I want to tell you about my friend Bo Jones.  His nickname for me was a word that should not be said in mixed company.  My nickname for him was just as bad.  In other words, we were best friends.  Our families were friends and we vacationed together.  We went hunting together.  Also, we were bondsmen in the same community.

We met many years ago in Weatherford, Texas, the "Peach Capital of Texas" in Parker County just west of Fort Worth.   During the time that I knew Bo, the population in Parker County tripled, but it is still a small community with a population of around 30,000 people today. 

For some reason we just hit it off.  Early on Bo kept telling me that he had this unique talent for hunting with just a knife.  Bo claimed he could take out his prey by throwing his knife with absolute precision.   Now this was something I had to see.  So, we went hunting together.   For the next few hours, I watched Bo chase one of the unluckiest "lucky" turkeys in the world.  The turkey was unlucky because Bo kept finding it.   Also, the turkey was unlucky because it turned out that Bo was not kidding about his skills with knives.  He was deadly accurate.  But the reason that the turkey was the unluckiest "lucky" turkey was because every time Bo hit the turkey with the knife, it was with the handle end and not the sharp end of the knife.  Over and over the turkey ran, and over and over Bo kept finding it and hitting it with the handle end of the knife.  As you can well imagine, we didn't eat turkey that night.  I kept telling Bo that the poor turkey probably went home covered in bruises with the worst headache a turkey could have.  This was one of many hunting trips we took over the years.

Bo was married to his wife Sharon for 25 years and raised three boys, Gary, Jarred and Jasson.  After Sharon passed away from cancer, Bo remarried 5 years later to his second wife, Melanie.  Bo never referred to Melanie's boys, Jeremy and Derrick as his stepsons.  To him they were his sons.  Our families would say that our friendship was one for the ages.  But I am more surprised that we did not drive each other crazy.

Another group that Bo thought of as his family was the Professional Bondsmen of Texas.   PBT wasn't just a state association to Bo, but it was a way of life.  He looked forward to PBT meetings like a child looks forward to Christmas.  To Bo, being a member of the Professional Bondsmen of Texas was the greatest thing in the world.  And when Bo was elected President back in 2018, he got the opportunity to lead the association that had meant so much to him throughout his life. 

Bo held almost every position available in PBT.  He was a long serving board member.  Most members met him through the PBT Membership committee where Bo put the hard sell on them to become a member.  Also, for many years, Bo was known as the envelope guy.  At each meeting, Bo would hand out envelopes asking for contributions to the PBT PAC.  He would stand up and talk about the importance of contributing to the PAC and then he would gather the envelopes and ensure that the contributions were forwarded to where they needed to go.

What kind of person was Bo Jones?  In our area of the state we would say simply- he was a man of his word.  He was a worker bee.  When PBT changed executive directors and boxes in storage needed to be moved, Bo and others heeded the call and just showed up in Austin to get the job done.  When he ran for Vice President of PBT he met with his opponent and they both agreed to fully support the other whoever won or lost.  This no-nonsense reputation helped him when he ultimately ran and was elected President of PBT.

As we get older, we all start to have health issues.  Bo was there for me when I had my health issue last summer,  he was there for me to lean on when I needed it most.  When Bo was preparing to run for re-election for another term as President it was his turn to get bad news.  I want you to know that Bo handled the news the same way he handled any other difficult issue that needed to be addressed.  When he learned that his time was short, his first thought was to ensure a smooth transition to a new administration in our organization.  As Bo's health was showing the effects of the wear and tear of disease and chemo, he still attended the PBT Annual meeting in October in San Antonio.  He showed us all how to face difficult situations with grace and dignity.  As he was preparing to leave San Antonio, he told me that he was afraid this would be the last time that he would see many of his friends.  I did not know how to respond.  I probably made a joke or called him by his nickname.

During Bo's final days his thoughts were on his family. He thought of Melanie, his children Jeremy, Derrick, Gary, Jarred and Jasson.  He thought of his first wife Sharon who already was in heaven.  He also thought of his PBT family.  Bo told his pastor that he wanted his family to know that he loved them.  He also asked his pastor to let his PBT family know that he loved them as well.

My friend Bo Jones was a pillar of the bonding community.  We need more people like him- people who give you their word and that is all you need.  At Bo's funeral, the last thing I said about Bo was to once again call him by his nickname.  Some may have thought this was highly inappropriate.  They may have wondered why I was using such language in such a serious setting, but to me I was calling to my best friend one last time by his nickname.  I am sure that Bo was looking down from heaven responding with his nickname for me as well.  Both names were inappropriate.  It was my way of saying I will miss you my friend.