A Tribute To My Dad

I received news Wednesday morning that my dad had passed from this world and it has sent me into the past with a flood of memories. His early years were spent trying to learn about being a cotton farmer. It was not his first love, but he wanted to try and see if he could do it. His first love was auto mechanics. I remember when I was very young riding in the back of the cotton trailer with him late one evening, I think he was trying to get as much of it harvested as he could. I do not know why we were with him, but I do remember as the sun started going down it was getting cold, so we rode in the back trailer where the cotton was being held.

I also remember as a 5th grader he set my older sister and I up with a snow cone shop in his service station. This was a way that we could earn money to buy clothes for the next school year. Shirley and I worked 2 summers earning money through selling snow cones.

Dad had a love for music. He could play the guitar, the banjo and the harmonica. When he was a teenager, on Saturday night he would hang out with Bob Wills and would play with their band in Turkey, Texas.

Dad liked to hunt and fish. His idea of a vacation was to go sit on the bank of a nearby lake and relax.

When I think back on my dad, I think about a man that had commom sense and had a heart to help others. My sisters and I laugh because he only went through the 9th grade in school, but he would help us do our algebra homework when we were in high school. I know that each of us will have our own stories to tell about this man.

We are going to have a celebration this weekend in honor of him. We have friends and family coming in from all different places and walks of life. It will be interesting to hear how each one remembers my dad. They will all have different stories to tell about him.

I am proud for my dad that he is being laid to rest in the Ft Worth/Dallas Memorial Cemetary. He said that it would be a honor and I think it is fitting for a man that spent several years of his life defending his country for family and friends that he wanted to protect.

His Obituary: RL Nivens, 88, a retired auto mechanic and welder, of Burleson, died Wednesday Jan. 20, 2010 in Fort Worth. Graveside Service: 10:30 A.M. Tuesday Jan. 26, 2010 at D-FW National Cemetery. Visitation: 3-5 P.M. Sunday at Mountain Valley Funeral Home. RL was born November 28, 1921 in Slaton, Texas to Ernest G. and Virgie Jo Roberts Nivens. RL proudly served his country in the U.S. Army. He married Willa Dean Gowdy on July 25, 1952 in Lakeview, Tx. RL was a loving husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather. He loved spending time with family and friends, fishing, hunting, gardening, playing dominoes and barbequing. RL was also known for his growing and eating hot peppers. Survivors: Wife, Willa Dean Nivens, of Burleson; daughters, Shirley Spier and husband Jack of Burleson, Teresa Chittenden and husband Steve of Acworth, Ga., Billie Boyd and husband Jerry of Burleson; 12 grandchildren; 12 great grandchildren; numerous relatives, friends and extended family.