Tractor at the Pearly Gates
I was saddened to learn Monday of the passing of J.W. Miller in Taylor County. If he had he lived another six months, he would have made it to the ripe old age of 100.
I had the opportunity to interview Mr. Miller twice during the past year. The first time was when, at the age of 98, he went out and bought a tractor. He had worn the other three out.
Now, that’s what I call optimism, going through life always believing you have one more harvest.
Then, I talked to him this past spring when he was named to preside as grand marshal of the parade at the eighth annual Georgia Strawberry Festival in Reynolds. He put on a pair of his nicest overalls for the big event. He told me they weren’t quite as fancy as his “Sunday britches” but he reserved them for special occasions.
He told festival organizers he was honored they had selected him, but he did have one request. He didn’t want to have to stay all day. He wanted to get back home and climb up on that John Deere. That’s just the way he was.
In fact, one of his daughters, Ella, told me he was out there on that tractor as recently as two weeks ago. Then it got so hot he couldn’t go out in the fields. That may have contributed to his death.
"He just got to where he wouldn’t eat and drink,’’ she said. “When he couldn’t go outside, he lost his appetite. I think that’s what carried him down.''
This year was his 85th crop in field that have been in his family for more than a century. He lived in a house built in 1928, two years after he married his wife, the late Ella Mae Miller. He outlived all six of his sons. His five daughters are still living.
I won’t ever forget the afternoon I first interviewed him. We sat in the shade of a red oak at the front of his yard, and he used a funeral home fan to push the summer air.
He told me he had first worked the fields with a mule and plow when he took over the family farm after his father died in 1923. He bought his first “store-bought” tractor in 1942. It came with iron wheels because of the rubber shortage in World War II.
His daughter, Ella, described him as a man who loves a tractor and loves dirt.’’ But he wasn’t all about dirt. He served as treasurer at Macedonia Baptist Church for more than 50 years. He was the first black to own a school bus in Taylor County.
He will be missed, but I can see him now – plowing right through those Pearly Gates. On a John Deere, of course.
I was saddened to learn Monday of the passing of J.W. Miller in Taylor County. If he had he lived another six months, he would have made it to the ripe old age of 100.I had the opportunity to interview Mr. Miller twice during the past year. The first time was when, at the age of 98, he went out and bought a tractor. He had worn the other three out.
Now, that’s what I call optimism, going through life always believing you have one more harvest.
Then, I talked to him this past spring when he was named to preside as grand marshal of the parade at the eighth annual Georgia Strawberry Festival in Reynolds. He put on a pair of his nicest overalls for the big event. He told me they weren’t quite as fancy as his “Sunday britches” but he reserved them for special occasions.
He told festival organizers he was honored they had selected him, but he did have one request. He didn’t want to have to stay all day. He wanted to get back home and climb up on that John Deere. That’s just the way he was.
In fact, one of his daughters, Ella, told me he was out there on that tractor as recently as two weeks ago. Then it got so hot he couldn’t go out in the fields. That may have contributed to his death.
"He just got to where he wouldn’t eat and drink,’’ she said. “When he couldn’t go outside, he lost his appetite. I think that’s what carried him down.''
This year was his 85th crop in field that have been in his family for more than a century. He lived in a house built in 1928, two years after he married his wife, the late Ella Mae Miller. He outlived all six of his sons. His five daughters are still living.
I won’t ever forget the afternoon I first interviewed him. We sat in the shade of a red oak at the front of his yard, and he used a funeral home fan to push the summer air.
He told me he had first worked the fields with a mule and plow when he took over the family farm after his father died in 1923. He bought his first “store-bought” tractor in 1942. It came with iron wheels because of the rubber shortage in World War II.
His daughter, Ella, described him as a man who loves a tractor and loves dirt.’’ But he wasn’t all about dirt. He served as treasurer at Macedonia Baptist Church for more than 50 years. He was the first black to own a school bus in Taylor County.
He will be missed, but I can see him now – plowing right through those Pearly Gates. On a John Deere, of course.
posted by Ed Grisamore at 6:12 AM
2 Comments:
Great story! This old world could use millions of great citizens like Mr. Miller. Just the fact that he worked the same plot of land for eighty five years is miraculous.
Very good blog. It is wonderful that God chose this time of the year when crops are being gathered to bring His harvest into the eternal store house.
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