On Monday this week, 70-year-old Ron Greiner of Greenville was complaining to one of his neighbors about the price of an oil change these days. In response to Greiner’s complaint, his neighbor offered to change the oil for him.
While this scene may sound like a fairly run-of-the-mill, everyday kind of occurrence, it’s actually pretty extraordinary when one takes into account that Greiner’s neighbor is none other than J.B. McNatt – beloved rancher, business man and World War II veteran – who celebrates his 100th birthday this Thursday.
Although the two ended up postponing the oil change – partly due to McNatt taking a fall in his back yard last week and breaking his arm – McNatt is the kind of centenarian who truly does not intend on slowing down.
“I was doing some work in my back yard and I fell. I’m just so angry I can spit,” McNatt said with a good-humored laugh.
Born in Hunt County near Merit, McNatt mostly grew up on a 126-acre cotton farm located about eight miles northwest of Greenville that his grandmother bought for $3 an acre in 1903. Eventually, McNatt’s father transitioned the property from a cotton farm into a cattle ranch.
While the hard work of farm life kept McNatt busy, that didn’t stop him from graduating from high school early in 1941, after which he studied agriculture at East Texas State Teachers College (now Texas A&M University-Commerce).
However, like many of his generation, McNatt put his academics on hold as soon as he turned 18 and he enlisted in the U.S. military to serve during World War II.
“I had to sign up for the draft, but I enlisted in the Army Air Corps on my 18th birthday,” McNatt said. “I wanted to be a pilot but I ended up working on the atomic bomb project – the Manhattan Project.
“I didn’t actually know what we were working on when I was there but when the bombs dropped, all we knew was that we were going home,” he added.
After the war, McNatt continued his education until completing a master’s of education degree at Sam Houston State Teachers College (now Sam Houston State University). Despite the title of his degree, McNatt didn’t really pursue a career in teaching, except for a stint teaching agriculture to veterans.
Instead, McNatt spent the next 50 years selling cars, including a brief stint at his uncle, J.P. “Punk” McNatt’s dealership – which still stands in downtown Greenville. Eventually, he opened his own dealership, J.B. McNatt Auto, on Wesley Street next to CB’s Sandwich Shop, which he operated for 23 years.
“I sold cars for years but eventually my wife, Libby, told me that I was getting so old and ornery that I needed to get back to the ranch,” McNatt said with a chuckle.
J.B. and Libby were married for 73 years – from July 1942 until her passing in November of 2015. Their last anniversary was a happy one though as members of their family took them on a field trip to Washington and Oregon, as those were the only two states they hadn’t visited before.
These days, McNatt is a respected and admired member of the community who can regularly be seen at Greenville ISD’s annual Veterans Day program, at which he has been the only World War II veteran in attendance these last few years.
“There aren’t too many of us left who served [in World War II] but when all those kids start chanting, ‘U.S.A., U.S.A.,’ if it doesn’t affect you, you ain’t living,” McNatt said.
This past Saturday, McNatt was joined by hundreds of family members and friends at his birthday celebration at Wesley United Methodist Church in Greenville.
Of his family, five generations were in attendance, including his great-great grandson, J.B. McNatt IV.
“I’ve always tried to live a joyful life, and I’m blessed,” McNatt said.
