Delmar "Sonny" Wetz

My condolences to the Wetz families. I’m sorry to hear about the loss of dear Sonny. Some Bible scriptures that have helped me during times of loss include Isaiah 26:19 and Psalm 37:28,29 which states in part: “Your dead ones will live…They will rise up”. And the Bible also says “The righteous themselves will possess the earth, and they will forever reside upon it”. Therefore the Bible promises that we may be reunited with our loved ones lost in death by means of an earthly resurrection. This is further confirmed by John 5:28,29 which states in part: “Do not marvel at this, because the hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice and come out”. This is possible thanks to Jesus Christ’s ransom sacrifice. Thus we have a genuine hope of everlasting life in a world without wickedness or suffering. I hope that these scriptures will be of some comfort to you.

Carol and Family,
I was so sorry to hear about Sonny. Although the miles kept us apart, Wilton and I always enjoyed the phone visits. I know you’ll miss him and his sense of humor. He and Wilton and so many of the “old timers” are “up there” chasing cows, and talking about the good ole days.
The grass is greener, the cattle are fat and the horses are the best.

One of my first memories was seeing my Uncle Sonny planting seed or cutting hay’ so I thought this tractor was a good fit for him. Going to miss you greatly my dear Uncle. Take care in those greener pastures up there & always know you will be loved & missed dearly. Love you from your Favorite Niece, Debbie

My Uncle Sonny was a great man who had a big beating heart for his loving family; his happiness being a cattle rancher for many years and lastly his pride & joy were for his two Grandson’s. The oldest grandson was named Garrison and his younger brother named Ivan. My Uncle Sonny’s eyes would light up as big as saucers when he saw the car pull into the drive way. To the boys Uncle Sonny’s name was “PaPu”. He knew his afternoon would be eventful for all three of them.
I grew up being a military child & we were uprooted every three years to a new location, so I’ve seen various parts of the World. You would classify me a “City Gal” knowing nothing about farming, cattle ranching or even how to start/grow a vegetable garden.
Once I graduated from high school in N.C. & came down to live with my grandparents to help them remodel older homes with new inside parts, & repartition the walls, pulling off wall paper, there was just so much knowledge one could gain from working with my grandparents each day but I begin to believe that I would enjoy working outdoors more so than inside. My Uncle Sonny had found me a factory job in town in New Braunfels at The Porter Company. I was able to live with my Aunt Carol, Cousin Rorie, & my Uncle Sonny that way I could live with them & be able to save my money to buy myself my first car. So I would ride to work with him early in the mornings, we would chat it up & is sense or humor in the mornings was to call me “Hey Smiley” or he might even say How you doing this morning Grumpy? He lastly would ask ,”What’s wrong with you this morning I wasn’t much of a morning person to get right out of the bed & start chatting it up. I needed a few hours to get going then I was fine but Uncle Sonny just had to rub it in every morning. But he went to bed with the chickens while I stayed up all hours of the night watching TV. I knew he meant nothing by it & was playful arguing & I knew he got the biggest darn kick out of my grumpy looks or sassy remarks but we’d end up laughing about it by time we reached our work places.
I remember he always wore a long sleeve Western shirt, Wrangler Brand jeans, his cowboy boots, and a beige color cowboy hat. His skin was nicely tanned from riding on the tractors day in & day out.
Wasn’t that long & I learned about doing ranch chores, so before to long I considered myself to be somewhat of a “Country Gal”. When I came to live at the ranch house there were Angus bulls, cows in the pasture, dogs running freely in the yard, along with several chickens an a white Turkey that would nip you in the rear at times if you didn’t watch him.
My cousin Rorie was in his pre-teens & he had a couple rabbits that were in cages & then one day the dogs had chased a baby fawn away from the mother & toward the house. The little fawn was scared it found a tiny placed to hide into until either Rorie or Aunt Carol got hold of the scared fawn to keep the dogs from getting at it.. By then the mother had left & they knew we would have to bottle feed her. They called her Rhonda. With the mother abandoning it, I now got to learn how to bottle a baby a newborn fawn. It was awesome, exciting, a great part of life, but she was an animal that had to be fed on a certain schedule now. From time to time we also got small calves that had to be bottle fed because the mother rejected it for one reason or another, unable to produce milk, etc. so then that added couple more mouths to the morning schedule. The calves were fed until they were old enough to be weaned off milk. I loved to do the bottle feeding because I seem to get a deeper bond with the animal. I was able to touch them, feed them, brush them, etc. What City or Country Girl enjoy doing these task?
My cousin Rorie, had himself a couple Black Angus Steers that he was going to work with for the FFA or The 4-H Club. It was interesting watching him putting halters on them, get them to walk around the ring, to stand at certain intervals, getting them groomed, etc. All the proper etiquette they needed to each learn.
I was able to go out with my Uncle Sonny & Aunt Carol to learn how tp spread out hay & then add some pellets. We went to several other pastures to make sure their were no broken fences, cattle had plenty of water, etc.. It was cool to see some of these that began as one of their pets & they were full grown cattle that would allow you to scratch their head, eat out of your hand, give them a rub down or they gave you a slobbering wet lick on your hand. Yuck! I was skittish with this behavior at first but then it was exciting to me..
I remember one Summer it was Hay Season which meant, cutting the grass, raking, then raking into a larger row therefore next came the baler. Farmers had to decide on rectangular bales or a much larger round bale. Sonny used rectangular bales.. I was riding inside in the truck & he challenged me to not being able to perform. I jumped out & took the bet! I would walk along either the right or left side of the long trailer & put on my gloves, then bend over, pick up the bale & place it onto the trailer for the other guy to stack the load neatly so it wouldn’t tip over. Once the trailer was full then onto the barn to restack the load in there from floor to ceiling. Think I literally floored Uncle Sonny when we had completed loading all the bales into the barns, etc.. I got myself a cold drink but I didn’t let him know until the next morning that EVERY BONE in my body was hurting me but I didn’t want to let him know that. I would take a look at his agenda list for the day & we took t as it came. I watched bulls being Castrated to deworming cows, finding out if the heifers were pregnant, gross at times but it was still interesting learning & seeing.
I remember one day where Rorie & I were just at the ranch & we had a cow in labor. She began to have some problems & before I knew it Rorie had one chain on one front hoof & the other chain on the other hoof. He took hold on one chain & asked me to slightly tug at the other chain before we knew it the shoulder’s worked their way through. and with a few more pulling sessions out tumbled out a yucky, sticky, wet baby calf. Rorie had taken his fingers & cleaned out the nostrils as well as the mouth. The cow took over the cleaning, it was a glorious site to just have watch & even Participated in some what. It was such a Blessing to watch life come into this world let it be a calf or puppies, etc. Miraculous!!! Sonny & Carol came in & were excited about the little momma giving birth & also that we were there. for when she had problems.
Another one of my favorite memories is when Uncle Sonny would throw theses big BBQ’s in the back yard for family, friends, co-workers, etc.. He had a handmade grill of 55 gallon drums that could hold a whole hog or probably two of them. He would cook off hog, burgers, hot dogs, sausages, and the best thing that I found I love is his Brisket! I had never had Brisket before but his was the best & I could eat it all day long!! There was always plenty of food, fun, games, drinks, and comradery.
I also remembering my Aunt Carol putting out a good size garden of tomatoes, squash, zucchini, cucumbers, etc. just so we could have fresh veggies. One weekend she decided to make Bread & Butter Pickles; I remember a couple of times the cucumbers were so large that I had to fold some of them in half some to get them in the jar. We all laughed so hard, shared a few jokes, shed a few tears from laughing so hard; but hard work some how became enjoyable with my new family. So much I learned & would have never learned much without living in the country for those few months.
I will always cherish & treasure those memories and some others with my Wonderful Uncle Sonny. I’m so thankful, so blessed that my Mom & I got the opportunity to come down to Texas in Oct. 2017, to Memorialize my Aunt Betty Stewart. I miss her very much also & I didn’t get the opportunity to see her before her passing.
My Biggest Fear now is that we’re all getting up there in age to where we are all losing parents, spouses, Aunts, Uncles, & even children. I know that I asked at Betty’s Memorial for us Cousins to stay closer, share pic’s, make calls, send emails, or even write because we’re getting up in age..
It tears me to pieces to lose a family member & I keep the thought in my head that I need to tell my family I love them because I never say that enough, even for my friends because anything can happen at any moment.. I know I’m the oldest of the cousins & please know that I love & cherish each of you.

I’m truly going to miss my “Uncle Sonny”, who was a great man, a little ornery at times but he loved life & loved his family. I know my Uncle Sonny is up in a rocking chair surrounded in the greenest of pastures, watching all the varieties of Cattle, Horses, The bluest of lakes swollen with fish of all sorts & also gaggles of geese walking by. I know you’re sitting there with your Cowboy Hat on, watching the sunset, A Shiner Beer in one hand and rocking the Sunset away!
Take Care Uncle Sonny and R.I.P. and while you’re there keep an eye out for Aunt Betty & Grandma Wilma.
I love you now & forever; will always keep you in my heart & treasure the good times we spent together. Thank You for being a great Uncle!
Love your favorite Niece Debbie…