"I've Seen A Lot of Water Go Under the Bridge"

97-year-old Donald Crain is widely known for his positivity and angling expertise
By Ellen Orr

photo by robin rogers.

Among the serious fishers of East Texas, Mr. Donald Crain, age 97, is a local legend.

“I’ve been riding around this dock here for forty years,” he said. “Everybody in the county probably knows me, I’ve been here so long.”

Donald spends as much time as possible on his houseboat, which he built himself 33 years ago, at Lake O’ the Pines—but his dreams of an East Texas retirement began even earlier, in 1975. A native of Jonesboro, Arkansas, but longtime Illinois resident, a 48-year-old Donald was vacationing with his wife near Jefferson, Texas, when the seed was planted.

“I said, ‘Boy, this’d be a nice place to retire,’” he recalled. “So we bought a lot in ‘75 and built the house in ‘78. I wasn’t going back to that cold country.”

Donald and his eight older siblings grew up on their family’s cotton farm. “Everybody back then had big families, to work on the farms,” he said. “Need someone to pick that cotton. Everything was done by hand back then; there wasn’t any of this modern machinery.”

After eighth grade, Donald quit school to pick cotton. “If I went to high school, I’d’ve had to walk a mile and three quarters to get on a bus and then ride nine miles,” he said. “And your parents didn’t really push you to go [to school] because they needed you to work on the farm.” 

Besides, Donald was not a huge fan of school. “It scared me to death when the teacher would say to stand up and, you know, try to spell words and things—it just killed me,” he laughed. “I was always kind of shy. I’ve never been one of them that made a lot of waves.”

In 1945, at the tail end of World War II, an 18-year-old Donald was conscripted to serve in the U.S. Army. After basic training at Fort Cavazos (formerly known as Fort Hood) near Killeen, he was sent to the Philippines, traveling overseas on the U.S.S. Osage. The trip was 13 days on “the nastiest, dirtiest old boat you’d ever see,” he said. 

submitted photo.

After his service, he returned to Arkansas, where he married and had his first of three sons. The young couple tried farming. “Two years, and I was broke,” Donald said. “So I asked the wife, ‘You want to go up north to work in the shops?’ At that time, you could get a job at any factory. So we loaded up in 1950, went to Rockford, Illinois, and spent almost 30 years up there.”

Though Donald worked in a factory, he wasn’t “out on the floor.” “I worked in the tool room,” he explained. “All I did was sharpen tools and make gauges and stuff like that.” 

After his fated Texas vacation in ‘75, Donald knew he could not wait for retirement to relocate to the Lone Star State. He found a job in Longview doing the same work, and he remained employed there until he retired in 1993. With his own two hands, he built his house—and, later, his houseboat.

Though Donald has been fishing at Lake O’ the Pines for the better part of four decades, for the past 13 years, he has cast his line every single day, with very few exceptions. This routine was precipitated by loss: Donald, who has been made a widower thrice, had just buried his third wife. (He would go on to find love a fourth time, dating a woman for 14 years, until she sadly passed away in 2019.) The lake offered solace—as did the regulars at the Bullfrog Marina, where Donald’s houseboat is docked.

“I said I came down [to the marina] today to fish, but I really just came down to see Mr. Crain,” one local fisher said. “I’ve been coming here for years, and I’ve never once seen him in a bad mood.”

“He’s quite a guy,” another passerby said. “Everybody knows Mr. Crain.”

Though none of Donald’s three children, five grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or other family members live nearby, the crew visits at least once a year, renting a cabin at the marina for weeks or even a full month. This past March, in fact, his relatives gathered at the lake for “CrainFest.” Musicians from out of state were brought in to perform. 

Donald looks forward to visits from his three children and five grandchildren. submitted photo.

“There were about 40 people [enjoying the celebration],” Donald said. “Some of ‘em were even dancing in the dirt. They say we’re going to do it again next year.”

Not every day is as exciting as CrainFest, but every day is a celebration nonetheless. Donald fishes daily, catching crappie or catfish—just enough to clean and cook or freeze. He might take his speedboat out on the lake, or he might hang out at the dock. He will certainly socialize with one or more of his many friends, and he’ll make sure he moves his body a bit—one of his tips for longevity.

“Never stop,” he said. “You’ve gotta be active. I force myself to get out of this chair and go out on this dock, just to keep moving. But I’ve been blessed—I don’t have no arthritis or bursitis or nothing like that. I’ve just been one of the lucky ones.”

Donald’s favorite activity by far is fishing. photo by robin rogers.

Besides luck, Donald also attributes his excellent health to basic good habits. “Don’t take no real bad habits,” he said. “Don’t drink a lot, don’t smoke a lot, exercise, eat right, and have a good frame of mind. Always try to be happy.

“I’ve seen a lot of water go under the bridge in 97 years,” he continued. “You have the bad spots along the way, but I’ve had a very good life.”