Marvin's Muster Mission - An Aggie's Dedication To Deliver Mementos To Former Classmate's Family

"I’m Marvin Fletcher ‘69 (former class agent). So, my class was the 50 year class at Reed Arena.

Ok, here’s the long story version. I held a candle for Reed Muster for Louis Igo '69, 91 years old. I did not have a known connection, and his name was chosen at random by me. This event was a perfect storm for me (in a good way). It has created a memory I will always remember, and it really touched the family members. So, with more details than 'needed' here's my 'Muster' story in the same vein as a 'ring' story.

I received several mementos of the Muster intended for the family that goes way beyond a souvenir program. Included was a letter from President Young, a handwritten note from our student hostess, a Muster poster, and an embossed jewelry box for storage. Upon receiving these priceless mementos, I knew I was now on a mission to deliver these items to a member of the family. Who and where might that be? Somewhere in Texas? Out of state?

Starting with the obituary, I got two clues. One was that Louis had last lived in Georgetown. Second was Louis had lost his son Larry and his family in the 1997 tornado in Jarrell. A good friend of ours from Houston, Dena, had lost her sister and family in the same tornado. As it turns out, Larry’s wife, Joan, was Dena’s sister! In the meanwhile, I contacted the president of the Williamson County A&M Club to find out who held a candle for Louis. He replied that his daughter, Glenda Igo Maikell, and her son Wesley (Louis’s grandson) answered 'Here.' The president had her email and a Round Rock home address. I sent her an email, but never received a reply. It had gone to junk mail.

I then called Dena, who provided Glenda’s LL number and her sister Linda Igo Cobb’s LL number. Both numbers were only busy signals and actually non-working numbers. I found out later that Glenda's house in Round Rock was being remodeled from flood damage, and the phone had been disconnected. In the meanwhile, I found out there were ten ‘69 classmates in Georgetown! Using “find an Aggie”, I sent all ten an email hoping for some to join me in my mission; six replied -- four likely had an out of date email. Because of his age, and the obituary said that Louis entered A&M after military service and even earned his BA degree on weekends and summers, I wondered if the family had been presented a class flag. Due to age and these circumstances unknown, no class flag had been presented. Having a few class flags in my stock for flag presentations in the Austin region, (I live in nearby Round Rock), a flag presentation was added to the agenda. (Thanks Bill for the Class Agent letter). While recruiting a ‘69 delegation, I talked with Charlie Kessie ‘69 about how there was still no contact with a family member. Well, GT has a phone book (RR doesn’t) and listed a Louis Igo and a Mildred Igo (Mildred is divorced from Louis as wife #2). It’s now Saturday.

Mildred finally called me after listening to VM. She says the second daughter, Linda, lives in Santa Fe, NM. Linda's number is bad because Mildred can't read her own writing for more than one digit. By now it's Monday.

Brainstorm and Solution: Linda Igo Cobb was contacted via FaceBook and called me. She gave Glenda my cell number, and I was given Glenda's cell number. Before I could call Glenda, she called me.

We met on Thursday at 11 AM at Louis's ranch house just outside of GT. See pictures.

This was a perfect storm for me to discover the connection and for family to be only 10 miles away. To finally locate and coordinate with Glenda was a joyful journey. A special thanks to the eager and willing ‘69 delegation of Terry Locksamy, Charlie Kessie, and Roger Matson. Dusty Nelms and Jim Willbanks were unfortunately out of town and really disappointed they couldn't participate.

Pictures follow separately as they may cause my phone to blow up!

Mission accomplished!"

-Marvin Fletcher '69

"After getting in touch with Marvin, I called my daughter and son and asked them to join us at their granddad’s house for the special presentation by his classmates. It was so much more than I had expected, and we were all very touched by the effort these men expended to find me and deliver the mementos from the campus Muster.

My dad had a special place in his heart for A&M and the Aggies. He could frequently be heard softly singing 'Hullabaloo, Caneck! Caneck! Hullabaloo, Caneck! Caneck!' or 'We are the Aggies, the Aggies are we' as he went about his activities on his property, and he rarely missed watching Aggie football games on TV. Our extended family contains several A&M graduates (as well as a number of Texas Tech grads!), including my brother Larry Igo ‘73, so Louis always had some fellow Ags to talk to who shared his feelings about A&M.

I want to express my heartfelt appreciation to the Aggie family who takes care of their own."

-Glenda Igo, about Louis Igo '69