Tony J. Jose
Year Inducted: 2005
W.H. Greenwell Ranch | Hawai'i
Palani Ranch | Hawai'i
Tony was born into a ranching heritage, being raised on his father’s ranch in Holualoa. There he learned the basic skills of roping, branding, shoeing, herding and stone wall building. He was an experienced ranch hand when he started on the W.H. Greenwell Ranch in 1947 at the age of 20. There he spent four years doing anything and everything that was expected of a ranch cowboy: breaking colts, driving herds, branding and inoculating animals, checking and repairing fence lines, even hunting and milking cows to make butter for the table while staying weeks at a time at the Ranch cabin upslope on Mauna Loa.
In 1952 he was hired by Palani Ranch, and he remained a dedicated and loyal employee there for 26 years, earning the admiration and respect of the Ranch owners - the Greenwell family - and his fellow paniolo, unto this day. In Tony’s own words: “These were times when men worked long and hard, doing their best to make the ranch successful.” He cared for the animals, built walls, fences, roads and reservoirs, roped wild cattle, and even planted fruit trees on the slopes of Hualalai.
He has been described as an “old style” paniolo, doing whatever was needed. In that same spirit Tony also served his country in the U.S. Army in 1945 and 1946, being stationed in Korea and Japan.