Pub. 54 2013-2014 Issue 3

14 I n the ten years that Joe Thigpen worked as Dealer Relations Counsel for TADA, he became a friend of Texas dealers and a force in youth education as the Texas State Director for AYES. The dream of every young boy is to grow up to be a star football player, a cowboy, an attorney, an educator, a devoted family man, an airplane pilot, an accomplished outdoorsman or a community leader. The life’s work of Joseph Emitt Thigpen met every one of those standards and more. As gentle as he was humble, Joe Thigpen touched many lives in his 68 years and was taken much too soon for all who knew him. A graduate of the Texas Tech University School of Law with an undergraduate from Abilene Christian University, Joe was a private practice attorney in his hometown of Haskell, and Haskell County District Attorney before joining TADA in 2003. A true Texan, forged on the high plains out west where the farmers and ranchers find relief from their toil under the blazing sun every Friday night in hundreds of high school football stadiums from Abilene to Amarillo. Joe Thigpen’s legend on the gridiron is still vivid in the memory of the hometown fans and the opponents who couldn’t corral the swift running back for the Haskell Indians. A legendary athlete in both football and track, Joe went from a 2A high school to a football scholarship at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. John Kimbrough, another legendary Haskell Indian, eulogized Joe by recalling how he led the blocking in high school by Joe placing his hand on his hip to direct which way he wanted him to block to spring him for another dash to the end zone. Many of the memories at the service in Haskell were about number 22. It is a measure of this extraordinary man that 50 years after he played high school football in Haskell, Texas, they still remember Joe Thigpen’s jersey number. As accomplished at horsemanship as he was on the football field, Joe was a roper on the rodeo team at Abilene Christian and those who knew him best say that some of the happiest days of his life were spent as a professional cowboy on the famous 6666 Ranch near Guthrie. Joe’s maternal grandfather and great- uncle were his law partners in Haskell. His father, Dr. JoeThigpen, practiced medicine for half a century in West Texas and was lovingly known as Doctor Joe. Even Joe’s grandfather, Dr. Joseph Thigpen, was a medical doctor, making three generations of professionals, doctors on his father’s side and lawyers on his mother’s. With all his accomplishments and ser- vice to Texas, Joe was most proud of his grandchildren, Jaxon and Jenna. Whether taking them fishing along with his son-in- law, Jason Trammell or spending holidays and weekends with his beloved daughter, Jodi and the family outside of Fort Worth, Joe reveled in teaching Jaxon how to shoot and ride, and telling him stories of riding the range in days gone by. As Jodi Trammell says about her dad, “He would talk to anyone, especially if they were wearing a Texas Tech logo. He loved sports, hunting, and fishing. My dad liked to say he was a ‘real cowboy’ and a ‘mountain man.’ He never missed the opening day of dove or deer season. He had an impressive gun collection and loved to train bird dogs. Despite being a rugged man, he had a soft side to him and would do anything to help others.” At the funeral services at the First United Methodist Church in Haskell, the beautifully ornate wooden casket was adorned with Joe’s saddle off of his favorite cutting horse, Skipper Dog, his roping lariat affixed to the side and his black felt hat on the saddle horn. An honest depic- tion of a true Texan whose word was his bond, whose life was lived well, and who will remain in the hearts of all who knew him and appreciated him for who he was.  The Cowboy Rides Away