Clay O'reilly
This letter is to all of the Mott descendants there in Bolivar today for our Uncle Paul Mott’s funeral and the celebration of his life. But, mostly it is to our Aunt Carolyn and her family, and to our Aunt Pauline, who I am sure are going to miss him the most.
I have been asked to send the condolences of the family of Lucille and George O’Reilly in a letter, as it appears at this time that none of us will be able to attend due to distance and circumstance. However, our hearts, prayers, and best wishes are there with you.
I never got to spend a lot of time with Uncle Paul, but I do have one memory from almost 60 years ago, which cemented my opinion of him for all of my life, such that when I called to talk with him a few years back, I was able to tell him, in all honesty, that he was “my favorite Uncle”.
This would have been in the summer of ‘56 or ‘58 - somewhere around there - and I was staying on the farm by myself with Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Clara. I just loved being down there, catching grasshoppers, going to the creek, being around the cows, watching Grandpa kill chickens on Sunday morning (That was AMAZING!!), and being around “Pepper”, Grandpa’s favorite dog, and the absolute best cow dog I have ever seen. She could go and get ‘em!
Anyway, Uncle Paul came by and took me out with him one day to play golf. I don’t remember if he asked me to go or just told me to come along, but I do recall being really impressed that a man of his age and stature would ask a little kid like me to come along. So, we went out to the golf course.
Once we got there, a couple of things happened. I could easily see that Uncle Paul really loved the game of golf. After he let me try it a couple of times, I could not see why he loved the game of golf, but I could see that he was a very patient man with an even temper. How could he be otherwise and chase that little white ball all through the countryside? Of course, all the balls I hit wound up in the rough, while I’m pretty certain that Uncle Paul was a pretty good golfer and remained so for the rest of his life.
I was convinced by this experience that Mark Twain was right when he said that a game of golf was “A good walk ruined”, and so Uncle Paul has saved me a lot of money in greens fees over the years, although that may not have been his intent.
The other thing that happened on that day is that Uncle Paul made a real impression on me. I was convinced that he was one of the nicest persons I had ever met and that he was absolutely a prince to have spent the day with me, who was surely a little “nobody” in the minds of most adults, or so I thought. Uncle Paul treated me with the utmost kindness and respect all throughout the day and seemed to be truly happy to have me there with him on that day. I never forgot it.
So, that is why, 50 years later, I could tell him that he was “My favorite Uncle”. He will be sorely missed.
“Here’s Hoping” he finds a beautiful grassy golf course up there in Heaven and that he is enjoying a round of golf with the saints even now.
Our love to all of you,
Clay O’Reilly with Priscilla
For:
Pat & Brenda O’Reilly, Luanne & Dennis Lovin, Peggy & Mike Sandlin,
Linda & Jamie Lambert, George & Karen O’Reilly, Sally & Johnnie Mulder,
Phil & Laura O’Reilly, our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.