50 Years in the USA for Hope’s Dan Morales

By Mark Keith, 04/26/24 7:49 AM

Many of us know Dan Morales of Hope, either as an Arkansas Highway Patrol Officer or through his current job as a bailiff at the Hempstead County Courthouse.  But the story of how Morales came to Hope is fascinating.

A native of Costa Rica, whose father was a career diplomat, Dan actually did some diplomatic work early in his stay in the United States but what brought him here was agriculture.  He had gotten a college degree in his native land in agriculture.  Getting to know Southern Baptist Missionary made him curious to come to the U.S.  The missionary, Robert Crockett, stopped in Costa Rica for a year to work on his Spanish before going on to Argentina.  Morales was interested in furthering his agriculture education in Arkansas and Crockett suggested Arkansas State University in Jonesboro.  Crockett’s in-laws agreed to host Morales and he flew to the U.S. on March 16th, 1974.  He ultimately arrived in Memphis, Tennessee and to stay with his sponsors, the Perkins, in Cherry Valley, Arkansas.  Cherry Valley is a small town near Wynne.  “They were farmers, rice, soybeans, cows, chickens, and pigs,” says Morales.  “I was in hog heaven!”

One of Morales’ first tasks was to learn English.  “I knew French, I learned that in school,” he says.  Mrs. Perkins undertook his English tutelage.  One memory comes from those early days.  “Mrs. Perkins, the first thing she gave me, was a peanut butter and banana sandwich.  Ti this day, 50 years later, I haven’t again tasted peanut butter and banana,” says Morales.  He quickly adds that he likes plain peanut butter just fine!

In the spring of 1975 Morales enrolled at ASU to study General Agriculture.  Says Morales, “From there, I met this girl, who is my wife now, Darene.”  Morales’ future wife lived about a quarter mile from where he lived.  Morales made friends with Darene’s brother to get to meet her.  They finally met up face-to-face after he saw her emerge from a “flume ditch” where she’d been shooting snakes.  Dan acted like he was going to run over her on his motorcycle and indeed Dan says, “She told her mother that crazy Costa Rican nearly ran over me!  I almost shot his tires!”.  Despite this slightly bumpy introduction, Dan and Darene started dating and did so for four years before marrying.  That courtship included a road trip, with several members of Darene’s family from Wynne, Arkansas to his home in Costa Rica.    The whole crew stayed two weeks and upon returning, the couple married that August and have been married 47 years.  The Morales have two children who are grown now.  Dan is proud to note his daughter is also an alumnus of Arkansas State as is his 23-year-old grandson.

Morales did not go into agriculture after graduating ASU.  Instead, he joined the Army in 1980 and spent 23 years in the armed forces.  During that time, he earned the United States Meritorious Service medal.  With his language skills, he served in several countries including trips to Panama, Chile, Nicaragua, and Honduras.   During this period, Morales also became a naturalized U.S. citizen.  Says Morales, “I still get goose bumps when I hear the National Anthem.”  He retired as a Staff Sergeant.

Morales retired from the Army after 23 years of service.  After that, he joined the Arkansas Highway Police which he notes proudly is “the oldest state law enforcement in Arkansas–1929 is when they came in.”  He started in Marion, Arkansas working at the weigh station on I-55.  He attended D.O.T. school and after graduating found there was an opening for a K-9 officer in southwest Arkansas.  Morales says, “We packed our little trucks and came down here…like the Clampetts!”

The K-9 was a German Shepard that came from the Netherlands.  Communication was a problem at first.  “The commands had to be given in Dutch and German,” says Morales.  He continued, “With my Spanish accent the dog could hardly understand me sometimes.”  Morales said the dog looked at him as if to say, “What is he saying???”.  A sister who spoke German helped him with his pronunciation via videotape and his pronunciation improved.  Morales worked with the dog for eleven years.  He continued his career with the Highway Police until 2019 when he retired at the rank of corporal.

Morales said he quickly got bored with retirement and offered to work “pro bono” for Lafayette County Sheriff Obie Sims on Fridays when court was in session.  When Bailiff David Porterfield retired, Morales had the opportunity to go to work in Hempstead County in January 2021.  Says Morales, “I’m entering my fourth year as a deputy sheriff in the position of Bailiff.”  He says he enjoys the job and is able to use his language skills to help families who have business at the Hempstead County Courthouse.

Dan Morales is proud of his 50 years in the U.S. and is proud he has been a citizen for 40 years.  “If people want to be someone in this country, they can be whatever they want,” says Morales.  When he talks about the United States, he simply smiles and says, “I love it!”