barber

Afternearly 50 years, Bob Colombe knows a thing or two about cutting hair. Especially for businessmen whose styles rarely deviate from the short, cleancut look.

“Cutting hair is the same,” he says. “We have three to four generations of families coming in here. I guess that’s what happens when you stick around for a long time.”

Colombe, 72, opened Preston Forest Barbers in 1963, tucked away in a corner next to Whole Foods. It previously was located at Preston and Royal for one year.

He hesitates to talk about his high-profile Dallas clients, which include Ross Perot, Clint Murchison and Blackie Sherrod — mostly out of respect to his not-sofamous customers.

“Everybody’s important. But I do consider them friends,” Colombe says of the more famous names.

Colombe began his career in 1958 at age 18, attending American Barber College in Downtown Dallas through a government program that aimed to get young American Indians off reservations and into the workforce. Colombe grew up on a ranch in South Dakota where there were no banks, no jobs and no electronics.

“You were confined to your own abilities. It was boring. You don’t go anywhere. People end up joining the service (Navy, Army, etc.), they have a ranch job or construction job or they go work for the government.”

He says moving to Dallas made him realize how cut off his hometown really was. It’s not that the people are against modern ideas; they’re just slow to adapt.

“They just got cell phones a few years ago.”

Colombe settled in Dallas but still embraced his culture. From 1989 to 2001, he organized an arts fair Downtown.

“It gave artists a chance to sell their work.”

Now, he spends most days at his barbershop post right next to the entrance. The small, narrow space is lined with swivel chairs on one side and a waiting area on the other side, encouraging an old-fashioned barbershop atmosphere. Most clients just talk sports.

“You attract who you are,” Colombe says. “I enjoy doing what I do. You have friends come in every day.”

“I couldn’t sit in a cubicle all day. I love people. I am a serious people person.”

Jones works out of the Northaven Post Office, covering Preston Hollow homes, including the Disney Streets. His goal is to have some kind of impact on everyone he meets.

“If I meet you, I want to change your life,” he says. “Attitude is everything. I can read people very well. I can tell if they’re going through something. It’s pretty amazing that I get paid to possibly affect someone’s life.”

Jones, 44, grew up in New Orleans with a privileged life playing sports. He played college basketball at the University of Tennessee and says he could have gone pro. But a back injury brought that plan to a halt.

“It forced me to take the light off myself and focus on others. I realized that I had to be responsible.”

BOBBY JONES MAIL CARRIER AND HUMANITARIAN

“IF I MEET YOU, I WANT TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE.”

So he married young at age 20. He has one daughter who almost died at birth. She was born three and a half months premature, weighing 1 pound and 8 ounces.

“She could fit in my hand,” Jones says. “That was very humbling to me to see something that small.”

After three months in the hospital, she pulled through and grew up to live a healthy life.

“It made me believe in God. Before that, God was more theoretical to me.”

Besides delivering mail and raising his family, Jones has spent the last 12 years doing missionary work in places like Mozam- bique, Africa.

“What struck me is that the life expectancy there is 40 years. I’m 44. I was an old man there.”

Jones also finds time to work on his graduate degree to help execute what he says is a five-year plan, which he declines to detail. Meanwhile, he continues to be an ambassador for the postal service even as its future becomes uncertain. Jones says he opts for snail mail over digital technologies.

“Every month, I buy two books of stamps whether I need them or not. I encourage others to do the same.”

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