Wednesday, November 3, 2010

In Memory of


There once lived a man who married his college sweetheart. They had three children and life was good. Tragedy happened when the kids were 11, 10, and 5. His wife, and mother of his kids, passed away. His one and only, although deceased, stayed his one and only. This was a love story that ended too soon. He was and is my father, Walter Ray Jetton - 1930-2010.
Dad was born in Fort Worth, Texas, the son of the King of BBQ, Walter Jetton. After his father passed away in 1968, Dad purchased a radio station in the US Virgin Islands. What better place for someone who loved SCUBA and photography to live. I remember moving into this house my mom called her dream house. She never got to spend one night in that house. The day we were moving in was the day she was rushed to the hospital where she went comatose. Her absence in that house made the three story castle like house seem huge and somewhat spooky. It was only a short time after moving in that she went to be with the Lord. We could not stay in a home that never was, so we moved to Cowpet Bay.
Some random information:
Dad worked for a while at KFJZ in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. This is where he got the idea of owning a radio station.
He met mom when he was going to college in Colorado. Her father and my father were photographers at the time.
He and George Marler taught SCUBA at the Fort Worth YMCA prior to them both moving to the Virgin Islands. George owned the dive shops in the British Virgin Islands where we went on a lot of dives. George's photography has been in prestigous places such as National Geographic. He also worked on several movies such as the Bond movies that were filmed there. He has a great book out called "The Royal Mail Steamer Rhone: A Diving Guide and Brief History of the British Virgin Islands"
After moving back to Texas, Dad become a computer network engineer for the DFW Medical Center where he worked until retirement. 

No comments:

Post a Comment