MommyG3
02-24-2004, 09:10 AM
http://www.clarionledger.com/news/0402/22/ma01.html
VAUGHAN — Rebecca Hargon established her independent streak at birth, her family says. There was no stopping her arrival when her mother went into labor at the family home in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Linda Hirtz gave birth to her daughter in the living room of the house.
Michael Hargon grew up in the middle of what his family calls God's Country, about 120 acres of unspoiled land in this tiny Yazoo County community. It has been home to at least five generations of his relatives.
On Saturday, the mothers of Rebecca and Michael Hargon and other family members sat in the afternoon sun in front of the Hargon family homestead. They laughed and smiled as they shared stories about Michael and Rebecca Hargon and the couple's 4-year-old son, James Patrick.
The young family was reported missing from their home more than a week ago.
Michael Hargon has a quick wit and a sense of humor that makes him the hit of family gatherings.
"(The late columnist) Lewis Grizzard, that was Michael," said Kim Richardson, 29, a cousin who grew up more like a sister to Hargon. "But he didn't write. He just said it."
Rebecca Hargon is quiet, but strong-willed.
"Rebecca's the perfect Southern belle," said Judy Richardson, cousin of Michael Hargon's mother, Diana Hargon. "She never brought a thing to my house that wasn't a Southern Living (magazine) dessert."
James Patrick is named after his great-grandfather, James Patrick Hargon. A gentle boy, James Patrick wants a baby brother or sister.
Michael and Rebecca Hargon seem to be polar opposites. She had never been on a horse before meeting her husband. Michael Hargon grew up wrestling calves and running horses.
Rebecca Hargon grew to love horses, too. She and her husband have two, Cody and Diamond.
"Before, Rebecca would have gone riding in a black sweater and black pants," Hirtz said. "The last time I saw her ride she was wearing Wrangler jeans, a Carhartt jacket and cowboy boots."
Everyone chuckles.
"Michael pretty much converted her to Wranglers," Kim Richardson said.
"Rebecca doesn't like to get dirty," her mother said. "But she would go ATV riding with Michael. And his goal was to put as much dirt on Rebecca as possible. That was the aim of the game."
One of four children, Rebecca Hargon, 29, spent much of her childhood in Poplar Bluff, Mo., until 1989. The Hirtz family moved to Jackson after Rebecca Hargon's father, Bill Hirtz, was transferred there for his job.
Rebecca went to junior high school at St. Richard Catholic School and graduated from St. Joseph Catholic School.
Michael Hargon, 27, grew up around horses and cows that walk pastures of seemingly endless green grass. Dense woods and fishing holes were the perfect places for a young boy to hunt, fish and roughhouse.
"We used to ride this old car around in the pasture, it didn't have brakes and we weren't old enough to be driving anyway, but we would use the trees to stop it," said Kelly Moore, one of Michael Hargon's best friends. "We used that car as a fishing pier a couple of times when we ran it off in the pond by accident."
It was a simple life for Michael Hargon, his sister, Jennifer, and parents Haywood and Diana.
A friend introduced Rebecca and Michael Hargon at an August 1992 football game at Benton Academy, where Michael Hargon went to school.
"It was true love," said Richardson.
"I asked her if she and Michael were dating," Linda Hirtz said. "She told me 'We're going to let that Michael go along.' Then Michael started coming to our house."
The couple was heartbroken when Rebecca Hargon returned to Missouri with her family in 1993. The Hirtzes went back to tend to ill relatives.
"Michael followed us as long as he could before he had to turn around," Linda Hirtz said.
Life for the Hargons changed in April 1994. Three men robbed and killed Michael's father Haywood Hargon at Fowler Road Grocery, the convenience store he owned on the family's land.
Haywood Hargon was a beloved man who tended to the land, his mother, family and friends.
Michael Hargon was just 17 when his father died. As the only son, manhood was dropped in his lap when he assumed his father's role in the family and the community, relatives said.
"It was so much for him to take on after losing his daddy," said Michael Hargon's aunt, Katherine Alexander. "You have to admire him for that, but that is the kind of person he was ... is."
Michael and Rebecca Hargon wed in December 1995 following a long-distance relationship, brief breakup and Rebecca's return to Mississippi.
They both graduated from Holmes Community College.
Michael Hargon is employed as a construction worker at Warren Excavation, based in Gluckstadt. He's been there more than four years, said owner Doug Warren.
Rebecca Hargon works as a physical therapy assistant at Tyler-Holmes Hospital in Winona.
The couple and their son spend time with relatives and go out to eat with other couples during their free time. Rebecca's favorite restaurant is Olive Garden.
James Patrick has a quietness about him much like his mother and the playful kindness of Michael, relatives said. He loves Disney movies and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
He got a Spider Man tent, Legos, books and trucks during his Feb. 7 birthday celebration.
"He has his own movies," said Diana Hargon. "He likes to call himself Buzz Lightyear.
"Michael wanted to start the name over because all of the Hargon men seemed to be dying out," she said as she held her son's yearbook.
Linda Hirtz said her daughter loved living in Vaughan and having Michael Hargon as her husband.
"(Rebecca) said, 'These are home-grown boys,'" Hirtz said. "That's what she called them. You want your children to be happy and to live in a good place."
Michael Hargon and his friends never consider leaving their family, friends and rural home.
"People who live in this community wanted so much for Michael," Kim Richardson said. "But Michael had what he wanted. He had his family and the life he wanted.
"You were just blessed to know them," she said. "Your life was just better having them around."
VAUGHAN — Rebecca Hargon established her independent streak at birth, her family says. There was no stopping her arrival when her mother went into labor at the family home in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Linda Hirtz gave birth to her daughter in the living room of the house.
Michael Hargon grew up in the middle of what his family calls God's Country, about 120 acres of unspoiled land in this tiny Yazoo County community. It has been home to at least five generations of his relatives.
On Saturday, the mothers of Rebecca and Michael Hargon and other family members sat in the afternoon sun in front of the Hargon family homestead. They laughed and smiled as they shared stories about Michael and Rebecca Hargon and the couple's 4-year-old son, James Patrick.
The young family was reported missing from their home more than a week ago.
Michael Hargon has a quick wit and a sense of humor that makes him the hit of family gatherings.
"(The late columnist) Lewis Grizzard, that was Michael," said Kim Richardson, 29, a cousin who grew up more like a sister to Hargon. "But he didn't write. He just said it."
Rebecca Hargon is quiet, but strong-willed.
"Rebecca's the perfect Southern belle," said Judy Richardson, cousin of Michael Hargon's mother, Diana Hargon. "She never brought a thing to my house that wasn't a Southern Living (magazine) dessert."
James Patrick is named after his great-grandfather, James Patrick Hargon. A gentle boy, James Patrick wants a baby brother or sister.
Michael and Rebecca Hargon seem to be polar opposites. She had never been on a horse before meeting her husband. Michael Hargon grew up wrestling calves and running horses.
Rebecca Hargon grew to love horses, too. She and her husband have two, Cody and Diamond.
"Before, Rebecca would have gone riding in a black sweater and black pants," Hirtz said. "The last time I saw her ride she was wearing Wrangler jeans, a Carhartt jacket and cowboy boots."
Everyone chuckles.
"Michael pretty much converted her to Wranglers," Kim Richardson said.
"Rebecca doesn't like to get dirty," her mother said. "But she would go ATV riding with Michael. And his goal was to put as much dirt on Rebecca as possible. That was the aim of the game."
One of four children, Rebecca Hargon, 29, spent much of her childhood in Poplar Bluff, Mo., until 1989. The Hirtz family moved to Jackson after Rebecca Hargon's father, Bill Hirtz, was transferred there for his job.
Rebecca went to junior high school at St. Richard Catholic School and graduated from St. Joseph Catholic School.
Michael Hargon, 27, grew up around horses and cows that walk pastures of seemingly endless green grass. Dense woods and fishing holes were the perfect places for a young boy to hunt, fish and roughhouse.
"We used to ride this old car around in the pasture, it didn't have brakes and we weren't old enough to be driving anyway, but we would use the trees to stop it," said Kelly Moore, one of Michael Hargon's best friends. "We used that car as a fishing pier a couple of times when we ran it off in the pond by accident."
It was a simple life for Michael Hargon, his sister, Jennifer, and parents Haywood and Diana.
A friend introduced Rebecca and Michael Hargon at an August 1992 football game at Benton Academy, where Michael Hargon went to school.
"It was true love," said Richardson.
"I asked her if she and Michael were dating," Linda Hirtz said. "She told me 'We're going to let that Michael go along.' Then Michael started coming to our house."
The couple was heartbroken when Rebecca Hargon returned to Missouri with her family in 1993. The Hirtzes went back to tend to ill relatives.
"Michael followed us as long as he could before he had to turn around," Linda Hirtz said.
Life for the Hargons changed in April 1994. Three men robbed and killed Michael's father Haywood Hargon at Fowler Road Grocery, the convenience store he owned on the family's land.
Haywood Hargon was a beloved man who tended to the land, his mother, family and friends.
Michael Hargon was just 17 when his father died. As the only son, manhood was dropped in his lap when he assumed his father's role in the family and the community, relatives said.
"It was so much for him to take on after losing his daddy," said Michael Hargon's aunt, Katherine Alexander. "You have to admire him for that, but that is the kind of person he was ... is."
Michael and Rebecca Hargon wed in December 1995 following a long-distance relationship, brief breakup and Rebecca's return to Mississippi.
They both graduated from Holmes Community College.
Michael Hargon is employed as a construction worker at Warren Excavation, based in Gluckstadt. He's been there more than four years, said owner Doug Warren.
Rebecca Hargon works as a physical therapy assistant at Tyler-Holmes Hospital in Winona.
The couple and their son spend time with relatives and go out to eat with other couples during their free time. Rebecca's favorite restaurant is Olive Garden.
James Patrick has a quietness about him much like his mother and the playful kindness of Michael, relatives said. He loves Disney movies and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
He got a Spider Man tent, Legos, books and trucks during his Feb. 7 birthday celebration.
"He has his own movies," said Diana Hargon. "He likes to call himself Buzz Lightyear.
"Michael wanted to start the name over because all of the Hargon men seemed to be dying out," she said as she held her son's yearbook.
Linda Hirtz said her daughter loved living in Vaughan and having Michael Hargon as her husband.
"(Rebecca) said, 'These are home-grown boys,'" Hirtz said. "That's what she called them. You want your children to be happy and to live in a good place."
Michael Hargon and his friends never consider leaving their family, friends and rural home.
"People who live in this community wanted so much for Michael," Kim Richardson said. "But Michael had what he wanted. He had his family and the life he wanted.
"You were just blessed to know them," she said. "Your life was just better having them around."