June 16, 2013
Dear Emily,
Today is Father’s Day… a perfect time for me to tell you
about fathers! You are blessed to
have an amazing daddy and as time goes by, I will share with you lots of
stories about him; however, today I want to tell you about the most wonderful man
I have ever known – my own father.
The problem is where to start. In this case, it’s best to start at the
beginning.
Joe Boyd Ogilvie was born in 1921, the third son of Will and
Jimmie Ogilvie. Daddy had unruly
curly hair and deep blue eyes. He
grew up with a love for the land and for farm life, especially horses. All his life, Daddy maintained an
interest in horses. He always
owned a horse or pony for pleasure riding. He attended the local horse shows and kept up with the
popular trainers. He even served
as ringmaster for many of the surrounding horse shows.
In photographs from his childhood, Daddy looks as healthy
and hardy as his three brothers, but somewhere around the age of nine or ten,
he developed a high fever. Since medical
technology was still primitive, the doctor could not make an accurate
diagnosis. As his fever continued,
Daddy spent months in bed, actually losing an entire year of school. His brothers took turns at night
staying up to place warm bags of salt on his aching
joints. Eventually the fever passed
and Daddy resumed what seemed to be a healthy life. It would be years before he found out what real damage the
fever had done to his heart.
Daddy’s education began in Caney Spring. He rode his pony “Dot” to school (at
least when it was his turn to ride – other days he walked). After completing the sixth grade, he
transferred to Forrest to finish his high school education in 1940. That same year, the Forrest football
coach accepted a coaching position at Cumberland College in Lebanon. Daddy accepted the coach’s invitation
to play football at Cumberland.
At that time, many young people were gravitating toward
Washington D.C. After the one year
of college, Daddy followed an older brother to D.C. He was working for the F.B.I. when Pearl Harbor was
bombed. One by one his brothers
entered the military. When Daddy
enlisted, the required physical revealed a severely damaged heart…the product
of the rheumatic fever from years earlier. The military turned him down. Disappointed that he could not serve in the military, he
returned to Marshall County where his father was sheriff. While his brothers went to war, Daddy
acted as my grandfather’s chief deputy.
He never really talked about being a deputy much, but when he did, he
had some interesting stories. He
traveled all over the county as deputy and came in contact with hundreds of the
county’s citizens; I think he made friends with every one of them.
Daddy met my mother during a revival at the Verona Methodist
Church. I was born five years
after they married. While my
brothers and I were growing up, Daddy was busy. Early in the 1950’s he worked for the Tennessee State
Agriculture Department inspecting seed; then he accepted a job as a salesman
with Dobson-Hicks Seed Company, a job that required a great deal of
travel. When Daddy was
elected as Marshall County Trustee, we were all glad the traveling had come to
an end. He was also a farmer and a
well-known popular auctioneer and spent many Saturdays “crying” a sale…a skill
envied by many – matched by none!
However, he was never too busy for his family. He made sure we always had a pony to ride or a colt to
show. We were all active in school
activities and sports: he never missed a school performance or a ballgame. Even when I was a cheerleader at Martin
College, he always followed the team and attended all the games.
When his damaged heart finally stopped one beautiful June
day, he had enjoyed more life and shared more love in forty-nine years than
many people have who live twice that long. People packed the church and spilled out into the front and
side yards at his funeral. He had loved his family, his friends, his community… and so, so many people wanted to show their love and respect for him.
Today you are nearly two years old and this information has no meaning
for you. You live in the
moment. But someday you will be
curious about your heritage. On
that day, I hope you will appreciate reading about the most wonderful man I have ever
known – my father.
Love,
BB
Daddy, Jody, and me
