Page 124 - Abilene Living

As the old saying goes “Forty three years ago, I could not even spell historian. Now I are one.” Some people become historians without even realizing it. That is what happened to me. I have only had one job in my life and that is being a funeral director in Abilene at our family funeral home.

My family moved to Abilene in 1945 from El Campo, Texas when my dad bought Laughter Funeral Home from Dan T. Laughter. I was fourteen months old. My parents, Russell and Willena North, helped a lot of pioneer families when they lost a loved one. I would sit around and listen to stories of early Abilene from these families. I would love to hear how things were when they were young in Abilene. They would tell me where the early businesses were located, how they served their customers, and how their products were used.

The Texas and Pacifc Railroad was always important to Abilene. The railroad would bring people and merchandise to town. People would watch the trains come in and who would get off. Sometimes, they would just stretch their legs and get back on the train. Businesses would take their wagons up to loading ramps and load their products and merchandise and take them to their place of business.

As I got older, I joined the Boy Scouts and got inducted into the Order of the Arrow which you had to be voted on to get into the select group of scouts. One of their requirements was that you had to make an Indian costume from scratch. You had

Jack North never intended on becoming a historian, much less the notorious Cactus Jack, but once he started collecting people’s stories and memories, he knew the job was

right for him.