Week 16 - Should Be A Movie

 

Today is Easter Sunday. Twenty-five years ago, Easter Sunday was April 12, 1998. This was the day my daddy passed away. It’s hard to believe it’s been that long, as it seems like only yesterday. Although he had been in declining health for a few years, his death was sudden, and hard for me to accept. It’s the way he would have wanted it though. I was definitely a Daddy’s girl. From him I learned independence, work ethic, integrity and how to repair a toaster with a little bit of ingenuity and a piece of tin foil. All my memories of him are happy ones and there are so many stories I could share (probably one for each of the 52 Ancestor topics), but I decided to go with this one…

Ranger is a small town in Eastland County, Texas on I-20 between Fort Worth and Abilene. Its name was derived from the Texas Rangers (the law enforcement agency, not the baseball team) who had a camp about two miles from the town. The current population is about 2,500 but during an oil boom in the 1920’s, the town swelled to as many as 30,000 inhabitants. This is what brought my grandfather, his wife and children to the area.

The favorite childhood memories of my dad were of Ranger, Texas. He made mention of Ranger, often.  He could recall the names of most of his friends and many of his teachers (although those memories were not necessarily fond).  My dad, Robert Earl Powers, Jr., was not a good student. He was crazy smart but from his own admission, he did not study, didn’t do homework, and often cut-up in class. However awful his grades must have been, it did not prohibit him from graduating high school. If you were from Ranger, knew where Ranger was, or had ever even heard of Ranger (or Texas for that matter), my dad would strike up a conversation and regale you of stories of Ranger High School, their football team, and the district championship in 1932, under Coach Esker “Eck” Curtis. My dad did not play football but he was as much a part of the team as the first string. He was the water boy.

Robert certainly had the heart of a warrior. He was born with club feet and had to wear casts on his legs as an infant.  Then when he was four years old, he was stricken with polio. His parents were told he would likely never walk. I guess he didn’t get the memo, because walk he did. He was always the smallest in his class, and with one leg being about the size of my forearm, he walked with a limp. This never stopped him from doing anything he ever set his mind to, including being a part of the Ranger High School Football team (regardless of the position he would play). I have no doubt he was the biggest cheerleader that team ever had.

Most everyone has heard the term Friday Night Lights in reference to high school football in Texas. Although it is a relatively recent term, you may not know that the intensity of Texas high school football reaches back many, many years. There’s even a website that has all the Texas high school football scores and highlights going back to 1907.

The Abilene Eagles won the 1931 Texas State Football title, and were the reigning champions when the Ranger Bulldogs came to town at the end of the 1932 season. It was expected to be an easy win for the Eagles. Instead, the Bulldogs came out the victor in a 20-0 routing to win a spot in the district playoffs.  Then, when the Bulldogs (or underdogs as my dad called them) met Breckenridge on the gridiron for the district championship, the 4-3-1 Bulldogs should have been no contest for the 7-1 Buckaroos.  The game was tied 0-0 until a last-minute field goal by Ranger kicker Able Anderson vaulted the Bulldogs into history by taking the district championship title in a 3-0 win. I know in my heart that the reason for the Buckaroos loss was due to a small, limping kids on the Ranger sideline who, with all his strength, spurred his team to victory.

Just a few months prior to my dad’s death, we had planned a trip back to Ranger. Although he was sure he wouldn’t recognize anything, he just wanted to look around. Unfortunately, he passed away before we could go. At the end of the funeral service, before they closed his casket, I placed a few items with him…his favorite pocket knife, a tire tread depth gauge (a story for another day), a map of Ranger, Texas, and a photo of the 1932 Ranger Football team, which included my dad, back row, third from the right (next to the bulldog).