Each day, Jim McCollough walks through Clarence Foster Park, about 2 miles from his Arlington home. At this point, McCollough knows 90% of those he passes on his morning walks with his Maltipoo, Charlie.
As he walks up the winding paths through the park, he knows the name of all he interacts with and their profession or hobby. Those who pass him know him as a kind soul who almost single-handedly led the revitalization of the park.
Welcome to 52 Faces
52 Faces of Community is a Fort Worth Report weekly series spotlighting local unsung heroes. It is sponsored by Central Market, H-E-B and JPS Health Network.
At the end of the year, these rarely recognized heroes will gather for a luncheon where the Report will announce one honoree to represent Tarrant County at the Jefferson Awards in Washington, D.C.
McCollough’s work and kindness earned him recognition in 52 Faces of the Community, the Fort Worth Report’s weekly series spotlighting unsung heroes in Tarrant County.
“They say it takes a village to raise a child,” McCollough said while strolling through the park. “In the city, there’s a lot of little things that need to be done, and a lot of people are helping out here, there and everywhere. This just happens to be my spot because I like to see things grow.”
McCollough’s story begins in Hobart, Indiana, a residential town for steel mill workers, as he describes it.
At 17, McCollough began attending classes at Purdue University.
“I had an absolute blast, but only passed one course, and I was kind of ashamed of myself,” McCollough said. “I could have gone back on probation, but I didn’t.”
McCollough was left with two options in his mind at that point: Either join the Army or be selected in the military draft for the Vietnam War.
He excelled on his initial military test, so McCollough was told he could go to flight school. Eventually, he jumped headfirst into becoming a helicopter pilot in 1965.
“I made up my mind that I knew I quit on college,” McCollough said. “If you quit this and quit that, pretty soon it’s a habit, and you’re a quitter. I said I’d never quit on anything again. You couldn’t blow me out of flight school with a stick of dynamite.”
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After four years of service that saw him awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, McCollough returned home and earned a degree in mechanical engineering back at Purdue.
McCollough landed a job as a test pilot at what was then called Bell Helicopter, a Textron company whose Flight Research Center is in Arlington.
Soon after he made the move to Texas, McCollough discovered Clarence Foster Park.
One day in 2022, he decided that he wanted to make a change at what had become his favorite green space.
“I’m a partially disabled veteran, and I get $1,000 a month from the government that I don’t need for anything, so I got in the habit of looking around and seeing (if) maybe I can do something beneficial with that money,” McCollough said.
McCollough’s initial idea was to plant 10 native pecan trees in the park. That idea was quickly dismissed by a head of the Arlington Parks and Recreation department who is no longer in that position.
“He said, ‘We’re not going to have a civilian out there willy-nilly planting trees,’” McCollough recalled, laughing.
After that parks administrator was replaced a couple of months later, McCollough and a few friends decided it was time to see change.
“We initially planted three trees at the time, and then we added a few, and a few more,” McCollough said, pointing at some of the first trees he planted.
McCollough, now 77, has spent plenty of mornings since then taking care of the trees. As the saplings began growing, he brought jugs of water each week to help keep them alive.
Arlington resident Jim McCollough poses next to the first tree he planted in Clarence Foster Park in Arlington Oct. 9 (Chris Moss | Arlington Report)
McCollough says now he tends to about 24 trees that were either naturally planted or that he planted.
“I think he’s earned the right to do whatever makes him happy.”
James McCollough, Jim’s son
Arlington resident Jim McCollough talks about Rush Creek and its animals in Clarence Foster Park on Oct. 9. (Chris Moss | Arlington Report)
Tending trees isn’t the only work McCollough has done in the park. McCollough will bring his John Deere lawnmower to the park and mow or clear brush near the walking trail when needed.
While taking care of the park is an extension of McCollough’s love for nature, it also provides an outlet for him following a terminal illness diagnosis.
About three and a half years ago, McCollough was diagnosed with a rare progressive form of a disease called Lewy body dementia.
McCollough joined a research program through the UT Southwestern Medical Center, where he receives medication to help with symptoms.
Despite the diagnosis, McCollough’s kind nature hasn’t wavered. He won’t let it define him, McCollough said.
“We all got an expiration date,” McCollough said. “We just don’t know when it is, but I just try to make the best of every day.”
His son, James McCollough, said that his work in the park has not only helped him stay active but helped with his symptoms.
“He’s pouring so much of himself into that activity, but I’m sure he’s getting a lot of benefits back that’s slowing down the progression,” James McCollough said. “It’s been great, and he’s happy doing it. I think he’s earned the right to do whatever makes him happy.”
Bob Cox, an Arlington resident who has known McCollough for over 20 years, said the retired pilot’s openness to talk to others and his love for his family are two of his most admirable traits.
“Those things mean a lot to me,” Cox said. “I see it in him, that’s just a really good man. He’s a really good man.”
After continuously tending to the park, word of McCollough’s passion made it to Arlington Mayor Jim Ross.
In 2022, the mayor honored McCollough, awarding him with a plaque to thank him for planting the trees.
For McCollough, the years of work and money he has put into the project have been worth it.
“I paid $1,722 for a lawnmower that cost me about $12 for gasoline. What do I care? It’s like the old expression: Never saw a Brinks truck follow anybody to a graveyard,” McCollough said. “You can’t take it with you. I like the expression that money is like manure. It doesn’t do you any good until you spread it.”
A plaque commemorating Jim McCollough’s work at the Clarence Foster Park in Arlington sits in front of a pecan tree Oct. 9. (Chris Moss | Arlington Report)
Chris Moss is a reporting fellow for the Arlington Report. Contact him at chris.moss@fortworthreport.org.
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