Bob Woodall

Bob Woodall sat down with me for Heroes Live.

He is my older cousin. As a kid I watched him for what right looks like. He said he won by default. Taller. Bigger. Older. I will take it.

Granddaddy was PL. Paul Leandis. Granny Woodall. Eighty-eight acres near Pinckard. Hog farm. A lagoon that stunk to high heaven. PL said it smelled like money. They scalded hogs in a 55-gallon drum. Rang chickens. Stayed up at two and three and four in the morning delivering baby pigs.

Rat killings. Wolf rats the size of possums. A drum. A 2x4. A .22. He was doing what PL told him to do.

Born in 59. Poor. A lot of love. Mom picked cotton pregnant with him. Sharecroppers between Newton and Pinckard. Dad worked Fort Rucker. Colonial Bakery. Head custodian at First Baptist. Then Ted King. Heating and cooling. 1966. Dad learned the business. Open up. Go to work. Go home to family.

Fourteen. Wilson's Men's Shop downtown. Parents would not let him have a motorcycle so he bought a three-wheel mail cart. Candy apple red. Cushman engine. Parked it out front of school. They called him Little Bob. A man would call for a 42 short portly gray suit. Bob had shirts. Socks. Shoes. A felt hat. Ties. Suspenders. A belt. They did not buy it all. They bought more than a suit.

Granny taught him to fry chicken. Salt brine in the sink. Paper sack. Shake it. Double layered chicken and egg pie. His daddy said do not tell your grandmama. You cook it better than she does. Daddy had Alzheimer's. He passed eight years before we sat down.

Call Bob. He and Cal. Air conditioners. Downtown Dothan. He never served. That is a regret. He sits on the Dothan Police Foundation board. His son is in the Navy. You cannot pick your family. You can pick who you hang around with. You can pick to do right.

Son of sharecroppers. Dale County. Wiregrass. I love him. I salute him. That is why we hit record. Get the story on tape before we are too old or too sick to tell it.