Words of wisdom can turn up in unexpected places

Words of wisdom can turn up in the most unexpected places, and sometimes from people who have already left us.

That happened to me on a couple of occasions recently.

The first was a little over a week ago at the memorial service for Leroy Thomas, a retired pastor, tireless community servant, and the longtime owner of the Print Shop in Portales. He died March 24 at the age of 89. He and Gaynelle, his wife of more than 72 years, were steadfast supporters of every good cause you can think of in our community.

Don Thomas, senior pastor of Central Christian Church in Portales, is Leroy and Gaynelle’s son. In eulogizing his father, Don shared a couple of anecdotes that really struck a chord with me.

The first was when he recalled a time that, while watching television with his dad, an ad came on touting Ford Mustangs.

Don remembered Leroy saying, “Man, those are pretty. I wish we could have one of those. That’d be awesome.”

“I said, “Well, why don’t we, Dad?’” Don related. “Why don’t we have one? He said, ‘Because the Chevy House buys their envelopes from us.’

“He told me that’s how a small town works,” Don said. “You’ve got to buy from the locals. You’ve got to keep it local.”

Don also shared this lesson from his father: “He told me one time if somebody asks you for help, you need to always say yes, because sometimes it’s so hard for them to ask. So you need to say yes.”

I was still reflecting on those words a few days later when I happened to have a brief conversation with Clovis dentist Michael Zaritka about his grandfather, the late Wayne Stratton.

Stratton, who died in 1996, was another longtime Portales civic leader and businessman (he was the S in C&S Oil, among other ventures). Like Leroy Thomas, he was a man I always admired.

Zaritka said he was 16 when his grandfather died, but he had spent a lot of time with him while growing up.

I was sharing some of the pearls of insight I’d gleaned from the Thomas memorial, and Zaritka said it reminded him of one he’d heard from his granddad.

He said his granddad told him that if you ever see a kid set up with a roadside stand selling lemonade, you need to stop and buy some.

It doesn’t matter if you are thirsty, if you have a frosty glass of that tart summertime favorite beside you in the cup holder of your car, or if you even like lemonade.

It’s about supporting a budding entrepreneur who had the gumption to get out there and try to earn a few bucks.

Zarikta said to this day he’s a sucker for a kid peddling lemonade … or anything else.

Even if he’s in a hurry, he said, “I’ll stop and dig out loose change.”

Keep it local. When somebody asks for help, say yes. Buy the lemonade.

That’s wisdom we can all use.

Betty Williamson continues to learn from the best. Reach her at:

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