Bo Sanders

November 2012

Determination…. Maybe that should have been this salesman’s middle name, but everyone knows him by Bo…Bo Sanders the scale man. But determination is a big part of his profession, and if you know him at all you will say that he is full of determination, along with several other admirable and sought after qualities by the people who work with him and have loved him for years.  He belongs where he is because determination pushes him to be the man, husband, father, grandfather, and employee that he is every day.  He is a strong Christian, with an unusual story that makes his abilities extremely unique, and his beliefs and constitution are a testimony to the people who don’t really see the whole picture or know the real story of his life.

James D. Sanders “Bo” was born in Oxnard, California, and came to Oklahoma when his parents moved to Central High, between Lawton and Duncan when he was 7 years old.  He grew up close to the plant where he would put his sweat, and hard work into all of his adult life, and even as a child he was dedicated to his work. He built bicycles, and roofed houses in high school, and started working for Paul Scales in April of 1989. He started working in the shop at the bottom of the totem pole. His friend and co-worker Billy Qualls would work hard right beside him in the shop, and then after work they would cut firewood, and haul hay for extra spending money. He worked his way through the shop and quickly learned the intricate details of every station that is necessary to put the equipment together. Because of his attention to detail, and determination to be the best at everything he set his hand to, he rapidly moved through the business and caught the attention of the owner of the company at that time Mr. Adrian J. Paul.  Adrian was the founder, and he had built the company from the ground up.

Adrian, had built the business , and was travelling around the country to many of the shows, that Bo currently works with, and Adrian started sending him to do deliveries, and work in the barns setting up the scales for them to weigh the animals.  Adrian was proud of his company and instilled a hard-working innovative spirit in the many who worked for them over the years, and he encouraged Bo to strive for his goals. Bo would jokingly tell him often…. “One of these days, I’ll be doing your job,” and little did he know he would eventually travel more and touch more lives than Adrian could have ever imagined, and Bo was taking the scales that Adrian had patented to all the corners of the nation and farther. 

In 1991, Bo met and married his wife of 21 years, Jojeanna.  She was a nurse and worked at the local hospital in Duncan. She had 2 little girls,  Jessy Dee and Alexis, and Bo stepped into the role of father loving the girls just as if they were his biological children. To this day, if you ask  Jojeanna to tell her story she will say he rescued her and put her life back together at a time when she felt so alone and hopeless, and her eyes light up as she speaks of Bo, the love of her life.  In 1993, they had another beautiful baby daughter, Jaden Danay,  and to this day Alexis and Jaden constantly challenge each other trying to make Bo pick, “Which on is Truly… Daddy’s Girl?” He smiles and reminds them that he has several baby girls, and they all have a special place in his heart.  And in 1995, they were blessed with a little baby boy, Jerron Edward.  With 4 kids, and the demands of family Bo pushed himself and branched out looking  for new horizons to help his company grow, and to maintain the image of a hard-working diligent father that he wanted his children to admire.  He reached out to more of the larger livestock shows and began to broaden his horizons.  And by the way, Bo is also the proud Papaw of 4 handsome grandsons who think he walks on water.  Jaxon (8), Jake (5), Jasper (2) and Kaleb (1), are his greatest pride and joys, and each one of them know the show routine, and love to be on a forklift or in a booth somewhere spending time with their Papaw Bo.

In 2000, the company was bought by W-W Livestock Systems, and Bo became the salesman for the scale side quickly learning the livestock equipment/ rodeo side of the business and branching out to new horizons.  The company was growing, and so were the demands on the sales and production, and the vision of a larger market. Bo has been travelling since long before that year, but the sales side of the company just seemed to mesh with his work weighing the livestock.  He started in Houston, and San Antonio, and Denver’s National Western Stock Show and Rodeo, and rapidly branched out to Colorado State Fair, Aksarban  River City Round-up in Omaha, Nebraska,  American Royal in Kansas City, Missouri, Arkansas State Fair, in Little Rock, Arizona National Livestock Show in Phoenix, The Star of Texas in Austin, The World Pork Expo in Iowa, National FFA Conventions, and many local and distant stock shows, and fairs across the nation.  With the help of many of the icons of the company Kirby Kelly, Ted Webster, Pat Carhart, and others that were fans and mentors for Bo he grew in the sales division, and continues to travel all over the United States, taking the products that he believes will help today’s ranchers, cowboys, and farmers raising their animals and training their children the art of showing animals and working with their projects on a day to day basis.  Drive is definitely a huge part of Bo’s day to day existence putting hundreds of thousands of miles on his vehicle every single year. 

In the past 7 years besides his travels across the US selling equipment and working in the barns, Bo has taken the determination in his spirit spending vacation time working on a church in the Dominican Republic.  He had taken his younger 2 children to Mexico with his wife on mission trips a couple of times and when God opened doors to work with Servants’ Heart Ministries in San Juan de la Manguna he felt the tugs on his heart, and with the help of many of his sponsors and friends he went with 2 different groups to help minister to some destitute villages, and help the people there build a church.  Bo has always been known for his abilities to work things out, and to fix things.  His work on the church along with the team of missionaries was very valuable and appreciated by the people in the Dominican, just as his work is valued and appreciated by the people he works with, in the many shows where he travels and works. 

Bo knows that Faith and Dedication to his Lord, and his family are cornerstones in his life as he continues daily to fulfill his purpose.  His relationship with God, builds his relationship with his family and his customers.  He has a servants’ heart and believes in what he does on a daily basis, and though adversity is a part of life, with reliability and value for others, he carries his determination to work and places value in every part of his daily routine.  Whether it is weighing the pigs in Arizona, or working with a rancher in Texas to build an arena to work his stock horses, Bo looks for ways to make people happy, and make their daily work easier.  This is truly his calling, and the blessings he has received and passed on to others speak for themselves. (Information as of 2012)