A Big Bender Celebrated His 88th Birthday

           Bob Hightower was born near Quay, Oklahoma, (His birth certificate says “Yale.”) on May 25, 1929. He was the youngest of four children born to Beulah Christina and Arch Cleveland Hightower. Jack, the firstborn son, Janie and Mildred, the two daughters, were Bob’s older siblings. 

His family moved to Fairfax, Oklahoma, when he was around four months old in September of 1929. They had a car to move, but more importantly, Bob’s father moved his herd of cattle in a traditional cattle drive from their farm near Quay to their new farm on the northwest corner of Fairfax. (Donald and Mary Lou Crabtree now own the farm.) Since it was about 50 miles from Quay to Fairfax, Bob’s father had to plan the drive of the cattle to have adequate places to stop to feed and water them along the multi-day trip. They lived at that place, leased from Mollie Burkhart, from 1929 to 1942.

The Hightower family accessed city water from Fairfax. However, they lived without electricity and a telephone. Many rural families did not have electrical power.

In 1942, Beulah and A.C. Hightower moved to their farm east of Fairfax about three miles. Bob’s niece still lives on the place. The land was known as “Yellowhorse Camp” with the remnants of a round house, Osage worship place, and a family cemetery on the hill of the property. The Hightowers purchased the land from Anna Ham’s widower, Merle Ham. The house on the property was a two-story structure with 12 rooms built in the opulent Osage-style of that era– massive for those days! (In actuality, Bob said in observing the plumbing, one can see that the huge dwelling was the result of several renovations and add-ons!) Three-Mile Creek ran near their property. Bob recalled helping drive his father’s cattle to their new pastures on the 280-acre ranch located southwest of what is now Kah-Wah-C Golf Course.

Now the Hightower family had electricity but a poor water well. Bob speculated the deep well may have been compromised during early day oil exploration. Initially, they had no phone service, but their neighbor, Jakie Harrison, moved. He had innovatively installed his own private phone line from the telephone office in Fairfax to his home east of Fairfax. Mr. Hightower negotiated with Mr. Harrison to purchase the private phone line – what an enterprising example of deregulation! As a result, the Hightowers had a private phone line when everyone else was on a party line.

Mr. Hightower became very ill and was diagnosed with arthritis. His doctor prescribed many medicines, including sulfa drugs. His condition worsened. He switched doctors. His new doctor, Dr. Hudson, took him off the medication and prescribed vitamins. Within a week, Mr. Hightower was much improved.

Bob began driving around 14 years of age because of his father’s illness. He took his driving test around this same time. The examiner passed him based on his safe driving, expressing only one concern--Bob was so short, he had to look through the upper portion of the steering wheel! In 1945, his brother-in-law, Joe Thompson, got a 1932 Model B Ford for $75. That was Bob’s first car.

Despite having a vehicle, Bob did not drive his car to school. Instead he rode a horse the three miles into Fairfax to the blacksmith shop owned by Shorty Barger. It was north of the current Osage Language Center. He tied up his horse at the blacksmith shop and then walked up the hill to the school.

During his father’s illness, Mr. Hightower arranged for Alvie Tucker to walk from town daily during the winter months to feed the cattle. Bob’s weekend responsibility was to grind the feed for the upcoming week. No matter, how much feed Bob ground on Saturday, Mr. Tucker fed it all. He never skimped on feeding the bovines!
Bob missed school some days during his father's convalescence so he could drive the tractor to plant the corn. Mr. Hightower hired a man to assist Bob with the planting as they put in the corn crop on their field that was adjacent to Hamilton Field where football has been played in Fairfax for almost a century.

School could be described as a mixed bag for Bob. Math always came easy for Bob. Spelling never ranked as his favorite activity. In high school, accounting proved to be a subject in which he excelled. Bob graduated from Fairfax High School in 1950.

Since those days in school, Bob has self-diagnosed himself with ADD, Attention Deficit Disorder. Ironically, in the army, when Bob’s IQ was tested, his records revealed that he scored highest in his group. (During my entire teaching career, I retained a poster identifying people like Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison with ADD. Bob was in pretty good company.)

Bob was drafted into the Army in September of 1953. First, he was transported to Fort Sill in Oklahoma for his first assignment. His basic training took place at Fort Chaffee in Arkansas. The basic training was comprised of eight weeks of infantry instruction coupled with an additional eight weeks of artillery training.

Bob again boarded a train and headed to Chicago to await reassignment. Bob traveled by rail to his new assignment at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Bob described his time at Fort Carson as “playing soldier.”

Bob and his comrades must have been successful at their “play.” The 40^th Division convoyed to Fort Sill to train rookie lieutenants in fire observation. Bob and his fellow soldiers fired Howitzers based on precise criteria given to them so the young lieutenants could develop the skills needed to identify the specifics of artillery lobs.

Always a thinker, upon arriving at Fort Sill for his final time, he realized they were looking for a fireman, a person willing to be responsible for keeping the heat and hot water operational. Bob had been building fires and keeping them going since his youthful days. He reasoned that this task might keep him clear of the dreaded KP or guard duty. His speculation proved correct. He never did one hour of KP or guard duty during his time at Fort Sill.

Bob was mustered out of the army on September 2, 1955. Prior to his discharge, Sergeant Hightower was approached about entering officer training. He declined since he had important event on his agenda.

In Wichita, Kansas, at the Wichita First Methodist Church, on September 27, 1955, Bob married pretty Ruth Ann Fabian, the girl with whom he had chosen to build a life. They moved to the farm that Bob had purchased in the spring of 1951. Barely able to afford the materials, Bob began to renovate the farmhouse that he had purchased from Mr. and Mrs. John Woodward, the parents of the late Vesta Woodward Gates. His brother-in-law, Albert Phillipe, provided invaluable assistance in his home upgrade.

Bob has raised wheat, cotton, milo, alfalfa, hogs, cattle, and even chickens, briefly. In the last fifteen years, Bob’s energy and innovation has been invested in the production of pecans. He characterizes it as a hobby.

He raises four pecan varieties – Pawnee, Maramec, Kanza, and of course, Natives. Bob indicates this lucrative hobby began when he bought pasture land and tried to rid it of the small pecan saplings. When he experienced failure with his goal, he decided to take classes about pecan production. He now has around 300 improved trees. All the family promotes sale of his yearly harvest, but his daughter-in-law, Amber, remains his chief marketer via Facebook.

For 61 years, Bob and Ruth Ann have been successfully investing in the lives of their three children, Debbie, Mike, and Joe. That same time, effort, and support is now extended lovingly to their six grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren. They have sought to pass on their commitment to bettering one’s self, practicing hard work, and living out their faith.

After my father’s stroke, each Sunday I would comment to him as I looked out the living room window, “There goes Bob and Ruth Ann on their way to church.” Dad would shake his head as if to affirm their faithfulness in their weekly worship. Bob served 22 years on the board of their church, Ralston Bible Church. 
Since Dad, Junior Morris, and Herbert Gates had constructed a home for Bob and his family, Dad could attest to his honesty and integrity. Living out faith in the Lord almost always speaks louder than words. Dad believed that Bob’s character and reputation illustrated the lifestyle that blesses a community, a state, and a nation.