Page 70 - Senior Link Magazine Winter 2023 - Online Magazine

Loy Kern
Playing With Rocks
by Cheryl Goforth
oy grew up on his family’s
farm, 17 miles from Morton,
LTexas. His daddy had been a
pipeline welder in his younger days,
saving enough money to eventually
purchase 2,100 acres of land in New
70 Lubbock Senior Link
Mexico. Even though
Loy learned all the ins
and outs of farming, his wife Vivian passed away from
it was his knowledge of welding, cancer. Within the following year, he
passed on to him by his father, moved to Lubbock to be closer to his
which positioned him to start a kids, two daughters and a son.
jewelry business some 16 years ago.
Loy never planned on remarrying,
But Loy didn’t go from being a but a business acquaintance kept
farmer to a jewelry craftsman in a telling him, “You have to meet this
day. “We made some of our own woman.” Finally, after some gentle
farming equipment, our own stock nudges, he gave her a call, and they
covers and knifing rigs,” smiled Loy. arranged to meet at Harrigan’s for
“We would start out with a 4-row dinner. Mind you, this was the first
planter, extending them to 6-row blind date he ever had. But when
and then to 8-rows.” In other words, she walked through the door of the
he had the vision and the skill, even restaurant, he said to himself, “That
in those days, to see how to create is the prettiest woman I’ve ever
what was needed to get the job seen!” Jackie and Loy hit it off that
done. night and were married in the fall of
2003.
When he “quit” farming, he
accepted a position as Chief “I’ve done various hobbies all of
Appraiser for the Cochran County my life, so after I retired from the
Appraisal District. But in 2001, appraisal district, I started building
crosses out of railroad spikes and