I would love to hear from anyone who may have encountered the following the traveling overseers:
David Wesley - An incredibly kind and humble man. Just the most down-to-earth CO you'll ever find. He was from Indiana, looked like Dan Quayle and joked about it too. He didn't take himself too seriously and that was refreshing, especially to young ones. He really took a liking to young teens in the congregation and always came across as warm and encouraging. He was in good physical shape, too. He would meet a group of young brothers at the local gym and play basketball with them. He was pretty good at hoops. In one of his talks he related a story about a young JW boy that had all of the latest stats memorized for his favorite baseball players, but when Wesley asked him to name all the books of the Bible, he was stumped. But he related that story in a non-threatening way. It didn't come across as dogmatic. He always said that the best compliment he ever received was when one brother said, "Brother Wesley is the only Circuit Overseer that doesn't know he's a Circuit Overseer." Wherever he is, I hope he's doing well.
John O. Mason - You won't find too many people with nice things to say about Mason. He was pompous, ostentatious, and literally seemed to look down on people. He seemed to intentionally show up late at the meeting for field service and when he walked in the back door into the auditorium he would announce "Elvis is in the building". Not kidding. He wore flashy gold jewelry and expensive suits. He either came from money or he really wanted people to think that he did. The elders referred to his visits as "Mason's Massacre" because he removed so many elders and ministerial servants. Now I will say this about Mason: the man was a gifted speaker. Holy moly he was captivating. He knew Koine Greek well and wove it into his talks in a way that really made the material really exciting. Also he was enamored with tall people. Weird, I know.
Angelo C. Manera - One of the best speakers I have ever heard. He had a slight Italian accent and a very nice voice. A 45-minute talk seemed like an exciting 10-minute short film. That's how good he was. And his sincerity and conviction were stirring. You could really tell that he believed what he taught and lived it. A great storyteller that could paint vivid pictures and really tap into that "theatre-of-the-mind". Not a bad golfer, either. But he regularly denounced football. Both playing it and watching it. That didn't go over too well in the South. He passed away in 2006.
Samuel J. Roberson - A District Overseer who is now serving as a Patterson instructor. A slightly rotund man with red hair and freckles, he came from poor beginnings. I think he worked as a janitor for many years before entering the traveling work. Incredible speaker with an amazing voice. At conventions, his voice just boomed and echoed through the rafters and then, for effect, the next sentence would be almost at a whisper. But the audience was so on the edge of their seat that all you could hear was was dead silence. He had an incredible command of the Scriptures. He would take a verse that most people might read over and not think much about it. But he could take that one verse and extract so much substance. He used Koine Greek excellently as well. It really enhanced his talks.
If anyone has any experiences or stories about these COs and DOs, please share. Thanks!