Note: My son, Jordie Henry, is now 20 years old. When he was a junior at Randall High School, he had to write a story similar to the format of "Tuesdays With Morrie," for Mr. Lance's English class. He wrote his story about his granddad, Jim Wilcoxson.
With Jordie's permission, I am sharing part three this story.
With Jordie's permission, I am sharing part three this story.
"Oh, What a Life!"
On Nov. 15, 1944, James Marvin Klostar was born. James was adopted by Buddy and "Pokey" Wilcoxson, who were residents of Childress. He grew up in Childress while being called "Jim" or "Jimmy." He would go on to graduate as a Childress Bobcat in 1963, being an all-state basketball player and golfer. His senior year in golf, he won a state championship. This would've never happened had Texas Tech alum Don Kaplan not moved to Childress to teach Jim the game of golf, which he instantly found a passion for.
During school, he met Nicki Sooter, whom we would later marry and go to college at Texas Tech University with. He became a Red Raider on a golf scholarship to play on the team, which was, back in the day, the Southwestern Conference. This must have been a dream come true at the time, as he has always said golf was his number one love.
Jim and Nicki had two children, both daughters, who were 4 years apart: Kim, who is now 47, and Jami, who is 43. During their growing up years, Jim behaved in ways he regrets; he's been on a good path for 30 years now.
Jim went on to become the Amarillo Country Club golf course superintendent at an early age. Jim went back to college at the age of 38 to become a basketball coach at the age of 40.
Jim recalls that the only reason he got into coaching was because his oldest daughter, Kim, had nobody to coach her third-grade basketball team. This (coaching), allergy problems from the golf course, and liking coaching in general made him want to continue to coach.
His coaching career got underway as the volunteer assistant basketball coach for Amarillo College in 1983 under head coach Kelly Chadwick. In 1985, he received his first head coaching position at 1A Booker High School in Booker, Texas, with his youngest daughter, Jami, on the team. After one year, he moved back to Amarillo to become the head coach at Tascosa High School, and coached the Lady Rebel basketball team to its first regional tournament berth in school history.
His most prominent tenure as a head high school basketball coach began in 1989 at the then young Randall High School, which was only two years into its existence. After three years as head of the Lady Raiders, in 1992, he coached them to a state championship ... the first basketball state title in school history. Later on in 1998, he repeated the state championship win as coach of the Randall Lady Raiders in front of his family, including his grandson (myself) Jordie. In 2004, after 15 years as the head coach, he retired. All in all, he recorded 469 career wins, 139 losses and two state championships. This would earn him a spot in the Randall Raider Hall of Fame and the Panhandle Sports Hall of Fame in 2005 as the 135th member.
Throughout this time period at Randall High School, his daughters each gave birth to one son. Jami, the youngest, gave birth to Jordan Cale Henry in 1995, and Kim, the oldest, gave birth to Cole Thomas Migliaccio in 1999.
Also throughout this time period and some years after, Jim showed his family and friends that he was a fighter and a survivor. He went through bouts of melanoma and recently survived and defeated prostate cancer. After it all, he is still "as healthy as a horse," in his terms.
After his retirement in 2004, Jim took up playing golf again and has only played "on the days that end in Y" since then. A usual group of golfing partners accompanies him on a daily basis, and it seems like he couldn't enjoy life more. In the summers, he enjoys playing golf with me, as well, as it is the only free time for golf that I have outside of school and year-round baseball.
His obsession with golf nowadays leads him to a mass purchase of golf clubs, tools, and a trillion golf hats that he gets his money's worth for. Wherever he can, he stops and makes a golf outing. Usually, it's at one of the hundreds of golf courses in the Dallas-Fort Worth region, or it is at the newly constructed Stoney Ridge Golf Club in Childress.
Still having his old touch, he consistently shoots in the low 70s and occasionally breaks 70 into the high 60s. The golf talent that he owns is almost uncanny, although he refuses to believe it because of his humble personality, always shying away from the compliments for his game.
When he isn't playing golf, he enjoys watching Cole and me play baseball on our respective teams. He also started working out several years ago for three to four days a week at Zach's Club 54. Being a licensed personal trainer, he also helps me with workouts after his own.
Throughout his life, he has always stayed strong in his faith in God, and his personality and influence on everybody shows this. Even now, church attendance and Bible study members include him.
He and his wife, Nicki (my grandmother) are two of the best people in the world, and they have been married for 46 strong, healthy years.
JANUARY 27, 2012: It was officially announced that Jim Wilcoxson will be inducted into the Texas High School Basketball Hall of Fame, along with five other members, in San Antonio, Texas. He will be inducted for his career at Randall High School, including two state titles and a playoff spot in every season he coached, and also for his short tenures at Booker High School and Tascosa High School.
Throughout this time period at Randall High School, his daughters each gave birth to one son. Jami, the youngest, gave birth to Jordan Cale Henry in 1995, and Kim, the oldest, gave birth to Cole Thomas Migliaccio in 1999.
Also throughout this time period and some years after, Jim showed his family and friends that he was a fighter and a survivor. He went through bouts of melanoma and recently survived and defeated prostate cancer. After it all, he is still "as healthy as a horse," in his terms.
After his retirement in 2004, Jim took up playing golf again and has only played "on the days that end in Y" since then. A usual group of golfing partners accompanies him on a daily basis, and it seems like he couldn't enjoy life more. In the summers, he enjoys playing golf with me, as well, as it is the only free time for golf that I have outside of school and year-round baseball.
Still having his old touch, he consistently shoots in the low 70s and occasionally breaks 70 into the high 60s. The golf talent that he owns is almost uncanny, although he refuses to believe it because of his humble personality, always shying away from the compliments for his game.
When he isn't playing golf, he enjoys watching Cole and me play baseball on our respective teams. He also started working out several years ago for three to four days a week at Zach's Club 54. Being a licensed personal trainer, he also helps me with workouts after his own.
Throughout his life, he has always stayed strong in his faith in God, and his personality and influence on everybody shows this. Even now, church attendance and Bible study members include him.
He and his wife, Nicki (my grandmother) are two of the best people in the world, and they have been married for 46 strong, healthy years.
JANUARY 27, 2012: It was officially announced that Jim Wilcoxson will be inducted into the Texas High School Basketball Hall of Fame, along with five other members, in San Antonio, Texas. He will be inducted for his career at Randall High School, including two state titles and a playoff spot in every season he coached, and also for his short tenures at Booker High School and Tascosa High School.
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