Obit of Ford, Oscar Odell - Bryan County, Oklahoma Submitted by: Gene Phillips 1 Dec 2004 Return to Bryan County Archives: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/bryan/bryan.htm ========================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ========================================================================== :Garden of Memory Cemetery--Colbert OK Durant Democrat 11 Nov 2004 Oscar Odell Ford, 69 Oscar Odell Ford of Colbert, Oklahoma, passed away peacefully at the age of 69 at Texoma Medical Center in Denison, Texas, surrounded by family and friends. Oscar was born June 11, 1935, in Denison, the oldest of three sons, to Odell Monroe and Opal C. Ford. He attended Denison Schools and at the age of 17 he enlisted in the United States Navy. He served one year aboard the U.S.S. Pictor and three years aboard the U.S.S. Yancey, traveling to Japan and the Philippines and achieving the rank of First Class Machinist Mate. Oscar was a very talented guitar player and inspired many people with his musical abilities. He was an avid outdoorsman in his early years, spending countless hours hunting and fishing. He was employed for many years at the MKT Railroad, working his way up to the position of purchasing agent. He later took on a second career as a home builder and remodeler until his retirement in 1997. Oscar was a member of the Colbert Masonic Lodge No. 8 and the Scottish Rite. He was also a former commander of the VFW Post 2773 in Denison and volunteered thousands of hours there in the later years of his life. He was a very outspoken person for the rights of his fellow veterans and would do anything to help them or anyone else who needed his assistance. Oscar was an honest, hard-working man, and he always spoke his mind, regardless of whom he was speaking to. If you could measure a man's riches by the amount of people who loved, respected and admired him, then he passed from this world a truly wealthy man. He was preceded in death by his mother and a brother, Jerry Donald Ford. He is survived by his wife Marie Strong Ford of the home; father Odell Monroe Ford of Colbert; daughter Beverly Talbott and husband Tim of Denison; four sons, John Ford of Colbert, Jerry Lee Ford of Pottsboro, Texas, Bill Ford and wife Anna of Savoy, Texas, and Jeff Ford of Denison. Stepchildren Rocky Strong and Sheri Coulson, both of Sherman, Texas, and Melissa Woodard of Denison; brother Walter Lee Ford and wife Anna of Itasca, Texas; 15 grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; nieces; nephews and a multitude of friends also survive him. Graveside service will be held 1 p.m. Thursday afternoon at the Garden of Memory Cemetery in Colbert with Chaplain Melvin Reilley of Denison VFW Post 2773 officiating. A military service will be conducted by Denison VFW Post 2773, and a Masonic Service will be conducted by Colbert Masonic Lodge No. 8 at the cemetery. Pallbearers will be David Reynolds, Gene McCullough, Mark Talbott, Jerry Lee Ford II, Wesley Ford and Tony Cameron. Family night will be from 7 - 8 p.m. today at Cunningham's Achille Funeral Home. A lunch will be served after the graveside service on Thursday for all his friends at the VFW Post 2773, located at 531 West Crawford in Denison. Arrangements are under the direction of Cunningham's Achille Funeral Home in Achille, Oklahoma. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to Bryan County Archives: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/bryan/bryan.htm