It’s been a long time since Lloyd “Tommy” Doss was a member of the legendary western singing group “Sons of the Pioneers.” He retired to a quiet life in Wallowa County, but the world still hasn’t forgotten him.

Doss, now 88 and living in Enterprise, will be inducted into the Western Music Association Hall of Fame at a ceremony Friday, Nov. 21, in Albuquerque, N.M.

Doss, a native of La Grande, joined the group in 1949. He was chosen to replace founding member Bob Noland because of his distinctive baritone.

“He was perfecto,” said R. Fred Goodwin, owner and founder of Concept Production, which produces vintage cowboy western music. “He knew all the songs and fit in perfectly. A lot of people didn’t know Noland had even left.”

Goodwin, who is based in Tennessee and is often on the road selling music, movies and memorabilia (www.cowboylegends.com) at Western shows, recently paid a visit to Enterprise to visit Doss. “He’s the closest friend I have in the business, and one of the nicest guys you’d ever want to meet,” said Goodwin.

Goodwin is the co-author of the 2002 book “Sons of the Pioneers” that was dedicated to Doss. “For Lloyd ‘Tommy’ Doss – one of the greatest of the Pioneers and a special friend of the project,” it reads.

Doss was dubbed “Tommy” after his middle name of Thomas when he joined the band because Lloyd Perryman was already a member.

“He’s the last surviving member of the ‘old’ group,” Goodwin said of Doss. “The music of the Sons of the Pioneers was never the same after he retired. … He is famous throughout the world. “

Doss and his wife Naomi bought the Imnaha Store and Tavern in 1963 and ran it until 1977. Doss was occasionally called back to the recording studio or to appear at some special event with the Sons of the Pioneers until 1972. “Members of the band used to travel many miles out of the way to get him to come back,” said Goodwin.

Doss, one of 10 children, remembers listening to the Sons of the Pioneers on the family’s Victrola (hand-cranked record player) when he was still living in La Grande and wanting someday to be part of the band. He formed his own group, Sons of the Grande Ronde, which played in places like the Elks Club and on the radio in Eastern Oregon.

He was “discovered” by western music great Bob Wills and recruited to play with Wills’ Texas Playboys, a step that eventually led to him joining the Sons of the Pioneers – the achievement of a long-time dream.

“It was a good life (although) we were on the road a lot,” Doss said. “I’d come home and my two boys would say, ‘What did you get me?’ That was kind of tough, not being home with them.”

Doss said that though Roy Rogers, one of the founders, left the group for solo fame years before, the Sons of the Pioneers worked with Rogers and his wife, Dale Evans, many times at rodeos and other venues, including the very first night club the couple ever worked.

Among other experiences Doss recalled was the time Dale Evans was holding tickets for them to get into the fairgrounds in Columbus, Ohio, where they were playing. They missed connections for the tickets, and with Pinkerton security men guarding the gate ended up having to pay for them. However, band member Dale Warren, said, “I’m not going to pay. I work here.” So Warren laid on the floor in the back seat, while Shug Fisher, the driver, said, “Three, I guess,” when asked how many were in the car.

“And I said, ‘how about this guy right down here’,” recalled Doss. “And Dale was lying there looking up at me.”

“We had a great time in those years, and I’m sorry that the last of the original group, Dale Warren, died this summer,” Doss said. “We kept in touch. We got together and hugged each other. Dale, the one we just lost, performed in Branson, Mo.”

Doss is the only survivor of the Sons of the Pioneers who appeared in the John Wayne movies “Rio Grande” and “The Searchers,” and also recorded the music for the John Ford movie, “The Wagon Master.”

“It was nice working with John Wayne. He was a big gentleman,” Doss said.

He recalls filming one movie on location in Moab, Utah, on a hot day, and being able to cool off by crossing the waist-deep Colorado River while on horseback.

“We did our part in Moab, and then we’d come back into the studios, and they would place Roy Rogers and Dale Evans in front of a tent, and they’d be singing, ‘I’ll Take You Home Again, Kathleen’,” Doss recalled. “Sometimes Roy and Dale would be there and sometimes we’d be singing to a post. That was kind of strange, but that’s the way they do it in the movie business.”

While Doss was on the road, Naomi was back home in Burbank, Calif., with their two sons, Dennis and Tim, both of whom now live in Wallowa County.

“Burbank was a nice place when we lived there,” Naomi said. “But I’m from here, and the kids loved it here.”

When the Dosses decided to move permanently to Imnaha, Naomi said there was surprisingly little adjustment required from life in Burbank. “We love the people in Imnaha,” she said. “Those people helped us adjust – they all worked on us, and we got so we knew what we were doing. They put me in as postmaster when I knew nothing and that was a big help.”

Probably the biggest problem with Imnaha from Naomi’s point of view was some of the native wildlife. “Rattlesnakes scared me. I didn’t panic, but I got out of the way.”

Doss agreed with his wife about their move to Wallowa County. “It was nothing at all to transition from being a musician to running the Imnaha store. We took that real easy because the people at Imnaha were more our people than those we left behind, and I mean (they were) country,” Doss said.

Doss indicated that, as much as he enjoyed his years withn the Sons of the Pioneers, he was more than ready to give up the limelight that he still can’t entirely avoid. “When I retired here, I thought I was going to stay away from all that,” he said. “But sometimes it bounces back at me.”

His friend Fred Goodwin is one of those who want to make sure that Tommy Doss receives all the recognition he deserves for the music he created, including induction in to the hall of fame this month. “He’s the cult hero of this business, he’s so revered,” said Goodwin. “Everyone loves Tommy.”