June 19, 1920 ~ February 21, 2003
David Gordon Odam, Jr.
My Daddy was known to most people as "D.G." or "Dave." He was a gentle giant of a man, standing a good six-feet tall, always walking tall and straight. A man of values who always treated people with respect and dealt with them honestly. He was not a talkative person and to those who didn't know him very well he more than likely appeared stern and somewhat rigid. The truth, however, was that he had a good heart. He was always willing to help anyone in need, whether a friend or stranger.
He proudly served his country during World War II in the Pacific Theater.
Daddy was an exceptional mechanic. He could tune up an engine where it would purr like a kitten. I remember helping him when I was young by handing him the tools and wrenches he needed. Thanks to those times I learned what a carburetor and manifold was and what made an engine run. He was very resourceful and creative. If he couldn't find a part he needed he would fabricate his own. If he would have had the educational opportunities, he would have probably been an engineer.
For many years he worked as a road hand, helping to build a number of the major Texas highways and interstates. He sometimes drove a bulldozer but he was best known as a "finish blade man" because of his skill in running a maintainer or grader. One of the sections of highway that he helped build was Loop 410 between IH-35 and Fredericksburg Road in San Antonio, Texas. He also worked for a time on IH-10 near Columbus, Texas.
He started farming at a very young age and never lost that desire to tend the land and watch things grow. I remember as a young child riding beside him on the tractor as he plowed the field. There was nothing more fragrant than the smell of that fresh plowed ground.