VIEW from behind the plow

We beg your indulgence as we remember a visit with our friend, Joe Colley of Pauls Valley, last weekend. Everybody should have a friend like Joe. He doesn’t expect you to be perfect. He just expects you to be square with him. That’s how he is with everyone – always honest and truthful. We can’t remember exactly how long we’ve known Joe. We have some vague image of him when he was a kid in school when we went to work for the Pauls Valley Daily Democrat right out of college. Joe was still in grade school, then. Our image is of a serious, rather husky boy who was running with a bunch of other kids. We didn’t know at the time he would become part of our extended family – and our friend. Now some 60 years later, Joe is still pretty much the same. By that, we don’t mean he’s a kid. He was one of those rare individuals who was always grown up in his attitudes and actions. Joe’s dad died early and Joe took over the family business, Colley and Co., a wholesale hardware business, at an early age. He had to assume a lot of responsibility and do a lot of learning on the run after his dad, Irwin, died. We didn’t know Joe all that well when he married our lovely niece, Ruth Anne Reid. Ruth Anne is the younger daughter of our older brother, Ken. We became better acquainted with Joe when he came quail hunting with us, along with Ken, when we lived in far southwestern Oklahoma. Joe was enthusiastic about quail hunting, as we were, and was willing to hunt from dawn to dark. We just hit it off and remained that way for the rest of our lives. Joe is facing a difficult time at this point. He has cancer and has been through all the treatments available now. Joe has battled the disease for three years with Ruth Anne right by his side. Although we talk about another hunt, he is pretty much house-bound at this point, although he did go to Remington Park recently to see his horse run. We fully expect to go hunting with Joe again one of these days but it won’t be all day like we once did. And that will be because of yours truly. It doesn’t take as long to have a nice walk as it once did. Joe is stoical about his situation. He has always accepted the bad along with the good. Joe has always operated on a higher plane than we did. He has friends and acquaintances in positions of authority who provide insights into governmental affairs that we might never have known about except for Joe. We visited Joe last Saturday at his home in Pauls Valley. His son, Reid, has taken over the day-to-day operation of Colley and Co. but still has Joe as a sounding board for his ideas. Reid is a proverbial chip off the old block. His obvious motto may be old-fashioned but it still works: Honesty is the best policy. If something isn’t right, he won’t do it. Joe’s two daughters, Erin and Anna, and their families live in Pauls Valley. Joe and Ruth Anne’s home is a favorite hangout for grandkids Callie, Bennett, Alice and Helen. Family and the friends who drop by each morning to visit (the coffee pot is always on) provide pleasant diversions from the day-to-day tedium of dealing with his condition. It’s tough for a guy who has been so active and involved all his life to be restricted. Joe is a long-time active member of the Presbyterian Church in Pauls Valley, along with his family. He has been active in many benevolent organizations throughout the years, including the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation. He believes charity should be a voluntary, individual act – not dictated by government. He’s a member of the board of a home for Indian children at Hugo, whose graduates have an extremely high success rate in college and beyond. Joe thrives on doing the right thing – always has. A handshake from my friend, Joe, is more binding than any legal document. Besides which, a visit with Joe makes me want to be a better person. Reading back over this, it sorta sounds like name-dropping. Maybe it is. We’re always proud to say Joe Colley is our friend. Others are, too.