Mr. Orval Edmonston 

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The life of Orval Neal Edmonston began February 21, 1919. His long journey of life started in Eldorado, TX on the family ranch where he was born. Orval just turned 90 years old (as of February 2009) and is one the oldest living men in Eldorado. Orval has been through many obstacles throughout his lifetime. He was a grown child anywhere between 6th and 7th grade when America first entered the Great Depression. One of the things that Orval and his family suffered from the most during the depression was "you couldn't hardly work, and working on the ranches you would earn a dollar a day." The depression started breaking up his senior year in 1938. After Orval graduated from Eldorado High School he decided to join the service at 22 or 23 years old, "I didn't want to be drafted, I wanted to do something I wanted to do." He singed up at Kellyfield in San Antonio, TX. He served four and half years in the Air Force and was actively apart of WWII. The last two to two and half years he was stationed in the Pacific, (Guam South band). While in the Air Force he risked his life by flying B24 bombers. When Orval was bombing the the coast of Japan his plane was hit, "nearly got shot out at one time. They shot us and got a few holes in the wings but we made it back to the base." Orval was a lucky man to make it through the war and to be alive to day, "I thank the good Lord on how fortunate I was to get through all of what I went through. I was a lucky buger!" After the war ended Orval made his way home back to the ranching business with his family and loving wife Charlene. Orval and Charlene started there life before he was sent off to fight in the war, on a ranch close to San Antonio. After spending a lot of his time ranching he decided to move back home around 1946 or 47 to become the elected sheriff after a couple of more  years ranching with his family. Orval was elected Schleicher County Sheriff in 1951 and served thirty-one years as, "we didn't have a police department, I only had two deputies." After Orval was elected sheriff him and his family moved into the jail house (now today the old jail house). The actual jail was located on the the second floor as well as the boy's room. There was two bedrooms downstairs with a kitchen and the bathroom, "living there sure was handy for my work and if anybody was in jail Charlene would cook for them." Crime rate was very low back in the day so at times there wasn't anyone in jail, "sometimes we might have four or five, now that was a crowd!" Orval never had his pistol on him but he would keep it close enough just incase he needed it. One of the most memorable times in Orval's long life was when he was in high school playing football as a guard his senior year, "sure did enjoy that high school football. My senior year we won district, bi-district, and regional's, "we played Hondo for the regional game and beat he hound out of them forty-two to nothing. We sure had a heck of a football team, we beat Menard a hundred to nothing! They never did get over that, I lost lots of friends over that. But I enjoyed that high school football!" Orval was proud of the football team he played on at Eldorado High School. He went through many accomplishments  throughout his life time, he is most known has the Schleicher County Sheriff for thirty-one years. He has lived for a great ninety years and his one of the oldest living men in Eldorado, TX.