Leon Wesley Pickett went home to God our Father on April 2, 2008 in Midland, Texas.
He was born May 2, 1913 in Smithfield near Azle, Texas, to Perry Emmett Pickett and Dennie Swift Pickett, the second of their five children. Leon's father was killed in view of his family in a farmer-tenant disagreement in which his father was an innocent victim. The widowed mother was encouraged by her father, who was a Mason, to enroll the five children in the Masonic Home & School in Fort Worth, Texas, where they had the benefits of a good education followed by scholarships. In 1933, Leon graduated with a scholarship after having been a member of the Masonic Home's "Mighty Mites" football team which won the State Championship in 1932. Leon was the last surviving member of the team memorialized in a book titled "Twelve Mighty Orphans" by author Jim Dent. To make use of the football training, Leon and friends journeyed to California to enroll in a school there, but the ambience of that state failed to appeal to their Texas upbringing. So they hopped a freight train back to Texas. With the aid of various Masonic Home ex-students, a vast "brotherhood," they made their way back to Fort Worth where Leon enrolled in Texas Christian University. He played football with well-known icons Sam Baugh, Davey O'Brien, Ki Aldrich and others. The first game staged in the Cotton Bowl had TCU as a contender. The team was later honored in the 1960's and again in the 1990's for that occasion. As an adjunct to his entry in school, Leon became an employee of Gulf Oil Company to work summers in the oil fields of McCamey, Crane and Penwell.
While attending TCU, Leon met Virginia Mae Booth in 1937 near the campus where she resided. They married July 30, 1938, moving to Goldsmith, Texas that November. The two resided in whatever boomtown accommodations available in greater downtown Goldsmith until they were privileged to move into a new home in the Gulf Oil Company camp. Leon was not required for military service because of deferments, first for family status, the second time for his age, and the third time for essential industry. In 1945, Leon and Virginia, along with daughter Sarah Ann, were transferred by Gulf back to Fort Worth where he completed his degree in geology in 1948, while working nights in the Gulf core lab and attending TCU by day. Transferred subsequently to Midland, he joined the Gulf Land Department where he was further employed until his retirement in 1977 after 43 years. In Midland, Leon and Virginia were the 28th couple to sign as members of the new Ranchland Hills Country Club, of which they were members for over a score of years.
Leon was an avid golfer, the scorer of the first ace executed on the new course. In fact, he made three of the first six aces made there. He learned the basics of golf while living in Goldsmith where it was literally "cow pasture pool" on a golf course carved out of a Gulf Oil Company lease with sand greens stabilized with crude oil. Leon became a Mason while residing in Goldsmith and later a 32nd degree Mason while living in Midland. He became enthusiastically involved in hunting, and as his son, Robert, reached the age of ten, Leon began teaching him the avocation, which now has passed on to the third generation of Jared and Logan Pickett. Up until Leon's 91st year, he remained an active hunter, thanks to a long-time rancher friend's deer lease available for contracting. After his 1977 retirement from Gulf, Leon became an independent land agent until 1986. At that time he moved to Gatlinburg, Tennessee where he joined the Masonic lodge, Valley of Knoxville Orient of Tennessee. After about five years, Leon moved back to Fort Worth and was a member of Godley Lodge 822, Godley, Texas and Polytechnic Lodge 925, Forth Worth, Texas.
Leon was preceded in death by his sisters, Ruth Pickett Sulecki and Marie Pickett Chapman, and brothers, Ben Pickett and Perry Pickett.
Leon is survived by his daughter, Sarah Ann Pickett McGarrahan of Hot Springs Village, Arkansas; grandchildren, Chris McGarrahan; Scott McGarrahan and wife Lindsay; Amy McGarrahan Mitchell; and great- granddaughters, Blaeke and Raegan, and great-grandson, Brock Mitchell. He is also survived by his son, Robert Glen Pickett and wife Debra Doss Pickett; grandchildren Jared, Rebekah and Logan Pickett of Midland, Texas. Also surviving is Virginia Booth Pickett of Midland, Texas. A memorial service will be held at 3:00 P.M. Monday, April 7, 2008 at Ellis Funeral Home.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to Hospice of Midland, P.O. Box 2621, Midland, Texas 79702. Honorary pallbearers will be Mike McWhorter, Tommy Greene, C.D. Sealey, Ed Hitchcock, Hubert Bales, Bud "Chris" Christenson, and Tom Flood.
Midland Reporter-Telegram (TX)
Date: April 6, 2008
He was born May 2, 1913 in Smithfield near Azle, Texas, to Perry Emmett Pickett and Dennie Swift Pickett, the second of their five children. Leon's father was killed in view of his family in a farmer-tenant disagreement in which his father was an innocent victim. The widowed mother was encouraged by her father, who was a Mason, to enroll the five children in the Masonic Home & School in Fort Worth, Texas, where they had the benefits of a good education followed by scholarships. In 1933, Leon graduated with a scholarship after having been a member of the Masonic Home's "Mighty Mites" football team which won the State Championship in 1932. Leon was the last surviving member of the team memorialized in a book titled "Twelve Mighty Orphans" by author Jim Dent. To make use of the football training, Leon and friends journeyed to California to enroll in a school there, but the ambience of that state failed to appeal to their Texas upbringing. So they hopped a freight train back to Texas. With the aid of various Masonic Home ex-students, a vast "brotherhood," they made their way back to Fort Worth where Leon enrolled in Texas Christian University. He played football with well-known icons Sam Baugh, Davey O'Brien, Ki Aldrich and others. The first game staged in the Cotton Bowl had TCU as a contender. The team was later honored in the 1960's and again in the 1990's for that occasion. As an adjunct to his entry in school, Leon became an employee of Gulf Oil Company to work summers in the oil fields of McCamey, Crane and Penwell.
While attending TCU, Leon met Virginia Mae Booth in 1937 near the campus where she resided. They married July 30, 1938, moving to Goldsmith, Texas that November. The two resided in whatever boomtown accommodations available in greater downtown Goldsmith until they were privileged to move into a new home in the Gulf Oil Company camp. Leon was not required for military service because of deferments, first for family status, the second time for his age, and the third time for essential industry. In 1945, Leon and Virginia, along with daughter Sarah Ann, were transferred by Gulf back to Fort Worth where he completed his degree in geology in 1948, while working nights in the Gulf core lab and attending TCU by day. Transferred subsequently to Midland, he joined the Gulf Land Department where he was further employed until his retirement in 1977 after 43 years. In Midland, Leon and Virginia were the 28th couple to sign as members of the new Ranchland Hills Country Club, of which they were members for over a score of years.
Leon was an avid golfer, the scorer of the first ace executed on the new course. In fact, he made three of the first six aces made there. He learned the basics of golf while living in Goldsmith where it was literally "cow pasture pool" on a golf course carved out of a Gulf Oil Company lease with sand greens stabilized with crude oil. Leon became a Mason while residing in Goldsmith and later a 32nd degree Mason while living in Midland. He became enthusiastically involved in hunting, and as his son, Robert, reached the age of ten, Leon began teaching him the avocation, which now has passed on to the third generation of Jared and Logan Pickett. Up until Leon's 91st year, he remained an active hunter, thanks to a long-time rancher friend's deer lease available for contracting. After his 1977 retirement from Gulf, Leon became an independent land agent until 1986. At that time he moved to Gatlinburg, Tennessee where he joined the Masonic lodge, Valley of Knoxville Orient of Tennessee. After about five years, Leon moved back to Fort Worth and was a member of Godley Lodge 822, Godley, Texas and Polytechnic Lodge 925, Forth Worth, Texas.
Leon was preceded in death by his sisters, Ruth Pickett Sulecki and Marie Pickett Chapman, and brothers, Ben Pickett and Perry Pickett.
Leon is survived by his daughter, Sarah Ann Pickett McGarrahan of Hot Springs Village, Arkansas; grandchildren, Chris McGarrahan; Scott McGarrahan and wife Lindsay; Amy McGarrahan Mitchell; and great- granddaughters, Blaeke and Raegan, and great-grandson, Brock Mitchell. He is also survived by his son, Robert Glen Pickett and wife Debra Doss Pickett; grandchildren Jared, Rebekah and Logan Pickett of Midland, Texas. Also surviving is Virginia Booth Pickett of Midland, Texas. A memorial service will be held at 3:00 P.M. Monday, April 7, 2008 at Ellis Funeral Home.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to Hospice of Midland, P.O. Box 2621, Midland, Texas 79702. Honorary pallbearers will be Mike McWhorter, Tommy Greene, C.D. Sealey, Ed Hitchcock, Hubert Bales, Bud "Chris" Christenson, and Tom Flood.
Midland Reporter-Telegram (TX)
Date: April 6, 2008
Leon Wesley Pickett went home to God our Father on April 2, 2008 in Midland, Texas.
He was born May 2, 1913 in Smithfield near Azle, Texas, to Perry Emmett Pickett and Dennie Swift Pickett, the second of their five children. Leon's father was killed in view of his family in a farmer-tenant disagreement in which his father was an innocent victim. The widowed mother was encouraged by her father, who was a Mason, to enroll the five children in the Masonic Home & School in Fort Worth, Texas, where they had the benefits of a good education followed by scholarships. In 1933, Leon graduated with a scholarship after having been a member of the Masonic Home's "Mighty Mites" football team which won the State Championship in 1932. Leon was the last surviving member of the team memorialized in a book titled "Twelve Mighty Orphans" by author Jim Dent. To make use of the football training, Leon and friends journeyed to California to enroll in a school there, but the ambience of that state failed to appeal to their Texas upbringing. So they hopped a freight train back to Texas. With the aid of various Masonic Home ex-students, a vast "brotherhood," they made their way back to Fort Worth where Leon enrolled in Texas Christian University. He played football with well-known icons Sam Baugh, Davey O'Brien, Ki Aldrich and others. The first game staged in the Cotton Bowl had TCU as a contender. The team was later honored in the 1960's and again in the 1990's for that occasion. As an adjunct to his entry in school, Leon became an employee of Gulf Oil Company to work summers in the oil fields of McCamey, Crane and Penwell.
While attending TCU, Leon met Virginia Mae Booth in 1937 near the campus where she resided. They married July 30, 1938, moving to Goldsmith, Texas that November. The two resided in whatever boomtown accommodations available in greater downtown Goldsmith until they were privileged to move into a new home in the Gulf Oil Company camp. Leon was not required for military service because of deferments, first for family status, the second time for his age, and the third time for essential industry. In 1945, Leon and Virginia, along with daughter Sarah Ann, were transferred by Gulf back to Fort Worth where he completed his degree in geology in 1948, while working nights in the Gulf core lab and attending TCU by day. Transferred subsequently to Midland, he joined the Gulf Land Department where he was further employed until his retirement in 1977 after 43 years. In Midland, Leon and Virginia were the 28th couple to sign as members of the new Ranchland Hills Country Club, of which they were members for over a score of years.
Leon was an avid golfer, the scorer of the first ace executed on the new course. In fact, he made three of the first six aces made there. He learned the basics of golf while living in Goldsmith where it was literally "cow pasture pool" on a golf course carved out of a Gulf Oil Company lease with sand greens stabilized with crude oil. Leon became a Mason while residing in Goldsmith and later a 32nd degree Mason while living in Midland. He became enthusiastically involved in hunting, and as his son, Robert, reached the age of ten, Leon began teaching him the avocation, which now has passed on to the third generation of Jared and Logan Pickett. Up until Leon's 91st year, he remained an active hunter, thanks to a long-time rancher friend's deer lease available for contracting. After his 1977 retirement from Gulf, Leon became an independent land agent until 1986. At that time he moved to Gatlinburg, Tennessee where he joined the Masonic lodge, Valley of Knoxville Orient of Tennessee. After about five years, Leon moved back to Fort Worth and was a member of Godley Lodge 822, Godley, Texas and Polytechnic Lodge 925, Forth Worth, Texas.
Leon was preceded in death by his sisters, Ruth Pickett Sulecki and Marie Pickett Chapman, and brothers, Ben Pickett and Perry Pickett.
Leon is survived by his daughter, Sarah Ann Pickett McGarrahan of Hot Springs Village, Arkansas; grandchildren, Chris McGarrahan; Scott McGarrahan and wife Lindsay; Amy McGarrahan Mitchell; and great- granddaughters, Blaeke and Raegan, and great-grandson, Brock Mitchell. He is also survived by his son, Robert Glen Pickett and wife Debra Doss Pickett; grandchildren Jared, Rebekah and Logan Pickett of Midland, Texas. Also surviving is Virginia Booth Pickett of Midland, Texas. A memorial service will be held at 3:00 P.M. Monday, April 7, 2008 at Ellis Funeral Home.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to Hospice of Midland, P.O. Box 2621, Midland, Texas 79702. Honorary pallbearers will be Mike McWhorter, Tommy Greene, C.D. Sealey, Ed Hitchcock, Hubert Bales, Bud "Chris" Christenson, and Tom Flood.
Midland Reporter-Telegram (TX)
Date: April 6, 2008
He was born May 2, 1913 in Smithfield near Azle, Texas, to Perry Emmett Pickett and Dennie Swift Pickett, the second of their five children. Leon's father was killed in view of his family in a farmer-tenant disagreement in which his father was an innocent victim. The widowed mother was encouraged by her father, who was a Mason, to enroll the five children in the Masonic Home & School in Fort Worth, Texas, where they had the benefits of a good education followed by scholarships. In 1933, Leon graduated with a scholarship after having been a member of the Masonic Home's "Mighty Mites" football team which won the State Championship in 1932. Leon was the last surviving member of the team memorialized in a book titled "Twelve Mighty Orphans" by author Jim Dent. To make use of the football training, Leon and friends journeyed to California to enroll in a school there, but the ambience of that state failed to appeal to their Texas upbringing. So they hopped a freight train back to Texas. With the aid of various Masonic Home ex-students, a vast "brotherhood," they made their way back to Fort Worth where Leon enrolled in Texas Christian University. He played football with well-known icons Sam Baugh, Davey O'Brien, Ki Aldrich and others. The first game staged in the Cotton Bowl had TCU as a contender. The team was later honored in the 1960's and again in the 1990's for that occasion. As an adjunct to his entry in school, Leon became an employee of Gulf Oil Company to work summers in the oil fields of McCamey, Crane and Penwell.
While attending TCU, Leon met Virginia Mae Booth in 1937 near the campus where she resided. They married July 30, 1938, moving to Goldsmith, Texas that November. The two resided in whatever boomtown accommodations available in greater downtown Goldsmith until they were privileged to move into a new home in the Gulf Oil Company camp. Leon was not required for military service because of deferments, first for family status, the second time for his age, and the third time for essential industry. In 1945, Leon and Virginia, along with daughter Sarah Ann, were transferred by Gulf back to Fort Worth where he completed his degree in geology in 1948, while working nights in the Gulf core lab and attending TCU by day. Transferred subsequently to Midland, he joined the Gulf Land Department where he was further employed until his retirement in 1977 after 43 years. In Midland, Leon and Virginia were the 28th couple to sign as members of the new Ranchland Hills Country Club, of which they were members for over a score of years.
Leon was an avid golfer, the scorer of the first ace executed on the new course. In fact, he made three of the first six aces made there. He learned the basics of golf while living in Goldsmith where it was literally "cow pasture pool" on a golf course carved out of a Gulf Oil Company lease with sand greens stabilized with crude oil. Leon became a Mason while residing in Goldsmith and later a 32nd degree Mason while living in Midland. He became enthusiastically involved in hunting, and as his son, Robert, reached the age of ten, Leon began teaching him the avocation, which now has passed on to the third generation of Jared and Logan Pickett. Up until Leon's 91st year, he remained an active hunter, thanks to a long-time rancher friend's deer lease available for contracting. After his 1977 retirement from Gulf, Leon became an independent land agent until 1986. At that time he moved to Gatlinburg, Tennessee where he joined the Masonic lodge, Valley of Knoxville Orient of Tennessee. After about five years, Leon moved back to Fort Worth and was a member of Godley Lodge 822, Godley, Texas and Polytechnic Lodge 925, Forth Worth, Texas.
Leon was preceded in death by his sisters, Ruth Pickett Sulecki and Marie Pickett Chapman, and brothers, Ben Pickett and Perry Pickett.
Leon is survived by his daughter, Sarah Ann Pickett McGarrahan of Hot Springs Village, Arkansas; grandchildren, Chris McGarrahan; Scott McGarrahan and wife Lindsay; Amy McGarrahan Mitchell; and great- granddaughters, Blaeke and Raegan, and great-grandson, Brock Mitchell. He is also survived by his son, Robert Glen Pickett and wife Debra Doss Pickett; grandchildren Jared, Rebekah and Logan Pickett of Midland, Texas. Also surviving is Virginia Booth Pickett of Midland, Texas. A memorial service will be held at 3:00 P.M. Monday, April 7, 2008 at Ellis Funeral Home.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to Hospice of Midland, P.O. Box 2621, Midland, Texas 79702. Honorary pallbearers will be Mike McWhorter, Tommy Greene, C.D. Sealey, Ed Hitchcock, Hubert Bales, Bud "Chris" Christenson, and Tom Flood.
Midland Reporter-Telegram (TX)
Date: April 6, 2008
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