ACTIVE AGE
“I said I would retire at 80 but that didn’t happen. Maybe in another 20 years.” —Jimmy Graves
Jimmy Graves may be retired from teaching high school math but at age 85, he has still not retired from his other job as a tree trimmer.
“I said I would retire at 80 but that didn’t happen. Maybe in another 20 years,” he said.
He has been trimming trees in the Texarkana area for about 50 years. His highest tree was probably 100 feet, he said.
Graves finds cutting trees and limbs relaxing and enjoys working outdoors.
His job with trees began when an uncle enlisted his help cutting a tree down for someone. They were able to do the job and a nice cleanup for a modest price, The woman was so pleased she told her friends and before the week was out, they were getting more work.
When Graves started working with his uncle, they didn’t have a small chain saw to carry up in the tree. They had to cut those limbs with a manual bow saw, which took much more time and effort.
Graves has had many helpers throughout the years, but has never allowed them to climb the trees. He considers that his job.
He admits the work can sometimes be dangerous. But in 50 years working on trees, he has only had two serious accidents.
When he was 35, he was high in a tree when it suddenly broke off from the bottom (it was hollow inside but he said you couldn’t tell from the outside). The tree (with him in it) fell over into the street and fractured his pelvis.
Graves jokes that the good part about that accident was he had a great excuse to miss teachers’ in-service training the week before
school started.
“You usually had to be on your death bed to miss in-service but they let me miss it that year,” he said.
He started school that year on crutches.
“The kids were pretty nice to me since I was on crutches,” he said.
When he was 70, he was 25 feet up a ladder cutting limbs. He only had one more limb to go when he untied his safety line from the tree. When he cut that last limb, a twig from the limb caught the safety line that was attached to his safety belt and pulled him down out of the tree. He was knocked unconscious and airlifted to a Little Rock hospital where he stayed for several weeks.
The accident broke his pelvis and fractured his back.
“I have an accident every 35 years so not due one for another 20 years,” Graves said. “I guess I will quit after that.”
Graves was born in Dierks, Arkansas, in 1936. His father was killed on December 1944 in the Battle of the Bulge. Graves’ mother raised her three children as a single mother and made sure they knew the value of hard work.
His family did not have electricity at their home south of Dierks until he was about 12 years old.
In an odd coincidence, his high school girlfriend, Patricia Teague, had also lost her father in the Battle of the Bulge.
Graves said the tight-knit community of Dierks was a good place to grow up since people looked out for each other.
“The whole town looked out for us after my father died,” he said.
In 1955, Graves married his childhood sweetheart, Patricia.
“She was one of a kind,” he said. He went to Texarkana College after high school and then went back to Dierks for a year and worked at Dierks Lumber and Coal Co. In 1957, he enrolled at Henderson State University and earned a teaching degree.
He and Patricia had three children, two daughters and one son. Patricia also got her teaching degree from Henderson. They moved to West Memphis to teach in 1959 and then moved to Texarkana where Graves taught at North Heights Junior High School from 1960 to 1963.
He taught at Westlawn Junior High from 1963 to 1984 and Texas High School from 1984 to 1989.
He said he enjoys meeting all the different people he comes in contact with through his work.
His favorite tree to cut is an oak tree because it makes the best firewood. Patricia died about five years ago. Graves said his wife was very talented.
“She could play piano, drums and the French horn. She could also sing perfect with perfect pitch and she wrote short stories.”
Graves is “Granddaddy” to eight grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.
When he is not cutting trees, he is usually splitting wood or delivering firewood. He also has a vegetable garden. Other than the garden, Graves said he doesn’t really have hobbies.
“I can’t do anything but cut trees and teach school” he said.
His family adds another thing he is good at.
“His tree business really keeps him busy but he always has time for his family,” said daughter Diane Crain.