Editors note: Tom Cason, Stillwell, recently approached the Register about a piece he had written about a young man from southeast Kansas who became a skeet shooter sensation in the 1970s. Perhaps his meteoric rise to fame at so young an age left him ill-prepared for life. but Tony Joe West, whose mother, Mary Louise West Henry, age 90, resides in Yates Center, made a brief, though spectacular, impact on the sport.
By training, Cason is a botanist, working in research and development for DuPont in the 1980s before transferring into environmental research as an entrepreneur with Kingston Environmental Services.
Cason interviewed Mary Louise for the story. She also provided the accompanying photos.
The piece will continue throughout next week.
By the age of 21, Tony West had earned a top place in the world of competitive skeet shooting.
A 1984 feature on West in Skeet Shooting Review, noted he had had a distinguished record in both the Junior and Open divisions. His wins included runner-up in the 1976 World Shoot and winner of the Eastern Open Championship. In 1977 he again captured the Eastern Open Championship, was the Western Open Runner up and the Collegiate Champion. From 1977 to 1980, Tony won 61 Open Gun Championships and 15 HOA (High Overall Average) Open Titles. In addition, he placed over 60 times in class events during his career.
And then it all suddenly came to an end.
Tony West
Tony Joe West was born in Olathe on April 30, 1960 to Joe Patt and Mary Louise West, who both came from small rural Kansas communities and humble backgrounds. Joe worked for the FAA as an assistant chief of Air Traffic Controllers at a station in Olathe. Joes job took the family for a brief time to Chicago in 1969 before they settled on an acreage in Wellsville.
Tony and his two older sisters attended school in Baldwin City.
As a young boy Tony enjoyed hunting, fishing,
and the like.
Then his interests began to narrow, and it all began with a sewing machine.
About 1971 an ad appeared in a Kansas City newspaper that offered a brand-new Winchester 20-gauge pump shotgun with the purchase of a new sewing machine. Tonys mother, Mary, wanted a new sewing machine and Tony wanted a shotgun. Not long after, their dreams came true.
According to Mary, he was a little kid and could hardly hold that gun up, but he tried. Tony showed a strong interest in shooting and began to show some talent by being able to hit clay targets traveling through the air. The following Christmas his Winchester pump was replaced with a new Winchester 101 over-and-under, a step up from the gun that came with the sewing machine.
At about the same time, Tony was also showing an interest in team sports. Though he wasnt large for his age by any means, he joined the middle school football team.
Mary Louise West Henry
