I MIss An Old Friend

I was released from being Scoutmaster in our ward a couple years ago. As scoutmaster I had the duty of going to scout camp a few times. Ramon Guillory volunteered to come help at camp. He would not do much in regards to scouting, but he would stay in camp and was there when the boys would come into camp during the day. I spent a few weeks with him this way. There were some memorable moments during these activities.

Brother Guillory was not bashful about expressing his views or wishes. If the boys were doing things that he did not like or approve then he would let them know. I asked him once why he volunteered for going on the scout camps and he told me it was his way of giving back what he received as a youth.

Brother Guillory was a bit eccentric in some ways, he did not like to shake peoples hands and had a phobia about contracting some illness. It was interesting to watch him not shake peoples hands during social interactions. He would conveniently have something in his hands that would inhibit the activity.

A few events that were memorable to me I will tell you. First, Ramon was sitting in camp near the fire ring during the middle of the day. A snake crawled across the camp site. Ramon reached down and grabbed the snake by the tail and gave it a good whip action and killed the snake. There were other events with finding and showing wildlife, a preying mantis, tarantulas, wolf spiders, and other insects and pests. The second event we experienced was when Ramon went into diabetic shock and passed out and fell. It was spooky to see him collapse. Luckily there was someone in a nearby camp that knew what to do to treat hypoglycemia. A bit of sugar under his tongue and in a while he came around. He administered insulin to himself and monitored his own blood sugar. Last year he was going to scout camp and the engine in his old pickup siezed. He bought another that looked about the same. He was planning to go to camp this year with troop 413, our troop.

I suspect that he was hypoglycemic when he died. He was found at his property outside.

I miss him.