Buck Wilson: the greatest Greyhound

It's hard to think of many folks who have had a longer active association with Eastern New Mexico University than Buck Wilson of Portales.

From the time he arrived on campus as a sophomore transfer student from the University of New Mexico in 1957 (and except for a few years away for military service and completing a dental degree), Wilson's life has been intertwined with Eastern's.

"His nearly 70 years of 'bleeding green' has permanently enshrined Buck Wilson in our Hall of Favorite Sons," according to recently retired ENMU Chancellor Patrice Caldwell.

Wilson and his wife, Roberta, are in their final countdown for a move to Pocahontas, Ark., on March 28, but before they go, the ENMU Foundation - an organization Wilson helped found 45 years ago - is throwing a farewell reception.

It's scheduled for 2-5 p.m. Saturday at the Casa del Sol event center, 1401 W. 17th St., Portales, and it promises to be an afternoon filled with laughter and reminiscing and celebrating of someone quite special to the entire ENMU community.

"There are too many contributions to catalogue because Buck represents the very best of Eastern," Caldwell said. "His most meaningful contribution is that he never stops contributing."

Wildcat to Lobo to Greyhound

Born in Oklahoma, Wilson came to New Mexico as a toddler when his railroader father was transferred to Belen. By the time Wilson was a third-grader, his dad got a promotion that moved the family to Clovis, where he graduated in 1956 from Clovis High School.

His skills on the field as a Wildcat earned him a spot at the University of New Mexico playing football for the Lobos.

There was only one glitch after the first year in Albuquerque.

Wilson found out that if he married his high school sweetheart (and soon to be first wife), Florence Dodson, as they had planned, come sophomore year he would no longer be allowed to play for UNM because of a rule against student/athletes being wed.

His friend and former coach B.B. Lees heard about the dilemma and encouraged Wilson to transfer to Eastern, where no such restriction existed and a new wife would not be an issue.

Broken bones and helmets

In the summer of 1957, Buck and Florence exchanged vows in Clovis and moved down the road to Portales. That fall, with Wilson calling the plays as quarterback, the Greyhounds had an undefeated season, and Wilson began his lifelong love for the school and this community.

Those first few years came with some considerable bumps and bruises.

When Wilson first started playing football, he said he wore a leather helmet that provided only minimal protection.

"I had more broken bones than you can count," he said. "B.B. Lees got tired of me getting my nose broken. I had my nose broken three times."

"And many concussions," Roberta chimed in.

Relief finally arrived in a new plastic helmet with a face guard - a keepsake that Wilson still owns and which will be moving with him to Arkansas.

Aerospace and dentistry

Wilson completed an engineering degree from Eastern in 1960 and entered the Air Force.

He found himself on a fascinating sidetrack when he was sent to Brooks Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, where he became - instead of an engineer - a "scientific aide" for the just-developing aerospace program.

He chuckles when you ask if he was a "guinea pig" in the program, but in a sense he was.

The first group of men freshly labeled "astronauts" had been selected, but before they put the legendary "Mercury Seven" through any tests, Wilson and the other scientific aides got to try them out.

One memorable test had Wilson strapped upside down on a tilt table for 12 hours. When he was returned to an upright position, his heart stopped.

"It took them 21 seconds to revive me," he said in a 2021 interview with ENMU's Green and Silver Magazine. "I was clinically dead. That's why we had all those physicians around."

Wilson said he had every intention of still pursuing engineering after literally surviving that program, but during his time at Brooks, he met Ira Shannon, a researcher who was credited with discovering the importance of fluoride to tooth health. It was Shannon who encouraged Wilson to enter dental school instead.

He completed dental school at the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 1968 with plans to move to either Las Cruces or Montrose, Colo., to open his first practice.

Fortunately for us, Portales banker Douglas B. Stone -- who had gotten to know Buck during his days at Eastern -- intervened.

Stone showed up with two sheets of paper at a reception honoring the new dentist and said, "Sign these," according to Wilson.

"It was two accounts," Wilson said, "an account to open an office and an account to move. Doug was what you'd call an old-time friend/banker. I've been banking with them ever since."

A regular in the bleachers

Wilson opened his Portales dental office on Sept. 1, 1968.

One of his early patients was Winston Cox, who moved to Portales shortly after Wilson did, and who retired from ENMU in 1999 as executive director of university relations.

"We had recently moved to town and I needed a dentist," Cox said. "Buck was recommended, and on my first visit I found pain when he put his hands -- ideally sized for shoeing horses -- into my mouth. He would be my dentist for 25 years."

Besides managing a busy dental practice, Wilson was soon a regular in the bleachers at Greyhound football games. From the beginning, he stepped up as a strong supporter for all things Eastern.

Within a decade, Wilson had been appointed as a regent for Eastern and was also involved in what many consider will be his greatest legacy to the Greyhound nation: the formation of the Friends of Eastern Foundation, today known as the ENMU Foundation.

From $50 to $42 million

It's hard to get Buck Wilson, now 86, to take credit for his work and ideas for Eastern.

"You don't ever do anything by yourself," he's quick to point out. "You have a lot of people who help you."

But he's just as quick to point this out: "If you're in a position and you don't do anything good, you probably shouldn't have been in that position."

The idea for a foundation was born in conversations with ENMU standard-bearers like Cox and Frances Richardson during Warren Armstrong's presidency at Eastern, Wilson said.

"They'd been toying with the idea of starting a foundation," he said. "A lot of people said a foundation for a public school would never go over."

Wilson said he and the others felt it was an idea that could work. Early donors were challenged to kick in $50 apiece to get the ball rolling.

"We knew there were a lot of people who would help us," he said, "but we had no idea of how many."

ENMU Foundation Executive Director Noelle Bartl said that since its official formation in August 1978, contributions from donors have topped a jaw-dropping $42 million, assisting untold numbers of students with scholarships.

"I'm profoundly moved by how impactful Buck and the other founding board members' unified vision has become," Bartl said. "He's been volunteering for this organization for over 45 years. That is a true example of altruism."

Burying the beef

The formation of the Foundation also birthed what has become an important summer tradition for many in Portales: the annual barbecue to thank those who have donated the previous year.

"Frances (Richardson) suggested the cookout," Wilson said. "Bill Joy and I came up with 'bury the beef.'"

And bury the beef, they did. Each summer, between a third and a half of beef was placed in metal boxes, and then nestled overnight in a deep bed of mesquite coals, providing a delectable feast for Foundation supporters in the backyard of the ENMU president's home on Cherry Street.

Cox has fond memories of the annual wood gathering for the fire.

"Buck and his best buddy Bill Joy and I would spend a few hours picking up grubbed mesquite from nearby ranches," Cox said. "At the end of the day we would sit in the shade of the truck and enjoy a cold one while appreciating the sunset. Buck and Bill were great friends of the university. It was my honor to toss mesquite with them."

That slow-cooked beef "turned out pretty good," Wilson said.

Ambassador and leader

Wilson served as president of the ENMU Foundation for almost a quarter century, passing the reins to the current president, Portales attorney Stephen Doerr, in 2002.

"The largest contribution Buck has made to ENMU is his love and enthusiasm for the university," Doerr said. "The title of ambassador is over-used these days, but I have always believed that Buck is the best and most influential ambassador Eastern has ever had."

Bob Matheny, Eastern's president from 1983 to 1989, agreed.

"I would regard Buck Wilson as one of the most influential leaders in Eastern's history," Matheny said.

"I recall attending a homecoming football game at Tarleton State University in Texas with the Greyhounds," Matheny said. "During the halftime activities, Tarleton recognized its greatest athletes for that year. Buck punched me and said, 'We have to have a program like that.' So, he came home and helped establish the Greyhound Hall of honors Program at Eastern."

Matheny said Wilson also "provided leadership with B.B. Lees and Carl Richardson for Eastern to join the Lone Star Conference."

That support went across the board, Cox said.

"Buck was instrumental in the development of 'volunteerism' at Eastern way back in the '70s," Cox said. "His early organization of the Foundation's boards helped to promote the volunteer programs of ENMU."

'The greatest Greyhound ever'

Wilson and first wife, Florence, were only months shy of their 40th anniversary when Florence lost a second battle with cancer in March of 1997, still in the midst of her own highly successful career in early childhood development.

After seven years "as a bachelor," Wilson married Roberta in 2004. They had known each other since Wilson first opened his dental practice. Roberta worked as his dental assistant for 11 years then, and their families had been close, often sharing family vacations, Roberta said.

When Wilson lost Florence, and Roberta had long been divorced, the two came back together as friends with no plans to "ever get married again," Roberta said.

They spent five years enjoying their shared interests of photography, hunting, and a love of the great outdoors, before exchanging vows in 2004 in front of the fireplace in their home, now almost hidden in the detritus of a major cross-country move.

The treasures being packed include multiple statues of greyhounds in honor of Buck's long association with the institution behind that mascot.

"I think he's the greatest Greyhound ever," Roberta Wilson said of her husband. "He's been a true supporter of Eastern his entire life."

A going away gift

For a couple trying hard to pare down the belongings that came with combining two households in later life, they don't need more gifts at their upcoming reception.

But for those who feel compelled, the ENMU Foundation will gratefully accept donations in Buck and Roberta Wilson's honor.

Donations may be made online at http://www.enmu.edu/DONATE, or by mail to ENMU Foundation, Station 8, 1500 S Ave. K, Portales.

"Buck Wilson will never leave Eastern's heart," Patrice Caldwell reminded us, "and we will never forget all he's done for us and all he's meant to ENMU."

Betty Williamson is filled with Greyhound gratitude for Buck Wilson. Reach her at:

[email protected]