August 2019
“All is good, everything is fine, no complaints” - if you talk to Richard Polk these are the things you’ll hear. Richard was born and raised in Albuquerque. In high school he had a 1946 Ford pickup truck and he said, “I’m going to build another one.” After high school Richard joined the Air Force as a mechanic. He spent his time in the Air Force in the US. Richard had his current 1946 truck for 30 years before he started restoring it. He says “I wanted to get started on it but you know you got to eat so I had to keep working.” After a heart attack in about 2011 he started the rebuild of his 1946 truck. His goal was to get it done before his next heart attack. “All is good”, he made it! Richard spent five years restoring his beautiful 1946 Ford pickup and enjoys showing it and talking to visitors at shows. Richard recently completed triple bypass and is doing very well. No complaints. Richard married Barbara shortly after he caught her in high school. Richard said they were married in 1971 and they’ve had a beautiful 48 years. Richard started an AC heating ventilation business and built it up to 20 employees but recently he slowed it down and just runs himself in a truck and one employee. Barbara is active with horses. For over 25 years they have run a stable out of their acreage, they just board horses and train them but they don’t train riders. Too much liability. Richard said Barbara keeps the books for the business in the stable and “I’m the poop at bookkeeping.” He joined the Flathead club to get to know people who know these old cars and to ask questions and learn. Richard and Barbara have two sons and four grandchildren, all in Albuquerque.
