Volume 2 , Issue 10

Freedom Oklahoma Rodeo 2001

64th Annual Rodeo & Cowhand Reunion Foy Waldrop - 2001 Honored Old Cowhand(text written by Brett Smith) -- There's a place... about five miles west of Freedom, Oklahoma, right along highway 64, that has caused many a harried traveler to slow down, and many a leisurely traveler to stop in his tracks. It's a quaint little place nestled in a valley along Sand Creek.

The modest farmhouse is bordered by an assortment of seasonal blooms and a small, well-manicured yard. Several brightly whitewashed out-buildings surround the home, and an assortment of antique curios placed with care each seem to have a fascinating story to tell.

From the front porch looking westward out across a low-rolling grass meadow, to a gypsum ridge rising toward the sky, must appear some of the most beautiful sunsets in all the world. With but a glance, it's obvious to see that this peaceful-looking place and its occupants, must be a source of immense pride, family tradition, and pure contentment with country life.

And if you look around for a moment or two, your gaze is likely to fall on a big, tanned gentleman wearing overalls and a weathered straw hat, and riding pasture through his cows. He's one source of that pride, and his name is Foy Wardrop, our 2001 "Honored Old Cowhand."

The other source of that pride will be nearby. But if by then you;ve decided to stroll on down for a handshake, you'd better keep your eyes and ears wide open. You'll most likely have already been noticed, and will be heartily welcomed. But in the unlikely event you haven't yet been accounted for by Foy's wife Nena, you might end up resembling a cow patty in the lane when she comes racing aound the barn... on her go-cart.

One of the most remarkable characteristics that people recognize about Foy Wardrop is his smile. It's an ear to ear grin that appears easily and often. And best of all, it's genuine. Foy truly enjoys people, and he loves to visit. In his words, "I never met a stranger in my life. I don't know nothin' about strangers. I don't care where I go. I get acquainted with somebody."

Foy was born to Jim Wardrop (honored old cowhand 1973) and Marie Wardrop on January 28, 1925 at the home of his aunt and uncle, just west of where he now lives. His grandfather, Thomas L. Wardrop homesteaded in the immediate area. Foy grew up in a busy household that included his brothers Basil and Billy Dee; a sister, Ella Grace (Wardrop) Bradt; and a niece, Karan (Bradt) Holliday. He attended the elementary grades in the one-room schoolhouse of Plainview, and a favorite memory from those days is of riding with his dad in a wagon hauling wheat from Lookout to Edith.

Foy's mother Marie, was a mail carrier, and she would load her three small children in a Model-T, and deliver the mail back and forth between the towns of Edith and Lookout. Along the way, they would pick up cans of cream from other farmsteads and deliver them too. Foy later was an accomplished athlete in basketball and basebaall at Freedom High School, and was much involved in FFA before graduating in 1943.

Foy has always had a love for horses, and at the age of six, he began working with them and his family to get all the necessary day's work done. He remembers the hard task of farming with a mule team, and still teases Billy Dee about all the fun he missed out on for being ten years younger. He recalls working for a neighbor one summmer during a particularly difficult financial time, and using the dollar-a-day wages to buy school clothes.

Later, he and his brother, Basil, broke horses for a time to earn some extra money. When there wasn't work to be done, Foy was almost always astride a horse, saddle tor not. He rode to and from school, and throughout the countryside for social gatherings. He fondly tells of the times when he would tie the running board of a Model-T behind his horse to make a sled, and he would pull his classmates to and from school, or just for fun at recess breaks. Once, his schoolteacher, Mary Chase, even decided to join in on the fun. And with the rambunctious excitement of a typical boy, Foy proceeded to bounce her around the schooyard hard enough to fracture her tailbone! The results - Foy had to got to school early for a month to split wood and get a good fire going before the opening bell.

Foy followed in his father's footsteps just after high school, and he purchased his first set of Hereford cows in 1943. He continued to work with his father in the cattle business. Foy met Nena May Olson, whose parents, Lewis and Ida Olson, also homesteaded in the area, while he attended church at the District 41 schoolhouse. (Nena's brother, Wilbur, was "Honored Old Cowhand" in 1982).

They were married at the home of Basil and Billye Wardrop in December of 1947. The years that followed just kept getting better, as their family grew to include children: Doyle, Connie, Jana, and Jill.

Aside from their deep and abiding affection for each other, Foy and Nena's lives have always centered on their family. Nena is proud to say that she spent countless hours preparing three square meals each day for the family to eat together at the kitchen table. Mealtime was a much planned and anticipated event rather than a routine ritual. The conversations were lively and entertaining, and the bonds that resulted remain unbreakable to this day.

Foy and Nena still remember the wide-eyed excitement of youngest daughter, Jill, when she first began attending school at Freedom. "It's such a big, fancy place that they have pans in the locker rooms and you have to stick our feet in 'em so you don't get Catholics foot!"

Doyle especially remembers the time soon after he began walking, that after getting thrown from a horse three times with Foy continuing to announce that Doyle "just fell off on purpose", Foy finally proclaimed after Doyle's fourth aerial plight, "By gosh, he really is buckin', ain't he!"

Connie's special memory of Foy is undoubtedly related to the manner in which an experienced cattleman sometimes converses with his stock, for she could always hear her dad's voice far above the rest of the crowd, hollering for her on the basketball court!

Jana's horse-tale involves a misinterpretation of the cowboy language. After riding her horse most of the day searching for that 'ol crop-eared cow' Foy had ordered up, he finally caught up with her in search of that 'blankety-blank loop-eared cow' she couldn't find.

AndJill agrees with the rest of her siblings that it was a privilege to grow up on the family farm and share the bounty of her youth with the youngsters who have come along since.

Nena admits that the only time she has ever heard Foy utter a cuss word was during a futile moment long ago, when he was trying to start a Model-T with a hand crank. And Nena recalls the first time Doyle phoned home during basic training drills in the Army. He reported, "Mom, they just scream and holler and insult us from morning till night, and my upbrininging sure didn't prepare me very well for this!"

The kids, all of whom are grown and rearing their own families, admit that the thing they most remember their dad telling them was this simple truth, "The best thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother."

After their children were grown, and had begun their separate lives away from the farm, Foy and Nena continued with their busy lifestyles. Foy helped his mother, Marie, manage her ranch following the death of his father. He and Nena kept their bond with Marie, caring for her during her last thirteen years after she was confined to a wheelchair. Nena helped as usual on both farms and also drove a school bus for 32 years. They even adopted the two-mile stretch of Highway 64 fronting the farm, a gracious and burdensome commitment during which they recently bagged up 347 aluminum cans, thanks to the irresponsible. Foy and Nena continue to be loyal volunteers during the rodeo's "Chuckwagon Feed, " and activity that Foy began helping his parents with over 45 years ago.

Today, their lives have hardly slowed down at all. Foy still rides pasture several times a week on his favorite horse, "Linsey." Nena is a bustle of activity in helping care for the farm. She literally walks as many miles as Foy rides! She is constantly lending a helping hand to their church and to neighbors in need, and is currently stitching #197 in a magnificent array of beautiful quilts that she gives to others.

And oh, how Foy and Nena can still cut a rug! Foy learned to dance as a little boy, and because he was often invited to area house dances due to his dancing talent, he just might have been the subject of that term. Foy and Nena still eat three home-cooked meals a day, and Nena routinely prepares a full Sunday dinner. There is always company on Sunday afternoons, and Thanksgiving or Easter can mean as many as 25 family members and friends at the ranch.

One friend, Phillip Schultz, had this to say, "Foy and Nena are the most positive people I have ever known, and they get it from each other."

Adjoining neighbor, Juanita Trammell, and a lifelong neighbor in the immediate area, Gilbert Carlson, agree that Foy and Nena are simply "good freinds in the truest sense."

Behind their easy smiles and genuine affection toward all, lies the answer to Foy and Nena Wardrop's unbridled enthusiasm for life itself.... love for each other. Despite the cumbersome burdens that could easily deter commitments to forge a living from the land, raise a family to be proud of, and give generously to others, the most-welcomed presence at the Wardrop Farm has always been love. Because of that, Foy and Nena can now enjoy real prosperity and contentment. What began as a simple, but honest promise to abide in each other, has now been nurtured over 53 years into the kind of confidence that would cause an "old cowhand" to know, without a doubt, that the perfect gift he should buy for his lifelong sweetheart is.... a go-cart!

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