Ouida Gage and Tracy Burns
Betty Davis
At 92 years of age, Ouida Gage lives an active life and has the distinction of being the most senior member of the Wildhorse Lady Niners (WLN) Golf Association. Born and raised in Texas, she describes herself as a “country girl” who likes to stay busy. I describe her as a woman of determination, perseverance, grit, and inspiration.
Ouida moved to Robson Ranch two years ago at 90 and quickly joined the WLN. She loves sports in general, but golf especially for the fellowship. She has always led an active life, beginning when playing basketball and volleyball in school and on outside leagues as well after graduation. She also loves to dance.
Ouida married her first husband Johnny while a junior in high school at 15 years of age. Johnny was five years her senior. She did not return for her senior year of school. Together they had four children; three boys (Don, Darrell, and Todd) and a daughter (Billie). Johnny was busy building a future for them by creating and nurturing a trucking company to haul cattle. Ouida kept the children and supported the business administratively. You might say she had her hands full. But something gnawed at her. She wanted to go back and get her high school diploma and walk at graduation. She promised herself when her youngest child started first grade she would return to class also. By now, 10 years had passed and Ouida was 25. She met with the superintendent of schools and inquired if she would be able to join the senior class. Amazingly, her request was granted! The first semester was nearly over, and the superintendent told her she had to make up the first semester work, but she could join in the second semester. Pushing further, she asked if she would be able to walk at graduation with her classmates. Well, yes, she could. Then came the final fine point of her request. Would she be able to play on the sports teams with her classmates? Against all odds, the answer was yes, and play she did! She and her team won the district high school volleyball tournament that year. She also proudly walked the stage and accepted her diploma. Oh, and by the way, she was also the class salutatorian.
Johnny grew their trucking business to a point where they owned 32 double-decker trucks. One time, Ouida received a call from him that she needed to “get down here as soon as possible,” because the other driver who was supposed to drive the truck to California from Texas didn’t show up. Ouida had received some training on the trucks, but she didn’t want to be driving a big rig; however, she rose to the occasion and joined Johnny to accompany him on the trip, driving her fair share of miles.
Up until the time their oldest child graduated high school, Ouida and her family moved 17 times. She and Johnny eventually sold their trucking business and bought two cattle ranches in New Mexico and leased a third ranch in El Paso, but they remained living in North Central Texas.
They also started a business in Floydada, Texas. It was the Floydada Livestock Auction, and it became a family affair. Their son Don was the auctioneer, and brother Darrell and sister Billie worked right along with Johnny and Ouida. Don and Darrell’s wives LaNell and Janice joined in as well. No stranger to hard work, Ouida did everything except the auctioneering, including bookkeeping and weighing the cattle! Younger brother Todd took a different route and decided to pursue flying. Today he is based in Memphis and is a pilot for American Airlines.
Johnny had an interest in flying and had decided years earlier while they still had their trucking business to get his pilot’s license. He had purchased a single-engine plane and was certified to operate it. It was useful for transportation between their home and their distant ranches. It was a smaller plane, so he decided to trade it for a twin-engine plane with more room to transport saddles and supplies. Since the larger plane had different aeronautical characteristics, Johnny needed to be certified to operate it. One day he received a call that an instructor in Lubbock had some time to go up with him for his “check ride” to certify him. He flew to Lubbock for the opportunity; unfortunately, he and the instructor perished that day during the check ride. The reason for the accident was never known. Ouida and Johnny had been married for 30 years.
Ouida was a widow for 10 years before she met her second husband Jerry, a divorced father of two sons. Ouida’s best friend Glenna knew Jerry, because he taught her son at Clarendon College in Texas, but Ouida never met him until one fateful evening when she, Glenna, and some friends went to a rodeo where there was a dance afterwards. Did I mention Ouida loves to dance? The sparks flew, and she and Jerry became husband and wife.
Jerry was a member of the Clarendon Country Club and was an accomplished and avid golfer. Ouida had attempted golf with some friends a few years before she was widowed, but she had never had a professional lesson. Jerry took her under his wing and developed her into a very respectable golfer, having a handicap at one time of 18! If you aren’t a golfer, you may think “big deal,” and you would be right. It is a big deal, a really big deal!
Ouida and Jerry enjoyed 24 years of marriage until she was widowed a second time. She remained in Clarendon until she decided to move to Robson Ranch. Ouida determined she wanted to build a house rather than purchase a preowned dwelling. Ouida’s son Darrell is now a builder and lives close by in Decatur. During the building of her new house, he would drop by and check on construction for her. One day a neighbor introduced herself and started chatting with him. He told his mom about the neighbor and introduced her. Enter Tracy Burns, the neighbor who lives directly behind and one house adjacent to Ouida’s.
Tracy and Ouida are together a lot and have formed a friendship of such depth that Tracy refers to her as her “adopted mother” and “my best friend.” Tracy is instrumental in Ouida’s being able to keep so active and in good health. She and Ouida go to the Fitness Center to work out every other day, barring any other commitments. But that is not all ….
Tracy enthusiastically fills an important role for Ouida to continue to play golf. Ouida has macular degeneration, an eye condition that requires her to see specialists for low-vision prescriptions. She can see about 75 yards in front of her, but her vision issue keeps her from seeing where her ball lands when she plays golf. Ouida needs a spotter, and that is where Tracy shines. Tracy does not play golf, but she attended the WLN Academy to learn how to keep pace of play and other rules of golf etiquette. Tracy drives the golf cart and assists Ouida by telling her how far away the flag is, helping Ouida get set in the proper direction to aim her swing, and retrieving the errant ball that decides to go to the beach in the sand traps! That doesn’t happen often, though. Ouida has a great drive and swing. She can really send the ball flying. With her vision challenge, her handicap is no longer listed as 18, but it was raised at her request. She just felt that was the right thing to do.
Ouida believes church is important, family is important, and people should be grateful for what they have. Her oldest son Don developed terminal lung disease years after having bravely served our nation as a Marine and being exposed to Agent Orange during the Vietnam war. She has her two remaining sons and her daughter and daughters-in-law living close enough to see them regularly. Ouida is blessed to have 8 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren.
So, now you’ve met a woman who, against the odds, married young, had four children, went back and finished high school, was widowed in her first marriage, moved more times than I would even want to think about, survived the death of a son, found happiness again in her second marriage, was widowed again, pulled up roots and built a house at 90, works out, and still plays golf, even with vision issues! If this does not exemplify determination, perseverance, grit, and inspiration, I need a new dictionary!