Charles Dean Straley

Charles Dean Straley was born in Novice, Texas on Jan 19, 1891. He attended Simmons College in Abilene, Texas for one year. He became a school teacher and taught at the school in Tecumseh, Callahan County, Texas.  Then later at the grade school in the nearby community of Oplin, Texas.  Love blossomed between Charley and one of his students, a spunky Annie Laura Windham.  She became his wife on December 21, 1913. Lollie, as she preferred to be called, was the daughter of one of the area's prominent horsemen and ranchers, Tom Windham. After living in Oplin for a year or so, her father gave them a spread of land in Eastern Callahan County.  Charley gave up teaching, and along with Lollie and three children, then began to run a successful ranch.

They sent their two daughters to college. Frankie Lee attended Hardin-Simmons college and married Jack Hancock.  Elsie went to Abilene Christian College and married E. Earl Durham. They both married soon after. When World War II consumed the world, Charley Tom Straley, the youngest, joined the Army and traveled to the Japanese islands. When he came home, he married Peggy Sansom and formed Straley and Straley with his father.  Over the years, their ranching enterprise grew to be quite successful.   

I was always impressed by the respect that everyone had for Charley Straley. He was a man of honesty, kindness and humility.  He was educated, yet "country", and he had a great sense of humor. 

We all called him "Dady Straley", and he spelled "daddy" with one "d".  He was a favorite of all his grandkids. We all fondly remember the things we did at the Straley home place. We loved playing "Cowboys and Indians", exploring the dusty attic where THAT picture would always stare at you (It was a picture of his father, Charles C. Straley), gathering eggs from the chicken house, or picking ticks off of mangy dogs' ears. We'd take long walks through the pasture at dusk or a quick trip to the "lot" (cattle pen) to check on heifers about to calf. We'd hop in his old green Ford Apache ("Old Faithful" as he called her) and drive to ranch's largest pond, "Big Tank", to turn on the windmill (of course, Daddy, would wait patiently as we'd drop our lines into the water to catch a perch or, hopefully, a largemouth bass).

It was the time of our lives when we were with him. We loved his kind and gentle ways, though he could cuss you from top to bottom, if you gave him a good reason.

I did on one memorable occasion, as we were branding cattle at the pens one hot Summer day. I was about ten and still a "city kid", so they didn't want me to do much or get into the way.  From my spectator's standpoint, I noticed that my uncle used some gasoline to start the fire for the branding irons.  Just as Dady leaned over to get a fresh iron from some red hot coals, I thought the fire needed some help and I threw a freshly poured can of gas on the pit. Flames exploded upward right into Dady's face.  It singed the hair on every exposed part of his body.  He got "madder than hell" at me for that one. He cussed me for about ten minutes! 

I have many memories even though I knew him a only a relatively short time. One evening, while feeding at the lot, he pulled a bale of hay off the stack and uncovered a very angry rattlesnake. At his age, he couldn't hear its rattle, but I did and screamed, "Dady Straley! Can't you hear nothin'! There's a rattlesnake!" That got his attention and he quickly killed it with a nearby grain shovel.

When I visited in the summers, horses were still used to round up the cattle in Spring for branding. Can you imagine the excitement of riding out to round up cattle with your granddad?!  Dady rode a tan gelding named Buckskin. My horse was gentle Peanut who had hurt his leg many years before and moved very slowly. My Uncle, C.T. Straley, rode a crazy mare named Redbird. She was quite a horse, and no one else could handle or ride her.

I remember Dady had a sweet tooth, and he'd spoon peanut butter and preserves right out of the jar. He loved to smoke his pipe was filled with Sir Walter Raleigh tobacco. He also loved a sip of whiskey now and then.  When Dady would return from the barn, whistling as he walked, it was a sure-fire sign that he'd sampled the whiskey he kept hidden there. Yet, each morning he was up way before sunrise, scrambling eggs, frying bacon and baking biscuits.

He passed away on June 11, 1979. In an almost unreal coincidence, actor John Wayne died that same day (most people don't believe me, but it's true). He, like Wayne, lost his battle with cancer. The Duke was a Western legend on the screen.  Dady Straley was a legend to his family and those who loved him.

-- J. Durham, circa 2001, updated 2008.