Clarence Ray “Pooge” West

Clarence Ray “Pooge” West, 79, passed away Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2014. Pooge was born Dec. 24, 1934 in Leesville to Henry and Erith Ivey West. He was a member of the Leesville Baptist Church, the National Greyhound Association and the Texas Greyhound Association.

Pooge grew up in Leesville, working in the fields after school picking cotton, working watermelons and shaking peanuts. Occasionally he found time to hunt squirrels, fish and swim in Sandies Creek. He took a job with Gonzales County Precinct 3 operating a road maintainer, a career that lasted 38 years.

Clarence Ray married Kathleen Dianne “Katy” Covey on June 14, 1964 in Gonzales, a marriage blessed with 50 years of love, laughter and always putting the needs of the other first. Pooge took side jobs doing mechanical work on other people’s vehicles and got into breeding and racing greyhounds on tracks throughout the United States. He raised and bred greyhounds for 40 years and had as many as 200 greyhounds on his place at one time.

He was very proud of his pride and joy, FMC Wake Up, a greyhound that was rated All World and All American. He particularly enjoyed driving the country roads with his grandchildren, teaching them to drive along the way.

He fashioned himself as an imaginative story teller and enjoyed sharing stories of the past with his children and grandchildren, like attending nickel matinees in Nixon where he enjoyed popular westerns of the day. Of course he had to earn the nickel fee first, and then walk to the theater from Leesville, barefoot, in the snow and uphill both ways. 

He loved taking his children fishing, teaching them to bait their own hooks and hunting along the banks of Sandies Creek. He shared his knowledge of working cattle, putting up hay and automotive repair with his children and how to run lines of PVC pipe.  His grandchildren knew him as “grandpa” and loved listening to his stories and riding with him. 

Pooge never met a stranger; he was as amiable a fellow as one might ever know. He was never afraid of responsibility or hard work. He was a good provider for his family and lived an example of choosing right over wrong. Certainly the small Texas community of Leesville will feel the loss of one of their own, but in time may realize that this community is measurably better because he had lived.

Clarence Ray “Pooge” West is survived by his adoring wife, Katy West of Leesville; daughters and a son-in-law, Judy Kay Parks of Gonzales, Peggy Sue West of Leesville and Tracy Lyn Gilliam and Robert of Gonzales; son and daughter-in-law, Jimmy Ray West and Chrissie of Conroe; grandchildren, Sgt. Christopher Parks, USM and his wife Stephanie, Stephanie Parks, Brandi Parks, Alexis Gilliam, Hailey Boatright, Ryane Gilliam and Clayton Boatright; great-grandchildren, Mackenzie Jones and William Parks; sisters, Adline Gordon (Nathan) of Gonzales, Gillis Yaws (David) of West Columbia, Dora Norton of Temple, Susie Hicks of Gonzales, brothers, Ferd West (Audrey) of Gonzales, Ernest West (Patsy) of Leesville and Alvin West (Debbie) of Gonzales. He was preceded in death by his parents, sister, Dorothy Fagan, brothers, Oliver West, Leonard West, Jesse West and David West. 

Graveside services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, Oct. 24, in Caraway Cemetery with Rev. Jack Shuford and Rev. Cecil Deadman officiating. The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday in the funeral home. Memorials may be made to Norma’s House Gonzales Regional Children’s Advocacy Center. Services are under the care and direction of Seydler-Hill Funeral Home.