Elbert Kilgore

I said goodbye to an old friend today.  Elbert Kilgore was a good friend and mentor some 45 years ago.  I had been married for only 6 months and was fresh from Michigan when I met him at Berean Baptist Church in Hixson in 1971.  Mr. Kilgore helped me as a father.  He sold me a ’53 GMC pickup for $150, and spent every weekend teaching me how to keep it running.  He taught me how to gap solid lifters and adjust the timing.  He showed me how a 4” paintbrush was faster than a roller, and then paid me to paint the outside of his house.  Mr. Kilgore paid me to help him remodel his kitchen.  He cut four holes in the soffit and then hid 37 coffee cans full of change inside.  I told him that I would come and get the money when he died.  But he moved out of that house twenty years ago.  I suppose he took his coins with him when he moved.  He always looked for a bargain and would squeeze a nickel until Tomas Jefferson cried out.  But he was always generous with me.  He would pay me to a job for him, and then helped me do it.  Mr. Kilgore was 85 years old.  Welcome to your eternal reward, Mr. Kilgore.  Welcome home.