The award for Jim Tom Kelton, who was hospitalized and unable to attend the event, was presented to his son, Bob.
Kelton was born a third generation horseman and cattleman. Although he lived in Pecos during his high school years, he spent weekends and summers on the Anderson and Dixieland Ranches. After serving as a Marine during World War II, he went back to ranching and gradually took over as manager of both ranches, and eventually became a partner in Dixieland when his father, the noted Mr. Frank, died in 1961.
It is said that Kelton was a traditionalist in the way he handled cattle.
“He handled men the same way,” said Steagall, “as quiet as possible. He was not known to do much talking, so when he did talk, the men listened as orders were given and occasional bits of wisdom were shared.”
Upon accepting the award on behalf of his father, Bob Kelton announced that the Kelton family is donating his grandfather, Frank Kelton’s diaries to the Haley Library.
“The only thing I really wanted to say is, Ms. Parsons in her talk this evening, said we need to document our lives, need to write it down,” Kelton said, referring to a previous talk made by Judith Parsons of Sul Ross, a participant on the History Panel.
“My granddad, Frank Kelton, did that,” Kelton continued. “He came to the Pecos Country in 1897 and, as far as we know, he started keeping a diary at that time and kept a diary until he passed away in the 0s. And, after he passed away, a lot of his diary disappeared. We don’t know what happened to it.
“But, about 15 to 20 years ago, it’s just before Evetts Haley, Sr. got sick, I ran into him in Mentone – he was eating a hamburger in Mentone, Texas of all places – but, he asked me about those diaries and asked if the family might consider donating them to the library.
“I told him I had no idea, so just a few days before my dad got sick, I asked him about that and he said, ‘Well, that sounds like a good deal to me,’ so we’re donating his diaries, all of his documents, to the Haley Library.”
Jim Tom Kelton later passed away in Reeves County Hospital on October 1, 2002, and was buried at Mount Evergreen Cemetery in Pecos.
