The only thing I can think of, is to throw a big one, not the little 2 to 3 pound things, in a Dutch oven on the stove top with water, and cook until falling apart. Then try to strain the meat out of the water and fat. When I do it on the smoker, everything icky just drains away.

Could she possibly have cooked it with Coke or root beer in the oven? That seems to be a thing around here. I've never tried it. I'm actually going to try it with ribs one of these days. (Maybe, LOL!)

Here’s a good technique. You could leave off the herbs and spices and just go with S&P.

So maybe she cooked it like a whole turkey in the oven? That would make sense. Turkey in the fall and winter and pork in the spring and summer.

Sherry, I'm guessing she likely cooked it low/slow in the oven.

Though not what she did, this is one version I like. I use shoulder for this...butt would be great, too.

https://www.finecooking.com/recipe/slow-roasted-pork-shoulder-with-carrots-onions-and-garlic

That would make sense. Nothing Spanish or Italian existed in the 60's or 70's in Alabama. ETA: Or smoked. We, my mother, brother, and I went to a "new" restaurant in 1968, in Dothan, Alabama, that served a new, weird dish, called "pizza".

low and slow ... at least 4-5 hours in the oven. With a convection oven, I set the temp at 250.

Make sure you have sizable edges on your drip pan [NOT a cookie sheet]

I wonder if she cooked it in a crock pot. They started to become popular in that era.

Try cooking one in the crockpot. Add a can of Ginger Ale and cook on low for 6-8hours. Easy pulled pork and you don't taste the Ginger Ale.

I am probably of the vintage of your mother in law....and since as part of my husband's perks from the farms, he got 2 hogs a year....so I cooked LOTS of pork shoulder and boston butt roasts.
I would put the roast usually about 4 to 5 pounds in my covered roaster, with a lid, cover it with sliced onions and a sprinkle of salt, pop it into the oven and turn the oven on to 450, when it reached heat, without opening the door, I would turn it down to 250 and cook for 5 hours or so.
It made the most delicious gravy!!
There was one memorable time when I popped that roast into the 450 oven and headed off to an afternoon of bridge.....forgetting to turn it down to 250 before I left. I got a VERY annoyed phone call from my daughter who, when she came home from 5th grade, found the house full of smoke!, determined it was from the oven, turned the oven off, took the burned roast out into the yard and opened all the doors and windows....I was much chagrined!!

My mom used to cook pork roasts that were delicious...I just had to look up what a pork butt looks like to see if that's what she made. I think they came with twine around them?

She just put them in a cast iron skillet, salt and pepper and roasted at 325 degrees (like she did all roasts, beef, pork, lamb) for whatever time the size required (probably according to Betty Crocker cookbook) to be well done (back in the days when you wanted no pink in pork). No water, no cover, just a dry roast. They were delicious...the fat would get a little crispy on the outside.

Thanks everyone! It really could be the different pork then. It was usually dark and a lot more fat. The pork I buy now is really white and very little fat.

The onions are very possible. Garlic or any other spice other than salt or pepper is not. And, wine, oh no!

Low and slow in the oven sounds right. She could of started it and then went to work. Or even on a Sunday, start early, then dinner midday.

She did have crockpots later, but this would of been before they were popular. My first crockpot in 1970 didn't even have the removable liner!

Lindac, That is certainty something I would do.

My new stove should be here at the end of the week, my oven died and parts aren't available. I will try some of the basic ones first for him and then some of the others for us both.

Sherry, you can easily sub chicken stock and/or water for the wine. Let us know if you what you end up trying that you like.

Yes, Sherry, it was a different type of pork roast then. The heavy top layer of fat was not removed as it is today. Ask a local butcher for for help. How well I remember removing the finished roast from the oven, all brown, swimming in fat which makes a delicious gravy to which a bit of Gravy Master was added for a deep brown color.

And this was always accompanied with large peeled baking potatoes cut in half about an hour before the end of baking time, par boiled and then added to the baking roast in the pan, rolled in all the cooking pork fat, and turned several times to help the potatoes form a brown, crusty surface. We also cooked potatoes this way using a leg of lamb. But these days they are sold with all the fat stripped off. And pork is now raised with minimal fat. Cooks up so dry. Pork tenderloin is the only pork I cook these days.

LOL, When I cook grilled center cut pork chops, I rub them with olive oil now before cooking. They are way too dry otherwise, even cooking to the lowest temp. I am probably not going to ever recreate the exact pork roast she cooked, because the pork is different. I just hope to get close.

I have the smoked pulled pork that we like and ribs we like, but am just going for the old time memory. I even have a CI pork loin we like. All are very lean and I suspect the the roast he remembers is not. Hey, once a year or so, fat does not matter!

Nandina, we use Kitchen Bouquet for color in gravies, especially at Thanksgiving.

ETA: I just want to say how much I appreciate everyone on here. Even the recipes, that are a little more involved, have good techniques and I intend to use them as written even after this project. This is the best that Garden Web offers, the free exchange of ideas and help. It is a resource that cannot be duplicated.