In Memoriam

Denzil Shannon

Denzil Shannon, the father of Vicki Oubre, died at the age of 89 on October 10, 2007, and is survived by his wife, two sons, four daughters, twelve grandchildren and nineteen great-grandchildren. The following rememberance was read by Tonya Roberts, his niece by marriage, at his graveside service and is reprinted here to honor his passing.

How does that song go? "My heroes have always been cowboys..." (music by Willie Nelson) Well, cowboys and soldiers... Roddy and I talked about how we hardly missed a Saturday matinee with John Wayne either killing Germans or driving cattle on a cattle drive. I think we all felt safer knowing he had been out there "taking care of business".

Actually, the real heroes were all around us: our fathers, uncles, neighbors and friends. Like Denzil, they stepped up when their country called.

Denzil was married with a family in 1944 when his country called, but they needed him and he refused to be seen as a "slacker". Actually, I guess General George S. Patton needed him, because he ended up in the 3rd Army in some really special places like Chekoslovakia, the Rhine River and the Battle of the Bulge, to name a few. Talk about Heroes!

[His wife] Gwen was living in Menard, Texas with [daughters] Sierra and Earline, but Denzil's Mother and Dad were living out in the country on the Armour Ranch. Back then, it took a while for news to filter that far out into the country and [his father and mother] Garland and Pearl had had no news of Denzil for quite some time. Imagine the feeling of dread that Garland must have felt when he rode up that December day and saw the car at the house with Gwen, Earnest and Gay and all the kids. Roddy remembers that it took Garland a long time to come in from the barn. And, even though he was only five, Roddy still remembers the look of pain and sadness turning to disbelief and joy as Denzil stepped into the room. What a Christmas surprise that must have been!

I asked Gwen where she and Denzil met and she said it was in Menard. We were talking about him and I remarked that he had the most beautiful blue eyes and she agreed. She shared that he might not have been the most handsome man, but he did have those blue eyes! I laughed and said, "Yeah, and that stubborn Shannon jaw", and she laughed and said "Yes, and his Shannon and my Oliver could sure get into it sometimes." However, looking around at all of this family, I'm betting that those blue eyes must have won out at least part of the time.

This is where the cowboy part comes in: Gwen tells me that a few months after Denzil got out of the service, they moved to the Armour Ranch and he began working as a ranch hand. It seems he found one of his true loves: horses! And he was known as quite a good cowboy in his time.

When I asked her what she wanted people to know about him, she replied that he was an honest man who made his living as a farmer and rancher, and that he loved to ride horses, dance and drink a little beer.

So you can see what I mean... "My heroes have always been cowboys".

A personal note from Michael:Denzil also was possessed of a mischievous sense of humor and loved to laugh - a trait he also passed along to his children. He helped Vicki and I get started in the vineyard business by finding the pretty little property where we planted our first vineyard, and helped turn a city boy into at least a halfway-decent farmer with his advice and lively interest in our place. He even helped with the winemaking in our first several non-commercial vintages and liked having a gallon jug or two of wine around the place.

We'll miss his laugh and that devilish glint in his blue eyes.