As the founder of Patriot Dream, I am taking the liberty of presenting the first Patriot of the Month for this site, (and, since I cannot separate out the two, I am making it “Patriots of the Month”, my grandfather, Clarence G. “Tex” Fulkerson and my Grandmother, Mildred Fukerson, husband and wife for 64 years before Grandpa Tex died in 1996.)

This website will have a “National” Patriot of the Month, and a “Nominated” Patriot of the Month.  “National” will come from the founders and operators of the site, “Nominated” from our visitors (see instructions below).  As time goes on, we may go with Patriots of the Week, and may have multiple nominations; but every journey starts with a single step, you know…

Born Clarence G. Fulkerson on September 13, 1911, my Grandfather, while young, acquired the name “Tex” and never relinquished it until his death in the year 2000 at the age of 96. Tex was a mountain of a man: strong, virile, and deeply patriotic.

During the Great Depression, Tex, as an ice man, hauling giant blocks of ice up flights of stairs in the days before electricity, supported 11 people in his family.

At the age of 35, he volunteered to serve in the Navy in World War II.  His vision was terrible, but the entrance medics waved him on through, and he operated the laundry on the ship. Because he was older than his shipmates heading to the South Pacific, he was known as “Pops”.

Upon his return to Oklahoma, Tex became a Scoutmaster. He and Mildred raised four successful children, but he served as a mentor and an amazing storyteller for dozens of Boy Scouts. (Tex outlived all his friends, but his funeral was attended by over two hundred people. Many were his former Scouts.)  I am posting, today, a blog based on an experience I had with Grandpa Tex around 1970.

For my words about Mildred, I turn to my mother, Dr. Beverly Croskery.  As she notes:

“Mildred Estelle Bell Fulkerson. Mother was a college graduate and taught school in Oklahoma and Arkansas. She was a smart lady (Valedictorian of her class) and was a typing whiz. She had also been Miss Bristow of 1928. She was married to Tex 64 years before his death in 1996.  When Dad went off to fight in World War II, she went to New York to be near him until he shipped out. The picture is of them on a night out during that period. Mother was a wonderful teacher and said she never saw a child she could not teach to read. She also loved books and almost completed a degree in Library Science.The first picture is of her in 1930, her ‘Flapper’ years. She was a great storyteller, loved to paint and had an unforgettable laugh.  She passed away in 2001 at the age of 90.”

Tex and Mildred loved hosting their grandchildren on their farm, “Stardust Acres”, named after “their song”. It was exciting indeed to drive up the dirt road to their farm, after passing places with such names as “Mammoth, Arkansas” (population 300), Yellville, and Lead Hill.     Grandpa Tex and Mildred loved God, loved America, and loved their families. No better lives have ever been lived, so they serve as my first Nominated “Patriots of the Month”.
I am sure you have great stories to share about your own Patriots, living or deceased. Just follow the instructions below.

Grandpa Tex as “the Ice Man” during the Great Depression
Grandpa Tex and Mildred in New York in 1944