The Nocona News (Nocona, Tex.), Vol. 106, No. 12, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 19, 2010 Page: 2 of 8
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Page 2, Thursday, August 19, 2010, The Nocona News
Tracks jn tracings . . .
A blessing lost
By Tracy R. Mesler
I can hear him now,
wearing his bibs and smiling
that smile, "Now editor,
let's keep it clean." And
then Ray Walker would
chuckle. He would laugh.
Life was glorious. It was
meant to be fun. Successful,
hard working, but fun.
The stories that are being
told this week. The memo-
ries, and the fond tears that
are being wiped away upon
learning of Ray's passing
doing what he loved to do,
traveling and seeing this
wonderful country he loved
with the love of his life, his
wife and partner and friend
Mary.
A survivor of that meat
grinder of men, Hamburger
Hill, Ray lived each day
"like it was a blessing from
God," as he phrased it. Oh
assuredly there were tough
times - but he had seen
tougher. And there were
bummer times - but he had
seen worse.
Hurt no one, harm no
one, help those who need it,
divert the credit elsewhere,
but enjoy life. That was the
persona Ray projected. A
humble, self-made, and
happy man.
In visiting with the
reporters and editors from
the Bend (Ore.) Bulletin I
had to try and summarized
in a few, inadequate words a
man rich in life and example
of how to be successful and
be humble at the same time.
A man who was blessed and
also blessed those he was
around.
Ray and Mary were self-
made entrepreneurs in the
truest and rarest sense of
that quaint American con-
cept. They were the exam-
ple of what folks can do if
they try. And in doing so
they created hosts of friends
and acquaintances who
would enjoy to call Ray and
Mary friends.
There's Ray laughing
saying his one goal in life
was to own every bulldozer
in Texas - at least once! Or
was it every backhoe? Or
maybe it was motor grader.
In any case, he enjoyed
working as a used heavy
machinery salesman.
There was the gentle put-
tering sound of Ray's bi-
lane going over head - and
the quickly, half hoping,
half hoping not thought -
'Am I about to be a target
for a flour bomb from
Chipper?' Ray had been
known to bless his friends
with small sacks of flour
dropped from less than 100
feet. Just an innocent, can
be quickly washed away
reminder that Ray was
thinking about you.
There's Ray getting up in
his airplane, or his helicop-
ter to try and help a belea-
guered and nearly over-
whelmed conglomeration of
fire departments fight two of
the worst range fires in
recent North Texas history -
Ringgold and Stoneburg.
And he lent his equipment
to anyone who could oper-
ate it to do the same on the
ground.
There's the story of Ray,
as a young lad being told he
couldn't sell popcorn inside
the courthouse to the crowd
in the courtrooms as they
were entertained by one
criminal or messy civil trial
or another.
So he added another
sideline, renting pillows to
ease the aching backsides
perched atop those solid
oak, courtroom benches.
Oh the stories that are
being told about Ray.
They are rich, they are
humorous, and they are les-
sons to all of us to take each
day as a blessing from God,
to never take one's self or
others too seriously, and to
most assuredly spread a lit-
tle sunshine in the form of
making the light bounce off
smiling teeth as he left to do
the same for others.
Ray will be missed, but
the memories he blessed
many of us with will linger
for a long time.
Thrice built front feathers;
M. Johndon Poultry Ranch story on exhibit at Tales rails
By Tracy R. Mesler
Mose and Mable Johnson
did not just build the world's
largest poultry ranch; they
built it, and rebuilt it and
then built once more as for
more than 60 years the
Johnson's strain of single
comb white leghorns was
industry leaders.
"M. Johnson Poultry
Ranch" is currently on
exhibit at the Tales 'N'
Trails Museum in Nocona
showcasing artifacts from
the ranch which covered as
much as 550 acres of record
setting, egg laying, free
ranging white leghorns in
Bowie. The "M" stood as
much for Mable and it did
for Mose - who always gave
credit to his wife as being a
full partner in the venture.
The exhibit, located in the
Benton Conference Room
which is being used as a tem-
porary gallery, is free to the
public. It will be open
through September between
10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Mondays
through Saturdays and 1 to 5
p.m. on Sundays.
The newly opened muse-
um is located at 1522 E. U.S.
Hwy. 82 in Nocona and
showcases scores of photo-
graphs, sales catalogs and
artifacts covering 50 years of
ranch operations. The items
are on loan from the private
collections of Lanney Hunt
of Wichita Falls, Vicki Jones
of Bowie and Linda Mesler
of Nocona. The women are
two of the Johnson's great-
granddaughters.
The Johnson's started
their chicken empire with
five hens and a rooster. From
that humble beginning, the
couple built the largest poul-
try ranch in the world. And
leading up to the Stock
Market Crash of 1928, they
actually owned the two
largest poultry ranches in the
world - one in Bowie and
another in Wichita Falls on
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ar slides into cycle's path
Continued from Page 1
Honda. Raymond Walker
was pronounced deceased at
the scene. Mary Walker was
flown via AirLink to St.
Charles Medical Center in
Bend with life threatening
injuries."
The Walker's motorcycle
impacted the passenger side
door of the Subaru.
Ellingson was treated at
St Charles Medical Center-
Bend for minor injuries.
Monday morning Mrs.
Walker was listed in serious
condition with a broken leg,
arm, ribs, hip and facial
injuries. Friends in Nocona
were informed the injuries
were not Life-threatening.
The couple's two chil-
dren, Robin Walker and
Sherry Brown, and other
family members flew to
Oregon Monday afternoon.
Ray Walker was inducted
into the Nocona High School
Hall of Honor in 2004.
A 1965 graduate of
Nocona High School, Ray
attended Oklahoma State
Technical College for two
years before enlisting in the
U.S. Army. Assigned to
Bravo Company, 3rd
Battalion of the 187th
Regiment of the 101st
Airborne, Ray was "in coun-
try" for 12-1/2 months serv-
ing ill Viet Name during
1965 to 1967.
As headquarters field first
sergeant his Company was
the lead element in one of
the harshest engagements of
that war - the Battle of
Hamburger Hill. Over a 10
day period three U.S.
Battalions supported by two
battalions of South
Vietnamese soldiers took
strongly entrenched position
1.5-miles from the Laotian
border.
Ray received the Purple
Heart for wounds he
received in action, the
Bronze Star for Valor, the
Army Commendation Medal
with "V" device for valor
and the Army
Commendation for
Meritorious Achievement as
well as the Army Air Medal
and the Vietnamese Service
Cross. While a member of
the 187th, his unit received
the Valorous Unit Citation
for the action on Hamburger
Hill and the 101st Airborne
received the Presidential
Unit Citation.
In recent years Ray has
served as a consultant for the
movie "Hamburger Hill,"
was one of three veterans of
that engagement interviewed
for Oliver North's "War
Stories" and was a frequent
participant in reunions for
the 187th Rakkasans - as the
unit was called.
Following his service in
Vietnam, Ray and his wife
Mary Walker, settled in
Nocona where he worked
and later started Nocona
Appliance. It was while an
owner of the appliance store
and tractor repair business
that Ray got into the busi-
ness that made known across
the country - for buying and
selling used heavy machin-
ery. The Walkers formed
Ray's Used Equipment
land which now is the site of
S.D. Rider High School.
As for building their
ranch three times, in 1909 a
devastating wind and rain
storm destroyed all but one
of their chicken coops and
killed much of their stock.
Recognizing they would not
be able to pay the mortgage,
they sold off the original
home place - located on FM
1125 about a mile from their
final home - and relocated to
four lots on the southern
edge of Bowie.
By 1924, the couple had
bought several city blocks,
acreage and leased even
more acreage while Mose
had built Mable the home of
her dreams, at the corner of
South Mill Street and Mayor
Street.
A few years later Kemp
and Kell of Wichita Falls
fame convinced the
Johnsons to establish an
even larger poultry ranch in
that community. But follow-
ing the Crash of '28, Kemp
and Kell were forced to pull
their investment out. By
1933, the Johnson's were
forced into bankruptcy . . .
only to rebuild yet again,
ultimately reacquiring all of
their Bowie assets that had
lost, and even more.
Through pictures and text
the exhibit shows how the
Johnson Poultry Ranch
looked during the time it
provided jobs, and more
importantly, opportunity for
the residents of southern
Montague County and
Bowie.
When agriculture was king . . .
....
s
SB
— Photo by Tracy Mesler
Artifacts, stories and photographs covering the 70 year history of the M. Johnson
Poultry Ranch were brought together by Mrs. Vicki Jones, left, of Bowie, drawing from
the collections of herself, her sister Linda Mesler of Nocona, center, and life-long friend
Lanny Hunt, right, of Wichita Falls. The exhibit will be on display at the Tales 'N'
Trails Museum through September.
where they purchased, refur-
bished and sold heavy
machinery.
At one point Ray teased
his goal in life was to own
every bulldozer in Texas at
least once.
Ray learned how to fly
and was an avid pilot owning
several planes over the years
including a bi-plane - from
which he was known to dust
his friends with flour bombs
- and a helicopter.
It was on one of their trips
to the International Fly-in
Oshkosh, Wis., that Ray lost
his cell phone - from 6,000-
feet. Later that day, friend
Tommy Fenoglio called only
to get not the friend he play-
fully fenced words with, but
a confused woman in
Missouri who discovered a
strange cell phone ringing in
her flower beds.
"kick
Man who man would be,
must rule the empire of
himself.
-Percy Bysshe Shelley
From: Lynn Gray,
Democratic Candidate for
Montague County Judge:
Out of respect and pro-
found sympathy for the
family of the late Montague
County Judge Ted Winn, I
have temporarily suspended
my campaign for Montague
County Judge. Our hearts
go out to his family, and we
will be keeping them in our
prayers.
While the work of the
county must go on, I have
decided to suspend any
campaign activities until the
last full week of August. At
that time I will resume my
efforts to meet with as many
of the fair citizens of
Montague County as possi-
ble to discuss the challenges
that lay before us and how
we may best address those
challenges together.
Respectfully yours,
Lynn Gray
Democratic Candidate
for Montague County judge
Pd. Pol. Adv. By Lynn
Gray, campaign treasurer.
Judge interviews
Continued from Page 1
necessary forms to have their
names placed on the elec-
tronic ballot as "write-ins."
"I've got the forms, but
nobody has picked them up,"
she said Tuesday morning.
By law, write-in candi-
dates have until 5 p.m.
Tuesday, Aug. 24th to file
the necessary paperwork
with the county judge to
have their names placed on
the ballot. Thate is the same
deadline the Republican
Party faces to submit a new
candidate.
There are two ways to
qualify as a write-in candi-
date: either by paying a $750
filing fee or have the
required amount of regis-
tered voters sign a petition to
place their name on the bal-
lot without any filing fee.
"It's going to amount to
about 117 names on the peti-
tion," Mrs. Henson said.
McAlister did not release
the names among those
interviewing were: County
Judge Tomrnie Sappington,
former County judge James
Kittrell, Mike Green, Dr.
Ron Westbrook, Max Bell
and Patti Poe.
"Tl\c Greobc/b Hjb/ Prorr^
bt\e 607, 707 - 807."
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®jje JBtocona Jletug
Established June 6,1906
Editors & Publishers
Tracy & Linda Mesler
P.O. Box 539
115 Cooke St.
Nocona, Texas 76255-0539
(940) 825-3201 fax (940) 825-3202
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Mesler, Tracy R. & Mesler, Linda L. The Nocona News (Nocona, Tex.), Vol. 106, No. 12, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 19, 2010, newspaper, August 19, 2010; Nocona, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth439359/m1/2/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Friends of the Nocona Public Library.