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I attended
Fairview School from first through ninth grades. The school closed and I
was transferred to Moss. I was out by the cow lot the day Kenneth Hull
came and talked to my dad about picking me up each school day for the
bus-ride to Moss. We attended school in the summer in those days and got
out in the fall to help with the harvest. Arriving at Moss the first day
was a bit unnerving as I knew no one except the Fairview transferees. It
didn't take me too long to make friends with Gary Shields, Roy Welch and
James Montgomery. My favorite classes became Vocational Agriculture
taught by Joseph Raunikar and ball practice under coach Hull. These two
individuals were most influential in my life and literally changed the
course of my life.
Mr. Raunikar got me involved with the FFA and shop,
both of which taught me skills that would carry me for the rest of my
life. He required every boy in his Vo-Ag classes to make an insect
collection. I did very poorly on the collection and did not make a good
grade on it. But, somehow, it inspired me and I kept on collecting
insects and built my own display cases complete with mitered grooves and a
glass slide. The collection was intended to determine who would be
enlisted to study for the Entomology team that would travel to various
contests around the state to compete with students from other FFA
chapters. It soon became obvious that I would be the one to take the lone
insect book in Mr. Raunikar's library and begin to study it in preparation
for the upcoming contests. At first, he taught me all he knew about the
subject. It was not long, however, before suddenly I knew more and could
teach my teammates, three other individuals to compete with me on the
Entomology team. I had a list of key insects and terms issued by the
Department of Entomology, Oklahoma State University, and this connection
would later become crucial to my future. I was accustomed to competing
with other individuals as I had been a land judging specialist in the 4-H
Club at Fairview and was familiar with competition.
During my first year at Moss, the various Entomology
contests around eastern Oklahoma were won primarily by other chapters as I
was still in the learning phase. During my junior year, however, I began
to score higher in the contests. On one occasion at a regional contest,
an FFA student from a competing chapter and I produced perfect scores. A
coin was tossed and one of the officials called it for us. I lost the
toss and came in second while the other individual came in first. It
seemed fair and I was not overly troubled by the call. Later, however,
the call would go in my favor. That came at the very last competition of
my junior year at OSU. FFA students gathered from several schools around
the state for the competition. This time, I would score highest in a tie
with another FFA student from another chapter. This time, when the coin
was tossed, it came down in my favor and I was high individual in the
state. During my senior year, I scored first or second in every
Entomology contest including high individual at OSU for the second year in
a row. Joe Raunikar gave us the freedom to become all that we could
become and he encouraged us to rise to each occasion.
Mr. Raunikar was also in charge of shop class and I
learned much. My father was a pretty good builder and could do a lot of
things with his hands. As soon as we moved to the house five miles north
of Horntown, my dad designed and we built on two extra rooms as the, at
that time, five-room house and a path, was a bit crowded for my parents,
three brothers and a sister. The two extra rooms provided two more
bedrooms. At Moss, however, we learned a lot of useful things including
building with wood, fence erection including posthole digging and barbwire
stringing, welding, dehorning cattle, screwworm treatment, and many more
things that were useful skills that could be used around the house or
farm. I built a small sawhorse-like device that was used for many years
around our farm. I had already done a lot of posthole digging and fence
building on our 80-acre farm.
I had participated in baseball and basketball at
Fairview and went out for these two sports at Moss. I suddenly discovered
my team members on the baseball team were a cut above what I was
accustomed to. Paul Dwayne Brown and Lonnie McGuire threw harder than I
had ever experienced or faced and that was unnerving. Kenneth Hull was an
excellent coach, always encouraging us and instructing us in the finer
items of the games. My problem, perhaps, was that I did not take practice
as seriously as I should have and failed to reach the potential that I
could have reached with a little more effort.
He did the best he could with what he had and the team
did go to the state championship in 1957 and 1958 to win both times. It
was a great and memorable experience and taught us how to be team members
and support each other as we worked together for the common good.
Mr. Raunikar took me to Stillwater to meet with Dr. D.
E. Howell, the Head of the Entomology Department and I was on my way to
obtaining a B.S. and M.S. degree in Entomology. Dr. Howell's example
would by my inspiration to work for and obtain the doctorate at the
University of Georgia. Later, I would work toward an MBA degree in
business but would have to drop out short of that achievement.
I was fortunate first to have an older brother, Mack, a
World War II hero, who attended Oklahoma A & M College graduating in
agriculture in 1949. His ship was shot out from under him but he was able
to swim to shore. He was my inspiration. My own father and mother were
inspirations for me to live a godly life and work for the honest rewards
in my life. Mr. Raunikar and Mr. Hull were important inspirations for me
to work and achieve to become the very best I could become. I value
highly the inspiration these people provided for me and which guided my to
where I am today. Most of all, I thank God for protecting me, for
supplying a wonderful wife for 35 years and for giving me loving children
and grandchildren. I have lived a full life and will cherish my years at
Moss which got the ball rolling, so to speak, and which continues to
provide the memories and inspiration to live life to the fullest. I would
not be where I am today were it not for the great teachers and leaders who
provided the instruction and moral examples for me to excel in life. At
age 60, many are thinking of retirement, but I am having too much fun and
productivity to hang it up yet. Moss continues to push me to become what
the future holds. I look forward to great things.
Phil Keathley, class of 1960 |