Don Carlon Stotts was born October 6, 1920, in Gordon, Texas, the oldest child of Hiram Wesley (Bo) Stotts and Corrie Boyd Stotts.  Some early records also list his name as Carlon Rupert.  Carlon had two brothers, James Darrell Stotts and Bobby Mahlon Stotts, and one sister, Marilyn Jane Stotts Wilson.  The family lived on a farm southeast of the community of Southland until sometime in Carlon’s grade school years when the family moved to Slaton.  He often spoke of riding a horse to school in those very early years at Southland.  Carlon attended Slaton High School, where he played football for the Tigers and also met his future wife, Jerry.  He drove a truck on weekends for his father’s trucking company in Lubbock, and he graduated from high school in 1940.

Sometime after high school, Carlon went to work for the Santa Fe Railroad.  His first job with the company was in Belen, New Mexico, where he worked as a brakeman.  He was working there at the time he married Jerry on October 12, 1941 back home in Slaton, Texas, at the parsonage of the pastor of the Methodist Church.  They returned to live in Belen, but shortly afterward, they were transferred to Clovis, New Mexico, where they lived until 1943. 

Military Service

Just two months after they married in 1941, the country endured the horrific tragedy at Pearl Harbor on December 7 and the beginning of the United States involvement in World War II.  In 1944, Carlon enlisted in the U. S. Army Air Corp, and he was inducted into service in Santa Fe, New Mexico on April 5, 1944.  His military occupational specialty was AP Armorer Gunner #612, according to his enlistment record.  He was in armament school at Lowrey Field in Colorado, and he was in gunnery school in Las Vegas, Nevada.  He was then stationed in Wichita Falls, Texas and Lincoln, Nebraska, and Jerry remembers visiting him in Lincoln and Las Vegas while he was on leave.  Their first child, Don Taylor Stotts, was born in Slaton on August 10, 1944, while Carlon was away in the service.

Carlon’s brother-in-law, LaVern (Rastus) Pounds, also served in the Army Air Corp at the same time.  His wife, Omega, was Jerry’s older sister, and the sisters lived together in a small home in Slaton and gave birth to their first children while their husbands were away.  Doug was the child born to Rastus and Omega during this time, and he was born on February 5, 1945, six months after Don was born.

Carlon never served overseas, but his younger brother, James, did.  In 1944, James’ plane was shot while flying a mission over Munich, Germany, resulting in the crew limping their crippled plane into Switzerland, a neutral country.  A few months later, James died in Switzerland, while being held at a Swiss internee camp.  Carlon was home on his first leave from the service in October of 1944 to see his new son for the first time when he and the rest of the family received the news of James’ death.  Carlon, Jerry and Don were actually on a short trip together to Ruidoso, New Mexico when they learned the tragic news.  More information on the life of James Stotts can be found on his upcoming biographical tribute here soon.

Carlon was a Corporal with the 3021^st Army Air Forces Base Unit at the time of his honorable discharge in Amarillo, Texas on November 19, 1945.  He was discharged early with a “Dependency Sec. 3 AR 615-362 15 Dec. 44” reason and authority. 

Family

In the coming years, both Carlon and his mother, Corrie, also endured the loss of the other two children in the family under tragic circumstances, leaving Carlon being as lone surviving child out of four children while his mother was still alive.  Carlon and Jerry stood with Corrie for the rest of her life and made sure that she was cared for.  They also took her to see her sister, Onnie, that lived in Amarillo on a regular basis, too.

After his discharge from the service, Carlon returned to live in Slaton with his wife.  He also began to work full-time for his father, Hiram (Bo) Stotts, in the family trucking business in Lubbock.  Jerry is quick to recall that Carlon sold her favorite little blue car and bought his first truck at this time, too, much to her dismay, as she loved that little car.  Carlon and Jerry had their second child, a daughter, in Slaton in 1950 (living descendant).  Sometime in the mid 1950’s, they moved to Lubbock and bought a home on 30^th Street.  In 1955, Carlon’s father passed away, and Carlon began to run the trucking company on his own.  They also had another daughter in 1958 (living descendant).  In 1959, they moved to their permanent home on 53^rd Street in Lubbock near Monterey High School, where they raised their family and lived out the remainder of their married life.

Career

Carlon owned and operated Stotts Trucking Company, Inc. until retiring in 1986 and selling his permit.  The company was originally founded by his father in Lubbock sometime in the 1930’s.  The mainstay of the business involved hauling steel and cotton, usually to the port area of Houston.  For several years after he returned from his service in the Air Force, Carlon’s son, Don, also worked in the business, eventually moving to Midland to oversee a large long-term job at the airport there.  Once it was completed, Don and his family remained in the Midland area, and Don took a job with another company.  Carlon was a member of the Texas Oilfield Haulers Association for 30 years, and he was a well-respected businessman in the area, generally employing anywhere from five to ten drivers at any given time.  On occasion, Carlon was also known to drive trucks himself.  He was truly a one-man operation, and he handled all the business and repairs himself for the most part.  If a truck broke down on the road, Carlon would head out in his car to meet it, no matter what time of day or night it was.  He was involved in a serious truck accident that might well have killed him, had he not been thrown from the truck.  He was also in an explosive accident on site at his office while working on a truck engine that resulted in serious burns over much of his body and a lengthy hospitalization.

Enjoying Life

Carlon and Jerry and their children enjoyed many wonderful times together with extended family, the Taylor family, while all the kids were growing up.  Weekend get-togethers at various family homes were the norm, and a good time with good food was always had by all.  The adults often played card games, while the cousins played together, and most of them became quite close.  The families often made trips together to Lake LBJ at Kingsland in central Texas in the summers, and those times became treasured memories for all.  Carlon owned a red and white Larson Lapliner boat, and he towed many kids and cousins around all parts of the lake every summer.  Most all of them learned to water ski behind Carlon’s boat with him at the wheel, giving them instructions on what to do.  He would often wake them at sunrise to go skiing to the dam in Marble Falls before the lake got more crowded, and he would treat them to breakfast at the restaurant at the dam before making the return trip back across the lake.  On rare occasion, he would also hand over the wheel to one of the older kids and take to the water skis himself, to the delight of the rest of the family.  He loved to play in the water, and he passed that love along to others in his family.

In the early 1970’s, Carlon had an in-ground swimming pool built in the backyard of their home, so that his children and grandchildren would have a place to swim, since there were very few pools in the city at that time.  It proved to be a popular place for the family and friends to gather, and his grandchildren always enjoyed swimming in Papaw’s pool.  Many good times and great memories were made by the pool together, and some of the grandkids also learned to swim in that pool.

Carlon was an avid golfer, and he played weekly with his regular golfing buddies, usually at Meadowbrook Golf Course.  His grandsons also enjoyed golfing with him on occasion, too.  His golfing friends became life-long friends, and they enjoyed many regular golf outings together and were known to tell some tales on each other that were quite entertaining.  Carlon was also known for his escapades of fishing golf balls from the ponds while golfing, too.  He managed to collect literally hundreds of them over the years that were given away or sold in garage sales, despite the teasing from his golfing pals.

Football, especially Texas Tech football, was always one of Carlon’s favorite pastimes.  He and his wife held season tickets for many years, and attended home games regularly.  They were also known to follow the team to several out of town games and bowl games either alone or with friends.  His trademark red hat was one way he showed his support for his favorite college team.  When it was no longer practical for them to go in person, they faithfully watched those games on television or listened on the radio.  Carlon also purchased the entire set of Dirk West posters of the mascots of the original Southwest Conference when they were issued, and those were donated to the Southwest Collection at Texas Tech University shortly after his death.

For several years in the 1980’s and 1990’s, Carlon and his wife jointly owned a home with eleven other couples in Ruidoso, New Mexico.  This enabled them to enjoy some quality time there about four weeks a year in one-week increments, and they had many great times there with both their friends and their children’s families.  It was a large three bedroom, two-story home which was new when they bought into it, and they would sometimes go even more often with other members of the group during their own weeks.

Church and Friends

Carlon and his wife were long-time members of Asbury United Methodist Church.  For many years, Jerry joined and attended with their children, but then Carlon also joined in 1977 after being a member of the Church of Christ for many years. They were members of the Crusaders Sunday School Class at Asbury, and made many dear and life-long friends there.  This special group of friends enjoyed many wonderful times together, including regular monthly socials and yearly bus trips together to various places around the United States and Canada.  The early group also made a trip to Hawaii together.  He was the finance chairman for his church from 1979 to 1981 and served as the church treasurer from 1985 to 1998.  Carlon and his wife were among a loyal group of members who helped to support and sustain the small church for many years.  Carlon, along with some other men of the church, were always available to take care of whatever needed doing at the church. Carlon always had a big heart for others in need, and he helped them as much as he could.

A Typical Day

A typical weekday in Carlon’s active adult working life would have him rising very early in the morning and off to join his group of friends at a local coffee shop before going to work.  He worked tirelessly, and often got quite dirty, at the truck shop doing whatever needed doing.  He was known to sometimes join his competitor and some others down the street for a quick afternoon game of dominoes as he could, too.  Carlon would arrive home around dinner time to a good home cooked meal and would dine with the family in the kitchen, the most popular room of their house.  After dinner, he would shower and settle in for an evening of television in his favorite La-Z-Boy chair by the fireplace.  He loved to change channels frequently on the remote, which was known to sometimes drive the rest of the family a little crazy.  He often read in his bible as well, and it could always be found on the table by his chair.  He generally retired around 10 pm, as he always had an early start to the following day.  That was also true when ever he was on vacation, too, as he would sometimes rise hours before anyone else.

Carlon was a pretty direct person, generally saying what he thought about any given situation.  He could even have been described as “cantankerous” at times, especially when suffering from an illness or not feeling well.  In his later life, he was in pain much of the time for various reasons, but as he got older, though, his personality gave way to a more mature and calm-natured one, even though he still often felt less than good.

Later Life and Death

Carlon endured two open heart surgeries later in his life, the first one in about 1977 just before Christmas and the second one in the early 1990’s.  He was blessed with successful procedures both times.  His family celebrated Christmas in 1977 by taking a small Christmas tree and setting it up in his hospital room for him.  The first surgery was done at a time when open heart surgeries were just beginning to be performed, which made him one of the earliest patients in the area to have that procedure done.  It was a scary time for him and his family, but they put their faith and trust in God, and it went very well.  It was also after this surgery that Carlon renewed his devotion to God and family once again and became regular in his church attendance and involvement.  He became more physically active, walking and working out regularly as he could, and with the help and support of his loving wife who prepared meals and cared for him in so many ways, they both successfully changed their eating habits to a large extent.  This helped him to live many years in relatively good heath after the first surgery.  He had also smoked in his early adult life, but he successfully kicked the habit some years later.

Late in 1997, Carlon was diagnosed with cancer.  He fought the good fight, enduring the side effects of chemotherapy and other regular treatments until it finally took his life on August 6, 1999.  Jerry stood with him and cared tirelessly for him throughout the ordeal.  He was being set up for home hospice care when he took a sudden turn for the worse and was rushed back to the hospital.  He was aware of those around him for only a brief time, but then he slipped into an unconscious state as his body began to give out.  Within days, he lost his battle, but he had finally won the victory.  All of his family was at his bedside at the hospital as the nurse listened through the stethoscope and finally pronounced that he was gone late that evening as the family held him and prayed together.

Carlon was honored with a touching funeral service and many beautiful flowers at Asbury, and a grandson, granddaughter and daughter-in-law honored his memory with special music that they performed together.  Many family and friends were in attendance, and blessed Jerry and the rest of his family in loving ways, especially with food and memorials to his church.  His special friends, his pastors, officiated the service, and it was a wonderful tribute to his life.  Don Carlon is buried in the Estates Section of the City of Lubbock Cemetery in Lubbock, Texas, along with his son and all of the members of his family of origin who preceded him in death. 

Carlon is truly loved and sorely missed by those family members and friends he has left behind.  He was a loving son, brother, husband, father, grandfather and uncle who took his responsibility to family, friends, church and God to heart, and we look forward to that beautiful day when we will all be reunited once again with him in Heaven.

 Surely, he already has the pool open there for us.