The Garrard Ardeneum Collection Project Blog
at Sequoyah National Research Center, University of Arkansas at Little Rock
On February 10, 1980, Tom and Allece Garrard hosted a dinner at the McAlester Country Club to celebrate the 1980 Neustadt Prize. Honorees of the dinner were President Emeritus Paul Sharp and his wife, Rose, Professor and Mrs. Wayne Chess, Australian novelist Thomas Keneally and Czech novelist Arnost Lustig.
Included among the R.S.V.P.s for that event was this creative reply from supernatural fiction author Frank D. McSherry:
Happy Friday, everyone!
(Above image depicts J.G. Puterbaugh being presented with the tribute book, “I Remember… J.G. Puterbaugh,” circa 1964-1965.)
The following post includes personal remembrances of family, friends and business associates of J.G. Puterbaugh. These remembrances were compiled into the tribute, “I Remember… J.G. Puterbaugh,” which was presented to Puterbaugh shortly before his death, and they illustrate many of his personal traits and the fondness by which his associates regarded him.
“Mr. Puterbaugh has always been the most ‘forward’ citizen in McAlester, and I hope I’ve caught his challenge to follow this same ‘forwardness.’ He purchased one of the first cars McAlester ever saw and generously took his friends riding in it. I was a passenger many times. We rode into the country and ‘J.G.’ always wanted to know where this road or that went. One Sunday afternoon our driver stopped abruptly as the road we were on went through a creek and up a steep slope on the far side. Mr. Puterbaugh said, ‘Tom, go look at that stream and see how deep it is.’ Tom went to look while all the passengers plead with Mr. Puterbaugh not to take the chance of getting stuck in it. Tom said, ‘It’s pretty deep, Uncle Jay, and there are rocks everywhere.’ Uncle Jay said, ‘Get a stick and measure the depth and hold the stick up so I can see how far the water comes up on it… Now, measure over here… now over there…’ Tom held the stick high in the air with a wet mark at least a foot up on it. ‘It’s alright. We can make it. Come get in, Tom.’ Well, he did – and we did – through that rough creek bottom we jolted and up the other side we went, and all the passengers marveled that we could do it!”
– Anita Rudowsky Shuller
“One instance which stands out in my mind was a day or so after my arrival in McAlester in 1920. Mr. J.G. Puterbaugh, Mr. W.D. Puterbaugh, Mr. Luitwieler, Mr. Faulkner and I made a trip to the mines. We had lunch (which consisted of sliced pineapple, salmon, sardines, crackers and ginger snaps) at the Kala Inla Mine Commissary. As we had a good many mines to visit, Mr. J.G. Puterbaugh asked if I could drive the car, which was then a Dodge touring car with a speed of about 35 miles, if pressed. I told him I could. He immediately started to ring the remaining pineapple on his finger, picked up the surplus ginger snaps and stuffed them in his pocket, and we were on our way toward Wilburton. I had the car doing about 35 (all it would make) when Mr. Faulkner remarked, ‘That boy really drives.’ Mr. J.G. Puterbaugh replied, ‘Yes, but he doesn’t get anywhere.’ With that, Mr. W.D. Puterbaugh whispered to me, ‘Don’t pay any attention to what they say or you’ll kill all of us.'”
– Howard Sherman
“Back in the early 1900’s a crowd from Dallas happened to be in New York at the same time as J.G. Puterbaugh. He suggested showing us Coney Island by night. After every possible attraction had been taken in and we were on our way out, we came upon the ‘Loop-the-Loop.’ We looked upon it with fear and trembling, but not J.G. Puterbaugh. He caught Flora by the arm and said, ‘Let’s go!’ With that they jumped in the seat, perched on the big wheel and soon began turning over and over in the air. Needless to say, squeals went up from the crowd. An exciting climax to an evening of fun!”
– Sallie Webster
“Nearly forty years ago, Peggy Thompson, Jodie Bigger, Frances Penniman and I were motoring and stopped in McAlester to spend the night at Uncle Jay’s. After dinner, Uncle Jay put a record on the Victrola and danced with all four of us in turn. He waltzed, foxtrotted and danced a polka until long after bedtime. The next morning, when we came in to breakfast, the rug was turned back and the music playing. Uncle Jay danced with us while breakfast waited and waited. We are all grandmothers now and don’t dance as much as we used to, due to a lack of willing partners. Not very long ago Peggy asked me if Uncle Jay still dances before breakfast. I told her that if we planned to take the same trip I thought it would be wise to do a little practicing before we left.”
– Mary Olive Puterbaugh Gardere
“One summer there was a meeting in McAlester of all the Company representatives, and we had a picnic dinner in the yard at the Puterbaugh’s and dancing that evening in the house. I was dancing with Mr. Puterbaugh, and, being small of stature, I was a little worried that I might not be able to keep step with him. I would glance down at my feet now and then, and finally he said, ‘Mary, forget about your feet, I’ll take care of them.'”
– Mary Graves
“In the summer of 1936 upon graduation from high school I visited various Texas relatives. Cousin Leela and Cousin Jay were at the Stoneleigh in Dallas where I stayed with them. Since I had no plans for college, Cousin Jay said he had heard of a good school in Denton – T.S.C.W (Texas State College for Women). In short order, we arrived in Denton. Every building on the campus, even the laundry, looked exciting to me! But the administrative offices were closed. How disappointing! But Cousin Jay was undaunted. In a very few minutes he had procured the name and address of the registrar. We arrived and there sat Mr. Emerson! He enrolled me then and there. A momentous time for me… I get a thrill just writing about it! Just one of the many ‘Forward March’ lessons I’ve learned from my wonderful Cousin Jay!”
– Charlotte Webb
“A number of years ago I had reservations with Thompson Tours in Topeka, Kansas to go to California, spend six weeks in school at Berkeley, then return via the Canadian Rockies. En route to Topeka, I spent a few wonderful days in McAlester. Near the end of my stay in Berkeley a letter arrived from 345 Adams, inviting me to stop on my way home. I immediately replied that my ticket was a through one and I regretted that it would be impossible for me to have a stop-over. I found out later that things began to happen – like conversations with railroad V.I.P.s. Within a very short time I was amazed to receive a telegram from Cousin Jay, “All is arranged. We’ll meet the evening train.”
– Frances Rhea Reed
“I remember… That there may not have been a McAlester General Hospital without your leadership and financial support, and without the hospital McAlester would be hurt beyond description. Thanks for this valuable contribution to our City. On the lighter side, I shall always remember the Christmas parties given by Mrs. Josephine Townsend at her ranch and the manner in which you entered into the festivities, especially the group singing.”
– Harry W. Owens, Mayor
“I remember Mr. J.G. Puterbaugh as a wonderful host. I remember the fun and enjoyment at one of his New Year’s musical parties when I was privileged to be a guest and the pleasure he got from singing, and especially some that he sang with my niece’s husband, Bill Kanady. I shall never forget that New Year’s.”
– Dorothea Cook
“Cousin Jay had come to Malakoff on a business trip and stopped in to see us. My mother had just baked light bread and he asked her to explain how she did it. During the explanation, she rubbed her fingers together and said, ‘I like to feel the dough,’ and Cousin Jay remarked, ‘A lot of people like to do that.'”
– Mary Mitcham
“During the early days of the East Texas oil boom, I was with Uncle Jay when he was trying to get one of the co-owners of an oil lease to pay for his share of some equipment. This man was extremely pompous and reluctant to part with any of his money. Later, when we were driving back to the hotel, he said, ‘Bill, I think the trouble with Mr. Blank is that he is a self-made man and he worships his creator.”
– William A. Roever
“During the summer of 1947 a group of our community leaders, including physicians, brought into focus a growing surge of interest in establishing what is now the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation. I was requested to enlist Mr. J.G. Puterbaugh’s interest in this movement and to get his permission for his election as the first permanent president of the Foundation. I called Mr. Puterbaugh long distance and revealed briefly our proposal for the Foundation and our desire to have him serve as the Foundation’s first president, following preliminary organization. After I reviewed the program with him, he said, without hesitation, ‘I will do it. I’m sold on such an idea as proposed to advance medical research in Oklahoma.’ Sold he was, for he served this new and vital organization with distinction. On September 19, 1947, at the first formal meeting of the group, he was officially elected. In April, 1950, while still President, Mr. Puterbaugh contributed $100,000 to the Foundation, making it the largest cash contribution to date. A few months later I remember he said, ‘We’ve been able to make a few investments that have paid off somewhat more abundantly than we had a right to expect. Such modest investments we’ve been able to make in charitable enterprises have paid even more in satisfaction. They have been bread cast upon the water.’ I remember well his great and enthusiastic deeds, nor shall I ever forget.”
– Stanley Draper
“I remember… Back in the 1930’s and 1940’s the fun we all had at the home of J.G. Puterbaugh when he would come in with a car full of ‘fire-sale bargains’ ranging from toothbrushes or handkerchiefs to a barrel full of exquisite Royal Doulton figurines! (The latter he purchased in England during the depression to help keep some of the British merchants from going into bankruptcy – Miss Mattie’s version!) Also, I remember the ‘shoe-sale’ parties as typical and most amusing! One day a car full of fire-sale shoes drove up to 345 East Adams and deposited about 50 pairs of shoes of every size and description! Just imagine the fun and excitement everybody had trying to fit themselves! The understanding being, if the shoe fits, wear it!”
– Carrie Webster
“When I think of our Uncle Jay, I am at once reminded of Niagara Falls and the Rock of Gibralter, the irresistible force and the immovable object. When he puts his shoulder to the wheel, ‘something’s gotta give.’ He can be fierce as a lion and calm as a spring day – all at the same time; strong as an elephant and yet weak as a kitten when he hears the call of need. Every place he goes is the better for his having been there. To paraphrase a line from Kipling’s ‘IF:’ ‘He has walked with Kings and kept the common touch.'”
– Hazel Sansing Chaney
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