RUDOLPH W. PATRICK

The following bio was taken from pages 338-339 of the book entitled “Rusk County History” compiled and edited by Rusk County Historical Commission

Transcribed by Gloria Riley

Submitted by Gloria B. Mayfield, Rusk Co. Tx CC

 I was born January 19, 1909 in Panola County, where my father, John Clinton Patrick, worked at a sawmill. We soon moved back to the Patrick Community, where my two brothers and I went to school. My first remembrance of school was on one rainy day when I cried and begged to go. I was five years old and dad finally wrapped me in a raincoat and took me to school, where the teacher allowed me to stand on her desk and recite verses. I went to school five days that winter. I finished the ten grades of schooling in the Patrick Community in 1926. My dad bought a farm near Shiloh and we farmed and tried to save enough money for college, but the Great Depression hit and I gave up all hope of going to college. I did get an opportunity to take a Civil Service correspondence course, and to pay for it I had to sell my 1200-pound bull. The offers I had were insufficient, so I butchered the bull, rented a Model T and went into the oil fields to peddle the beef. I netted $45.00, which paid for the course. After my schooling, I went to Nacogdoches for a clerk-carrier examination, which I failed. The course I had taken was a fraud and one of my many disappointments. I later took another course, then tested out with the highest scores in several cities. I fell in love with Martha Threadgill, daughter of James and Patrice Threadgill, who lived about four miles from our home. I walked those miles two or three times a week, planning to marry as soon as I could get a post office job. This proved to be another disappointment, as I was not hired. I married Martha anyway, paying the preacher with the only money I had, fifty cents. Martha and I lived with my parents while I worked on a road job digging stumps on a road being built from Mt. Enterprise to Shiloh. I earned thirty cents an hour, and when in six months, the job ended, we had saved $175.00. I then went into Henderson hoping to get a job as postal clerk, with no luck again. I bought a used truck paying $75.00 down and making a note for the $400.00 balance. I began to peddle groceries in the rural areas, and Martha and I rented a room at the old tourist courts for $4.00 a week, with bills paid. I stocked my truck with $28.00 worth of groceries, leaving me with $7.00 for change, gas, and oil. I sold $3.33 worth in my first week, working from sun to sun. My next week’s sales grossed $9.90. My spirit and operating capital were at an all-time low when, one afternoon, I saw a truckload of apples, cabbages, and onions. I bought as much of these as my few dollars would allow and sold out the next day, enabling me to stay in business. Another opportunity came for a postal job, which I felt sure I would get. It was not to be; the job was given to a man who scored much lower than I on the testing. After this the grocery business became a career for me. Within six months the truck was paid out, and I borrowed money to pay down on a home. Our family now included a son, James Clinton. After two more years we saved enough to buy a nicer home, and our daughter, Patsy Ruth, was born September 25, 1939. I was selected to be drafted in World War II and closed out my business and waited. I was not called up, so I took a job with Beacon Oil Company. My goal was to own a nice home and a store, and my biggest break came when just such a place became available. Martha and I lived in our home and operated our store for twenty-four years, retiring in 1968. During these years, I joined twelve other men to build Major Brick Plant, which operated successfully until it was sold in 1976. Martha and I have four grandchildren: Kathy and Melissa, daughters of James and the former Sandra Brown; Barry and Kami Kay, children of Patsy and her husband, Bobby Price. Kathy is married to Dennis Welch and they have two children, Misty Michelle, born in 1975, and Michael Christopher, born in 1978. Submitted by Rudolph W. Patrick