Page 31 - Senior Link Magazine Fall 2024 - Online Magazine

Marine corpS
okinawa

three-story house, and
my dad assured him
that we could do the job.
They ordered the paper
from New York, and we
completed the job which
can still be seen today.
My Dad’s paperhanging
career spanned 70 years.

We painted for many
people all over the South
Plains and made life-
long friends with many
Gene and his father
of them. We worked
about 10-12 years in
Garza County, in and around Post, painting a lot of
ranch and farm houses. We always strove to do the Gene and a fellow Marine standing in front of an
very best work we could do and treat people fairly; M-51 Tank Retriever
integrity and perfection was our product.

After my dad retired, my son Brad and I
established Mowery Painting Incorporated, a
commercial painting company. During my career,
we painted several new schools, prisons, hotels,
churches, and a variety of other large commercial
projects. We worked a lot at UMC, Methodist
Hospital, and Texas Tech University.
As I look back on my life, I always wanted my
dad to see that I had done well. He passed from
this life at 93 in 2011, and I believe that he knew
that I had done well in my endeavors. I had the
privilege of going on the Honor Flight in 2019. At
the Marine Corps Memorial, I stood and looked in
silence at that huge statue of the Marines raising
the flag on Iwo Jima. I thought about my dad and
the others there for that terrible war. They were
all great heroes! I remembered what my dad
said in 1960 when I asked him if I could join the
Marine Corps. He said, “If you are not going to
school, that would be the very best place for you.
They will make a man out of you, and you will
always be proud you are a Marine.”

Lubbock Senior Link 31