My Turn: You might have a Trump in your family tree

By Marjorie RitchieRecently, my cousin Debbie from Dallas called to tell me that she was feeling down and hopeless because of the reelection of Donald Trump. With trepidation, she asked me if we had any ancestors named Trump in our Texas family tree. Since I am the family genealogist, I reassured her that we are more likely related to the infamous Texas outlaws, Bonnie and Clyde, than we are to anyone bearing the Trump name.

You can imagine how relieved Debbie was to hear this news.But one thing I failed to mention to my despondent cousin is that our great Uncle Wilbur, a yellow-dog Democrat, bore a Texas-sized resemblance to our 45th and 47th president. At a young age, Uncle Wilbur made a “killing” in the grocery store business in Dallas where he lived high on the hog, according to my grandmother, his sister.



He drove a ’65 red Cadillac DeVille and was an original version of a chick magnet despite his portly size. Early on, I lost count of the number of wives he had and the amount of alimony he paid these Texas women. Like Trump, Uncle Wilbur attributed his business success to his shrewdness of knowing how to hire qualified folks and knowing when to fire those sorry “blankety blanks.

” And one day, it was one of those sorry “blankety blanks” that walked into Uncle Wilbur’s office and shot him in the buttocks while my uncle was bending over his filing cabinet.That episode was Uncle Wilbur’s “come-to-Jesus” moment. He felt that God had spared him for a higher purpose which ultimately was to run for mayor of his suburban Dallas town.

In Trump-like fashion, he campaigned as a businessman, not a politician, and he won the election by a landslide. During his mayoral term, he kept his campaign promises of restoring justice, promoting morality, and most importantly, creating jobs and economic opportunities for all in his adopted home town. Very quickly, he shut down all the local brothels which he had frequently patronized, and to some citizen’s astonishment, many important and successful businesses relocated to his Texas town where he proudly served as mayor for eight years.

My gut tells me that Uncle Wilbur would have liked and voted for Donald Trump if he had been alive in 2016 and 2024. He would have seen in Trump a reflection of himself: a complex and capable man, a man greatly flawed, but so fascinating that people were drawn to him. Although my uncle’s early years were tawdry and tumultuous much like Trump’s, he left a legacy of goodwill and prosperity for his town’s growing population.

Because of his philanthropic nature, he raised millions to build a hospital and library which were named in his honor. And most importantly, Uncle Wilbur made sure my grandmother was well-cared for in her later years as a widow. Soon I might take a trip to Dallas to console my dejected cousin, Debbie.

While I am driving on the outskirts of Dallas, I will stop to visit Uncle Wilbur’s grave. On his gravestone is inscribed this epitaph: “Mayor of the Greatest Town in Texas.”Who knows if you might have a Trump in your family tree.

Like Uncle Wilbur, that relative might make you blush or even cuss. I just hope that one day in the future, my Texas kinfolks will be proud of Uncle Wilbur and his Trump-sized accomplishments. Marjorie Ritchie enjoys living in Gold Hill and sharing stories about her family, especially the Texas ones.

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