of being able to chat while running. We solved many of the world’s problems on our morning runs..png He introduced me to the habit and benefits of distance running. He was family first! My heart of compassion goes out to his wife, daughter, and family. Susan Blackwood “May his memory be for a blessing.”

Since joining the UT track program in 1972, Coach James Blackwood positively impacted the lives and careers of the hundreds of young men he coached. Teams under Coach Blackwood captured 13 Southwest Conference Championships and finished in the top ten in the NCAA Championship ten times. His exemplary leadership in the Texas Relays and NCAA Championship meets is well-documented. Beginning in 1985, James also led UT football recruiting efforts, signing 24 players who were later drafted by the NFL.

As a result of James’ significant contributions to the University of Texas at Austin, Tim Taft and several other letterwinners set up the Coach James Blackwood Track & Field Endowment. So far, the endowment holds $330,049 toward the $1 million scholarship market value goal. James and I also make annual contributions. We are so grateful to all these treasured donors!

April 9, 2026 is James’ 85th birthday and my goal is UT presenting him with a fully endowed scholarship at the 2026 Texas Relays. James devoted much of his life to the men he coached and to our friends and relatives who through the years enjoyed his many stories. As we approach our goal of a full endowment by April, we are so grateful to those of you who can make a tax-deductible contribution to the endowment.

https://texaslonghorns.evenue.net/www/ev_tex-ath/ss/ev/DonationEntry?donationCd=CJBTF

Horns Up!!

The post Coach James Blackwood has passed away appeared first on Texas Legacy Support Network.

Randy was added to the TLSN history of Longhorn Sports primarily because of his relationship with Coach Royal and Earl Campbell at the following links:

https://texaslsn.org/the-belt-buckle-coach-royal-and-coach-bryant/

https://texaslsn.org/randy-willis-the-eyes-of-texas-are-upon-you/

https://texaslsn.org/randy-willis-bio-becoming-a-longhorn/

https://texaslsn.org/edith-thomason-royal/

https://texaslsn.org/randy-willis-and-earl-campbell/

https://texaslsn.org/my-memories-of-dkr/

But there is much more to Randy Willis than a friendship with Royal and the sounds of music. Randy’s whole family is deeply rooted in a special bond, strength of character, sacrificial, and bonded. Below are 3 articles written that represent significant moments in the lives of his family . Enjoy ! ALL ARE WORTH THE READ!!!

Christmas Day 2025,1956 and 1941 by Randy Willis

Christmas 2025

I sometimes wonder which of my six grandchildren was most like me when I was a child.

It’s the youngest, two-year-old Violet, on the left, who may fit that description.

Mama used to say I was like a “Bull in a China Closet.” Although Violet is more like a Sherman tank in World War II.

She has no fear. I overheard her sister, four-year-old Juliette on the right, tell her, “I’m not going upstairs alone.”

Violet said, “I’ll go with you.” I pity any goblins lurking around the corner.”

There’s a difference; she’s not clumsy. She climbs anything, refusing help up or down.

My basketball coach, Carl Davis, once told me, “I was so clumsy he expected me to trip over the center line on the basketball court at any moment. Coaches had a unique way of motivating you back then.

Coach Davis also told me, while running wind sprints during two-a-day football practice, “You know, Willis, you run really fast. The only problem is you run too long in one place.”

Today, as I write what I believe to be the highest good for my grandchildren, I’m reminded of a story I wrote in one of my novels.

✯ ✯ ✯

I was once told a story of a woman who wanted to know what her son would become.

She put what little money she had on her kitchen table, along with a bottle of liquor and a Bible.

As her son approached their home, she hid in a closet.

She figured if he took the money, he’d be a gambler; if he drank the whiskey, he’d be a drunkard, and if he picked up the Bible, he might just become a preacher.

When the boy saw all this, he picked up the money quickly and stuffed it into his pockets; he then drank the entire bottle of the Devil’s poison; and, finally, he put the Word of God under his right arm and staggered out the door.

His mother exclaimed, “Oh, no, a politician.”

Have a blessed New Year.

Randy Willis

Christmas Day, 1956 by Randy Willis

Clute, Texas

Photo: left to right: My grandmother Lillie Hanks Willis, Daddy, Julian Willis, Mother Ruth Willis, me, age 6, Randy Willis (on the floor), Buddy Duke, Jerry Duke, Marjorie Duke, and Dorothy Curbelo.

Only two of us remain, Marjorie and I.

This photo is a snapshot (pun intended) of much of my life as a boy.

On the far right is our library: the Encyclopedia Britannica.

The Annual Britannia Book of the Year, along with the 1956 Sears, Roebuck Catalog, were “dream” books to me.

I thumbed through them often, but it would be Daddy’s Zane Grey’s Western novels and later Mama’s Reader’s Digest that would captivate my mind.

Mother’s “whatnot” shelf, to the right of the Christmas cards, was the most braggadocious thing we owned.

Yes, one book has been and remains the center of our lives: the Bible: God’s “owner’s manual” and love letter to you and me.

Twenty-one months later, my life would forever change.

✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯

Every Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night, we were at Temple Baptist Church in Clute. It seemed to me that everyone attended church.

On a hot August Wednesday night, my mother could not attend church. So, I walked to church from our home on Coleman Street with my twelve-year-old sister Marjorie. I was eight years old.

I had no intention of that night being any different from any other. It would remain etched into my heart, mind, and soul until this very day.

I cannot recall a word Pastor Bill Campbell said in his sermon. But I remember vividly another voice that spoke to my mind—my heart—my spirit. It was not an audible voice.

It was a still, gentle voice, tender but ever so clear, telling me to go forward and accept Christ as my Savior.

I recall my response to the Holy Spirit as if it were five minutes ago. “Lord, I’m too shy. I would if my mother were here to go with me.”

I felt someone touch my left shoulder. My sister Marjorie was sitting in the back row with her friends. She could not have seen my face, for I was seated near the front.

She said, “I’ll go with you if you want me to.” I immediately stood, walked with her to the front of the church, and made my decision public.

I know you do not have to have an experience like that to be saved. Nevertheless, I’m so grateful for that experience; it has never left my mind or my heart.

Merry Christmas! And may Christ, our risen Lord and Savior, bless you and yours.

Randy Willis

✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯

Beckoning Candle: Christmas Day 1941 by Randy Willis

December 25, 1941, The Ole Willis Home Place on Barber Creek, Longleaf, Louisiana

Rand Willis arises before sunrise, nestles beside the fireplace, with hot coffee—as alone as the morning star.

The wind whistles through the dogtrot and awakens Julian. He struggles upright, half asleep, and rubs his eyes as he pours a cup of coffee.

“It’s our first white Christmas! Grab some firewood—please. And check on the horses, mules, and the dogs, too.”

“Yes, sir, Daddy. Merry Christmas!” Julian shivers as he chips through the frozen water trough with a horseshoe. He gathers the firewood, now covered in two feet of snow. Icicles adorn the trees overhanging Barber Creek. It is cold and rather barren, but it has the loveliness of a Christmas card. And, like a Christmas card, it will hold that image in Julian’s mind for years to come.

Rand’s eldest son, Howard, drives his International Harvester truck. It can be heard a mile away as it plows through the snow on the red dirt road. The family knows no snowfall will prevent Howard from delivering a Christmas tree to the homestead. He always brings a real tree, not one of those artificial, awkwardly bent imitation trees. Those imitations lack texture, fragrance, and fullness.

“Think that is a big enough tree, Howard?” Julian asked.

“I wanted one bigger than the Jones up the road,” Howard grins.

Let me help.” Julian and Howard drag the Christmas tree out of the truck bed.

“Think that is a big enough tree, Howard?” Julian asked.

“I wanted one bigger than the Jones up the road,” Howard grins.

Let me help.” Julian and Howard drag the Christmas tree out of the truck bed.

Howard’s wife, Zora, cries out, “I need help, too.” Rand clasps her. “Ah-ha! All my favorites: freshly baked pies, peach preserves, and okra in mason jars. Oh, my, and even your famous buttermilk pie.”

Rand’s wife, Lillie, collects each family member’s handcrafted decoration for the tree. “Let’s hang them.” The aroma of cedar, sugared fruit, and gingerbread brings back memories of Christmases past.

Today is Rand and Lillie’s grandson Donnie’s fourth birthday, to boot. “Can I play with my birthday gifts, Grandpa?”

“Yep, but keep the stick horse at a trot. Let him get used to this colder weather, eh? See what else Santa left you. The new game Shoot the Moon and a wooden jigsaw carton puzzle.”

Good, long-time neighbors, John and Ruth Duke, arrive with their two kids, Johnnie Ruth and Jerry. They bring a pumpkin pie and two fruitcakes.

Miss Ruth always spikes her fruitcakes with a bit of rum. “It’s no different from using cooking sherry and, therefore, is not an affront to the Lord,” Ruth says. “It provides moisture and helps preserve the cake.”

Rand fidgets. “The better part of valor is not to mention that to Lillie. Her definition of what constitutes a mortal sin may be different from ours. Let me taste-test the cake for moisture.” He pinches off a nibble and smacks his lips in approval. “Now, indeed, that’s the moistest cake ever! I may have another slice or two later.”

Johnnie Ruth, and Donnie sit on the floor. Donnie prefers Conflict, a military board game—Johnnie Ruth, paper dolls. Howard reaches and hangs the star of Bethlehem on the tree.

“It almost touches the ceiling.” His brother Herman carved it from a piece of hickory. Christmas stockings stuffed with nuts, candy, and fruit hang on every available nail. Lillie had placed books, tablets, pencils, wooden soldiers, and even a rockin’ horse under the tree.

The children’s faces glow from the fireplace. Herman stokes the fire with a piece of pine-kindling.

The sunrise colors glisten in the snow. “Who can paint like the Lord of creation?” Lillie proclaims.

Donnie and Johnnie Ruth grab some firewood from the barn and are off to go sledding. They slide down the hill to the banks of Barber Creek.

“You kids, get back up here,” Lillie yells. “That’s too dangerous. Ten more feet, and you’d both be frozen lollipops!”

Julian blows in his horse’s nose to calm him. It’s not the first time the animal has experienced snow. However, it has been a long time. Any sudden change in the weather makes horses skittish. They need reassurance from their master that all is well and everything is still okay. The Comanche used to do this in Texas. Helps you bond with the horse.

“I’m going to churn ice cream in my new pewter pot,” Lillie promises. She stirs snow, milk, cream, butter, and eggs. She also prepares Rand’s favorites, especially dewberry pie and a cup of kindness called Community Dark Roast coffee.

Rand grins. “I hung some mistletoe.”

Lillie looks him in the eyes and kisses him on the cheek. “The kids.”

“We have enough to feed Camp Claiborne’s 34th Red Bull Infantry,” Rand says. The nearby U.S. Army military camp accommodates 30,000 men but does not give Lillie a sense of safety. A world war is still raging, and every American is on alert.

Lillie’s eyes sparkle. “Please play my favorite Christmas carol—O Holy Night?” Rand’s father bought him a fiddle on a cattle drive from East Texas when he was barely twelve. He spent his evenings teaching himself the fingering and bowing techniques.

“How can I refuse a woman of such virtue—and one so beautiful? Our home overflows with your sweet joy.”

Lillie hugs him. “Will it be our last Christmas with our sons?”

The snow drifts against the windows and doors. It begs for entrance into their lives. It’s like the events of the previous three weeks. “There’s nothing as peaceful as Louisiana Longleaf pines covered in a fresh layer of snow,” Rand muses. “Ah, if only the world were that way.”

Rand’s eighteen-year-old nephew, Robert “Bobby” Willis, Jr., enlisted on July 31, 1940, and reported aboard the USS Arizona battleship at Pearl Harbor on October 8, 1940. A surprise military strike by the Japanese Navy Air Service on the morning of December 7, 1941, detonated a bomb in a powder magazine. The battleship exploded and sank. Hundreds of marines and sailors were trapped as the ship went down.

Robert Kenneth “Bobby” Willis Jr., was the first soldier killed in action in World War II from Rapides Parish. The Pineville American Legion Post was named in his honor. It no longer exists. He was killed on December 7, 1941, and was entombed in the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor.

The family held out hope, but those hopes were vanquished a week ago, like a shadow darkening all elements of light. Rapides Parish Sheriff U. T. Downs, Robert’s pastor from First Baptist Church, Pineville, delivered a Western Union telegram to Robert’s father.

Downs struggled to speak with tears in his eyes. “It has been confirmed that Robert was entombed in the USS Arizona at the bottom of Pearl Harbor. I just can’t tell you how grieved I am to bring this news to you, especially so soon after Thanksgiving. This is the part of my job that I dread the most. If there’s anything I can do for you folks, just say the word.”

Howard and Zora took Donnie to the Pringle Picture Show in Glenmora to see How Green Was My Valley. “We need to seem as if nothing has changed for Donnie’s sake,” Zora insists. “I fear that we will be one of many, many families who will receive telegrams before this war is over. Our hearts are broken, but we must carry on.”

Julian now works with the horses and mules—plenty of grain, hay, and water. He grooms their coats of hair and checks to see if they are sound and well-shod. He’s gentle with horses, the elderly, and children but as tough as rawhide on no-account men. “I wish I could ride you guys into battle, but an airplane will have to do.”

Two stray goats, covered with ice, nudge their way into the barn. Julian jumps up to shoo them back outside. “Get out of here. You’re going to break Daddy’s deer-horn hat rack I made. It’s his Christmas gift.” The goats resist but then yield when Julian gives each a swat.

Herman, quiet and soft-spoken, takes off without saying a word—impeccably dressed, as always. Howard and Julian help their father with the firewood.

“You two should find him—now! Take my Ford,” Rand insists.

They pump ten gallons of gas into Rand’s ’40 Ford Coupe at Bob Johnson’s Grocery Store at Shady Nook. “Where do you think he’s at?” Howard asks.

“Charlie’s Cafe in Glenmora is the closest—let’s try there first.”

“He just left, but not until he whipped two men for making fun of his khaki pants,” the owner tells them when they arrive.

“Did he say anything?” Julian asks.

“He mentioned he would never be back, and he preferred Boom Town’s honky-tonks. Not sure which one, but they’re all outside Camp Claiborne’s main gate. Those places will thrive as long as that base keeps bringing in new boys who are wet behind the ears and willing to waste their pay during a weekend pass. Check ‘em one by one.”

This time, one man lay on the floor, needing medical attention. “Let’s check the Wigwam in Forest Hill,” Julian says, “before someone kills him or, God forbid, wrinkles his pants. I played steel guitar there several times in Horace Whatley’s band. It’s a rough joint.“

The sounds from the beer joint are loud. It is known for live music and its jukebox. The noise shakes the windows as they drive into the parking lot. Chicken wire fencing wraps around the bandstand to keep the band from getting hit with beer bottles.

As they enter, the bartender yells. “Break ’em up before they destroy the place!” Three men hold Herman while two others land repeated punches and kicks. The jukebox blares Jimmie Davis’s hit—I Hung My Head and Cried.

Bleeding like a stuck pig, Herman calls out, “Are y’all going to help me or just stand there, whistlin’ Dixie?”

“I’ll take the three holding him, you the other two. Use that chair, Howard.”

After a melee of about ten minutes, they settle with the barkeeper for fifty bucks in damages and haul Herman outside to his truck. His lip is busted, his nose is bleeding, and one eye is starting to seal shut. He refuses to show any sign of weakness or pain, although he wheezes when drawing in a breath between bruised ribs.

They arrive home in time for a delayed supper. Rand examines Herman’s cuts and bruises. “Save all that anger for the Japs and Hitler.”

Lillie brings clean towels. “My three sons fighting in the Devil’s playground and on Christmas Day! May the Good Lord find mercy to forgive you for such behavior!”

Rand smiles. “At least they didn’t go to the Duck Inn…it provides more than liquor.” Her grimace reveals she does not find humor in his observation.

Lillie pulls her collar up, tightens her scarf, shoves her hands deep into her pockets, turns her face, and walks outside into the biting wind. “I need to gather more snow for the ice cream.”

She returns—but with no snow. “It’s suppertime.” Her words are all that is needed for family and guests to gather around the candlelit table.

As Rand says grace, light dispels the darkness in their hearts just as the Star of Bethlehem did long ago. The reflection on Lillie’s face from the beckoning candle contradicts the devastating news from Hawaii.

Rand bows his head as everyone joins hands. “Lord, we know the world will still turn, the songbirds will again make joyful sounds, and this too will pass. Keep our sons in the hollow of Your hand. Bless this food—and bless our nation. In the name above all names—Jesus.”

American men from coast to coast stepped forward to retaliate against the attack on U.S. soil. Shortly after Thanksgiving, Julian enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps. And Herman in the ground forces Army.

Three weeks ago, President Roosevelt’s words on the radio became their heart cry. He declared, “No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.”

Howard went with his brothers and did his best also to enlist. However, the recruiter didn’t even need to wait for the results of a physical. He immediately saw that Howard had a deformity that would make him 4-F. Howard had a severe head injury caused by a blow from a split-rim truck wheel. It had exploded while Howard was filling a tire with air in Glenmora.

He tried to disguise the injury by pulling a cap down over his hair and forehead. The recruiter was not new to his job. He pulled off the cap and surveyed the scar. Then he motioned a thumb over his shoulder. This indicated Howard was “out” of the running. Rand tried to assure Howard he could still serve the nation in other ways. For a scrapper and brawler like Howard, those words brought little appeasement.

They continue to enjoy what will probably be the last Christmas as a united family. This could last for perhaps years to come. Howard stokes the flames in the fireplace with a kindling-stick from a busted chiffarobe.

Rand raises his fiddle. “Join me in the family key.”

Everyone joins in.

“O holy night, the stars are brightly shining,

It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth;

Long lay the world in sin and error pining,

‘Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth.

A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.”

Rand leafed through his great-grandfather Joseph Willis’s six-inch thick leather-bound journal written long ago as the long day ended.

“What would Joseph Willis do?”

Epilogue

The Ole Willis Home Place on Barber Creek near Longleaf, Texas August 5, 1906

Photo: Robert Kenneth Willis Sr. (1877 – 1951) has the reins. Robert’s first wife, Eulah Hilburn Willis (1884 – 1919), is in the back …seat. She died during the 1918/19 influenza pandemic. Julia Ann Graham Willis (1845 – 1936) is standing and holding a fish. Robert and Eulah’s baby girl Flossie Litton Willis (August 5, 1905 – September 1985) is held by an unknown lady.

Flossie told me before her death that this photo was taken on her first birthday. “After Eulah’s death, Robert [my grandfather Randall Lee “Ran” Willis’s brother] married May Johnson and had three sons. One of those sons, Robert Kenneth “Bobby” Willis Jr., was the first soldier killed in action in World War II from Rapides Parish. The Pineville American Legion Post was named in his honor. It no longer exists. He was killed on December 7, 1941, and was entombed in the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor.

My dad was Julian “Jake” Willis. He placed a copy of his first cousin’s obituary on top of Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima. He kept another. His first cousin was Robert K. “Bobby” Willis Jr. The Japanese had occupied Mount Suribachi days before.

Over two decades after World War II : Herman Willis on the left still “dressed to the nines.” Julian Willis in the center. Howard Willis with a scar from a severe head injury caused by a split-rim truck wheel.

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