Jim Erbstoesser was one of a kind. He was 6'5 big old cowboy and he was actually called Big Jim. He lived quite a life. I heard stories about him that I had not heard before at the memorial service. He was born in Wisconsin but was raised in Chicago. His father was an abusive alcoholic and Jim's life was not easy. When he was ten he was attending a catholic school and it caught on fire. He was on the 2nd story and although the nun told him not to jump, he and a friend jumped. He crushed both his ankles and broke his wrist but he and the boy survived while the teacher and his classmates did not. That experience haunted him all of his life. He dropped out and ran away from home at 14 but was caught and returned. He ran away again and this way made it all the way to Texas and worked on a ranch. He trained and broke horses and then became a boxer and won many titles. He also was a bull rider and steer wrangler in the rodeo circuit. He served in Vietnam for a couple years and was injured. He met his wife and she was an inactive member of the church and when they were expecting their first child she wanted to go back to church. They took the missionary discussions but Jim was hard headed and not interested. The missionaries asked him to read and pray about it and if he got an answer would he be baptized. He said he would and at this time he was driving truck across the country. He was reading and praying and one night he said the cab of his truck just filled with light, so much light he couldn't even see his hands. He didn't hear words or see anyone but he knew that God was giving him his answer and he joined the church. He shared this experience when he would share is testimony in church. It had a profound impact on him. They had five boys. Life happened and not sure why but the parents divorced in the 80's when the boys were still quite young. When they first got divorced Jim didn't have a place to stay and a family in Austin took him in. The husband had played BYU Football and the wife had been a cheerleader. They had several children but they put a mattress down in their laundry room and Jim was staying there when he was not driving truck. He was asleep and Sunday morning Sis Tanner was standing in the laundry room doorway saying Jim, Jim, you wake up and you take your boys to church. He was a bit disoriented because they were not supposed to be home as the had left for Utah. He gets up and gets ready and calls his wife to have the boys ready for church. He finds out later that day that Sis Tanner had been killed in the drive to Utah in a car accident. Jim made sure his kids went to church from then on. He had one bench seat truck and he would pick up those five boys and they would all pile in for church. They said he would have us sing Book of Mormon stories and I hope they call me on a mission on the ride every time. Pace, Travis, Zach, John, and Houston are the boys' names. Pace and Houston are both married and have six kids each. All the boys served full time missions and became Eagle Scouts.
I loved Jim. He always asked about my kids even though he didn't know the girls. When they got married, I didn't send him an invite because he didn't know them and he didn't have a lot of money. Both times, he walked into Rick's church office and handed him $50 dollars to give to the girls. He would meet with Rick often as bishop mainly just to talk and since he lived out in the country without air conditioning you would often find him hanging out in our HEB grocery story on the hot days just to cool off. His boys would try and make life for him better but he loved it out there and would not let them. When I first moved in, they would send out emails to help with moves. I often took the boys and we would show up. Rick had to work a lot so it would just be the three of us. So many times, I would get there and there was Jim, hobbling along doing the best he could to help out. His body and mind started to really give out on him and he was getting pretty confused the last year and then at the end he didn't make much sense. Houston said but at the very end he looked at us boys and said "you boys stay close"
They had bagpipes at the cemetery and I promptly told my girls I need bagpipes and what song I want played (Fare Thee Well by Kate Ruby, Scots Guards) so that they can make a note of it. They also had taps played which made us all cry. It was just a great way to honor a man that lived a life of helping others and asking for nothing in return. We all need a Jim in our lives to remind us of what it important.
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