Henry Wilson Marcum
My Grandpa
By ©Kathy Bryant Lynch 2002-2003

Let me tell you a little about my Grandpa. I am 49 years old, will be 50 on Dec. 4, 2002, and in my almost 50 years I have not met a sweeter, kinder, gentler or fairer man than my Grandpa. I was around him more than any of the other grandchildren except for Peggy's son Billy Jack Hamilton which Grandpa also raised. When mama had me and we came home from the hospital, she took me to Grandpa and Grandma's. And I was with them everyday 8 to 10 hours a day, six and seven days a week. The only time I wasn't with them was when mama and me went home or when I started to school. My grade school wasn't but two blocks from Grandpa's, so I came home every day for lunch with him. He would stand in the back door and watch for me. He called me his "Baby". He bought me my first bicycle. It was red with red and white streamers on the handle bars. He bought me a horn to put on it, and I would start honking the horn a block away to let him know I was coming. When I wasnt in school everyday we would go to the gas station and he would visit with the old man that ran it and buy me and him a Dr. Pepper (which I still drink) and get me a candy bar and gum.

I would go with him to the well sites to check on his wells. He kept a pillow and blanket and snacks in the car at all times, in case I wanted to take a nap or got hungry. He had a large ranch at Fittstown, OK and raised Registered Black Angus Cattle. His cattle was known all over Oklahoma and Texas as some of the best in the state. He had his own bloodlines and there are still Marcum bloodlines in Reg. Black Angus Cattle.

He loved his oil business, Patsy Oil & Gas Corp. and his ranch very much. But his great love was his Faith in his Lord and his church. He carried a Bible in his pocket all the time and one in the glove box of his car.

He donated the building for his church in Ada, OK, The Primitive Baptist Church. It is still there with a marker about him on the side.

In the oil field even at age 80 he would get right out there with the worker even with his white shirts on. He would get grease and oil on them but he didn't care. He always said his good luck was just that, luck and a Blessing from the Lord. And he gave the Lord the credit every day. And in return was always helping someone who needed it. He bought anything my school needed, playground equipment, basketball suits, basketballs and mainly donated the money for a new gym.

He did believe in hard work. There were hobo's back in those days. When a hobo would come he would have them sweep the driveway or pull weeds out of the flower bed, then have mama fix them a big plate of food and let them eat. If their clothes were in bad shape, he would have them go to the wash house and take a shower and then give them a change of clothes if his would fit, then before they left he would give them a little money. Needless to say we got a lot of hobo's

There were two colored men and of their wives that worked for the family across the street where grandpa lived. The colored men would work for grandma doing yard work. Grandpa also payed them to watch me when I was outside playing. When they would work for him he would invite them in to eat at the table with us, this was in the early 60's. That wasn't heard of then and they wouldn't come in so he would fix his plate and go to the porch and eat with them. If he taught anything to me it was never look down on any one because of race. That the Lord made us all. He loved children and all my class mates loved him. A lot of them still talk about him today. He was Grandpa to them too.

When he died all the teachers went to his funeral except for two who had to watch over the kids that didn't go to his funeral. Every kid in my class went. His church wasn't big enough for his funeral so they had it at his son Ned's church, a much larger church. It still wasn't big enough, people were standing outside. People of all color and walks of life, even some of the hobo's showed up.

He loved animals. He was very tender hearted and would cry very easy. Every afternoon he would take a nap, if I wasn't in school, I would crawl up in bed with him and say Grandpa, tell me a story. He didn't know any storybook story so he would tell real family stories. The day he died my school was starting the next day. He had fell out of the back door about three weeks before on to a concrete driveway. He didn't break anything but at his age he just couldn't get over it.

I went in and combed his hair, which I did every day and told him school started tomorrow but I would come home to eat lunch with him. He told me he didn't want me to go to school, he wanted me with him. He wanted a cherry coke, so mama went to a close by drive in and got him a coke. I gave it to him. He said he wanted to take a nap. I told him I loved him and kissed him. He kissed me back and said "Baby, I love you". Mama told him she loved him and would see him in the morning. He said ok. Eula was staying with them after we left which was about 1:30 pm, at 2:45 pm Eula went to wake him up. He died in his sleep.