JR was born in rural Louisiana in the year of 1935, to Odee and Annie Rowell (Fowler) in a very small country house on his Grandfather and Grandmother (Papa and Mammy) Fowler's farm. The family moved to Lake Village Arkansas shortly after JR was born. Daddy was a share cropper on a cotten farm. We like to have starved in Arkansas and I got very sick and we moved back to the little house where I was born.

Two years later we had a sister, Maggie, born in a house just up the highway from where I was born. A couple of years later we were living on Loggy Bayou and Dad was still share cropping. About this time the Dam on Lake Bistineau was being built an Dad went to work helping build the Dam. Regular money coming in now from the State. From the share cropping and the "dam" work we were doing pretty good.

I turned six years old and now "school time". I started to school at Ringgold, about this time Dad got a job with the Fire Department in Shreveport. Mother and Dad moved to Shreveport and left me and my sister with my Grand parents. I finished the first grade in Ringgold, but the second grade I went to Shreveport to Alexander grade school.

Then the third grade, back to Ringgold for a while,but a larger Apartment in Shreveport, and back to Alexander grade school for the rest of the third grade. By now Dad was working for the Cotten Belt Railroad and Mother was working for the Charity Hospital, so we were doing pretty good at this time of life.

A much larger apartment was found on Fifth street in Shreveport, and my sister and I started at Line Avenue Elementary School, I finished my Elementary school here and went to Hamilton Terrace Jr. High for the 7th and 8th grade. Finished at Hamilton Terrace, then in 1950 started at one of the two public high schools in Shreveport, Byrd High in Shreveport, Louisiana Four years of high school at Byrd graduated in 1953, then Two years at Louisiana Tech in Electrical Engineering.

When I was nine years old I started a paper route, for the Shreveport Journal. The city passed a law that you had to be twelve years old to have a paper route. I was only eleven years old, but since I had, had the route for two years mother and dad were able to get me a permit to carry the paper. Maybe that was called grandfathering me in. I carried the paper until I was about thirteen years old, then went into the grocery business. Mr. Mabry hired me in his grocery store I worked for him after school, holidays, and summer vacations. When I turned fifteen he gave me a raise to fifteen dollars a week, making big money now.

At the end of my second year at La Tech I got married, to Billie, went to work for Southern Bell Telephone Company,for the lofty sum of forty dollars a week, and stayed with them, AT&T, Bell South, Lucent, for 35 years, had four kids along the way, got married to Patti in 1986 retired in 1990. Opened up Area Communications with my wife Patti and sold it in 1998 and retired again, for good. As you can see , I have been working since I was Nine years old, about time to retire and enjoy our eight grand kids and this wonderful country living.

I have numerous hobbies or collecting "good stuff" as Patti calls it. I have a knife collection, old bayonet collection, coins, and a Hesston Belt Buckle collection, and a few other things.

I like to read, fool around with the computer, learning to build a web page, if you are reading this you can see how well or poor I am doing. If my web page turns out O.K. Patti will let me help her with hers, She is an AUTHOR, sold one book and sent another to the publisher HOPE, HOPE. Just waiting to see if number two comes in.

 

Time is passing, live the rest as best you can.

AS you can see I like old guns too, these are two of my favorite.

A sample of the Hesston belt buckle Collection

 
Click JR for home.
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