Joe Blakely passed away Sunday when his ol' heart had finally had enough. Joe was somewhat of a legend in the Texas gun community, some good, and some bad.:) I've known him 35 years, and I learned a lot from dealing with him, and just watching him work. Joe was pure west Texas, but if you left it at that, you were in for a good skinning. Well read, and smart as a whip, many a gun trader, including me, would be 10 miles down the road from Joe's house, when they wondered "why did I do that!?" He was truely one of a kind, and a real piece of work.

Joe was 65, and battled diabetes all his life. The usual stuff started acting up 20 years ago, but he was just too mean and stubborn to let any of it slow him down. And it never did, he was planning for Tulsa when he went down. He left a fine collection of Colts and Winchesters, I'm guessing several hundred guns.

I've spent many an hour in the same room with Joe Blakely, and Bill Powell at the same time. As Gus McCrea said: "I God Woodrow, it's been quite a party"

JLF