AIA Drawing # 2
(17 inches X 23 inches)
Roy Maders: 1900 - & Gene Maders: 1905 - Prescott, Arizona
Copyright © 1992 - 2006 Jim Branscum Art Studio
All Rights Reserved
Aging in
America-
Our Heritage of Wisdom
a series of thirty-six pencil drawings by artist jim branscum
Original Drawings & Model Commentaries:
AIA Drawing # 2
(17 inches X 23 inches)
Roy Maders: 1900 - & Gene Maders: 1905 - Prescott, Arizona
Copyright © 1992 - 2006 Jim
Branscum Art Studio
All Rights Reserved
When Roy Maders was a boy of ten, his father cut out a gentle
horse, gave him a saddle, spurs and a pair of chaps, telling him,
"I’m going to make a rough and tough cowboy out of you." Roy told
him, "I sure hope you do." The task was not taken lightly by Roy or
his father. Their Mingus Mountain ranch covered many miles of range made famous by
Zane Grey. Roy stayed out on his own for weeks at a time and became the cowboy his
father had envisioned. Rough and tough in a quiet way, he never drank
alcohol, never carried a pistol, never swore, and preferred the company
of horses over man and most women. Although married twice (without children),
he continued to maintain that attitude throughout his life. Roy says,
"The cowboy life lost its luster when they put in barbed wire fences. Anybody
can catch a cow inside a fence. It wasn’t fun anymore." Roy worked
as a miner, race horse trainer and rancher. He often lived in the tack room to
be close to the horses. It was not an economic decision, but a matter of
preference. At 87 years of age, Roy moved inside. Not even a
"rough and tough cowboy" could stop the changes of aging.
Gene Maders is five years younger than his friend and brother, Roy. He was 12 years old when he joined Roy on the back of his own horse chasing cows. Gene left the ranch at the age of 20 and worked the mines in Jerome and Baghdad, Arizona. Roy joined him in the mines for a time. Then Gene went into the Navy. The hard work in the mines and the years in the saddle carried him through wartime service. Gene returned to join his brother in training and racing horses. Although they often worked at the same tracks, they never directly competed against each other in racing. Gene’s aversion to women was less pronounced than his brother’s. He "made the trip down the aisle" four times. He has a son and daughter and continues a close family relationship.
The Arizona Miner’s and Pioneer’s Nursing Home in Prescott, Arizona, where Roy and Gene reside, is a state-sponsored facility for miners and pioneers of the state. A pioneer is defined as anyone who has lived in the state for thirty years. Gene keeps his ‘62 Chevy truck available for short trips to visit family and make runs for Copenhagen tobacco for himself and Roy. They are convinced that chewing tobacco saved their lives by absorbing the dust in the mines. Gene starts the engine every day throughout the winter and is proud of having owned the truck since it was new, thirty years also. It occurred to me that his truck even qualified for "pioneer" residency. Both brothers say, "We lived as we pleased and never hurt anyone."
Postscript: A year after drawing their portraits, at the age of 88, Gene Maders won 1.29 million dollars in the Arizona Lottery. The one comment that stands out as to his plans for the money, "At 88, you don’t have to save."
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Copyright © 1992 -2006/ All Rights
Reserved Jim Branscum Art Studio
Jim Branscum
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