The old saying that you can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy perfectly applies to our hometown, country boy J. P. Dobbs. Notice: This description does not apply to his wife, Sylvia, because she was born in the city, raised in the city and has Dallas, Texas city-blood running through her veins.
The question here is how can two people with totally opposite backgrounds come together in marriage and make it for one-half century living ONLY in the country, and I do mean COUNTRY.
Have you been down Linn Flat Road lately? The two (Linn Flat Road and Country) are synonymous. It's where the pavement ends.
J.P. is the product of a long line of Garrison heritage. His mother lovingly called Curly DeLoney was born and raised on-farther-back-up Linn Flat Road where her parents and grandparents made their homes. Upon becoming a young woman, Curly married Preston Dobbs. The couple joined Garrison Methodist Church, sent their kids to Garrison Public Schools and thus began J.P.'s indoctrination into the wonders and beauty of East Texas country life. His was a life filled with fishing, gardening, tractor riding, swimming in the creek, horseback riding, camping and going deer hunting.
Sylvia, on the other hand, spent her formative years in several cities including Marshall, Longview, Houston and Dallas. Although she admits to being a city girl who loved all of the advantages of city life, she also admits that managing the changes associated with moving from one place to another was somewhat unsettling for her and pretty much of big deal when you get right down to it. Even before she met J. P. she solemnly vowed, " When I marry I am going to move to one place and STAY THERE."
What can a small town like Garrison, Texas offer a young couple starting their life together? Well, it has provided job opportunity. J.P. has spent many years in the banking business in Garrison and Nacogdoches. To his credit he has chalked up a 30-year career and has survived three banking takeovers. He presently serves on the Deep East Texas Electric Coop Board of Directors holding most if not all of the Board's official positions. Through the years his Garrison Methodist Church affiliation has utilized his talents including everything from plumbing cleanup to Finance Chairman. He is a lifelong member of the Garrison Lions Club and this year was aptly elected Garrison Citizen of the Year 2005.
Job opportunity for Sylvia has always been and continues to be the responsibility of her loving family. She and J. P. have two children, Kim and Jim who now each have two children of their own providing their parents with a total of four grandchildren. Mostly to Sylvia's credit, the Dobbs home is filled with treasures of tradition including everything from handmade Christmas ornaments to family photos and all sorts of family heirlooms. Sylvia is an avid collector displaying her treasures to promote her family heritage and her children's interests. She is also an accomplished writer with a decade of experience with the Garrison News. Her talents are too numerous to name but at the top of the list are her writing ability, church associated activities and friendships, jewelry collection, general love of all things antique, interior design and her handyman's pursuit of House Beautiful. She collects and displays beautiful things but is not above the painting and scraping drudgery of bottom-line home improvement.
So, maybe our city girl lucked-out when she met our hometown country boy at Stephen F. Austin State University so many years ago where they were both in pursuit of higher education. But what matters most to us is that they found each other, settled in Garrison, joined Garrison Methodist Church, built their home, raised their family and are right now in the process of living together happily ever after in the country.
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