Okfuskee, OK – Obit - Kenneth William Merideth, 1921-1994

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Submitted by:    Judy Williams
Email address:   jjwms@flash.net
Date submitted:  6/5/99
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Source:  Okemah News Leader, Thursday, August 4, 1994


Kenneth William Merideth

     Funeral services for Okemah native Kenneth William Merideth, 73, were held 
at 2 p.m. Tues., Aug. 2 at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, Okemah, with the 
Rev. Clem Dozer officiating, assisted by Rev. David Rose. Merideth died Sat., 
July 30 in Okemah.

     He was born March 24, 1921 at Prague, the son of Okemah grocers John A. and 
Olive (Bass) Merideth, proprietors of the John Merideth Grocery. He was a 1938 
graduate of Okemah High School , where he as an honor student and a member of 
the football team. He and Martha Gene Kezer were married on Feb. 1, 1942 at 
Okemah.

     Merideth served in the Army Air Force as a bombardier on a B-17 crew in 
Italy during World War II, where he flew 50 combat missions and was awarded the 
Purple Heart. He retired from the Air Force Reserves as Lieutenant Colonel. He 
was a member of the Reynolds-Harjo American Legion Post #123 of Okemah.

     He received a B.S. degree in accounting in 1947 from Oklahoma A&M and 
accepted a position with Phillips Petroleum Company in Bartlesville that same 
year. He retired as manager of Refining Accounting  in 1983 after 34 years with 
the company. He and Gene,  his wife of 52 years, returned to their home town of 
Okemah where they have resided since that time.

     Merideth was a 32nd Degree Mason, a member of Masonic Lodges in 
Bartlesville and Okemah and of the Scottish Rite in McAlester. He was also a 
member of the Okemah Chamber of Commerce, was a past officer of the Okfuskee 
County Historical Society and served on the Okfuskee County Excise Board. He was 
a member of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, where he served as treasurer and 
was on the administrative council.

     Proceding him in death were his parents.

     In addition to his wife, Gene, of the home in Okemah, he is survived by one 
son, Kenneth W. “Bill” Merideth, Jr. and one daughter, Carol Musick Litterell, 
both of Tulsa; six grandchildren; one great-granddaughter; and one brother, John 
H. Merideth of San Antonio, Texas.

     Pallbearers were Eugene Cheatwood, Claud Evans, Bobby Hargrove, Lloyd 
Pickering, Charles Shepard and Ron Vick.

     Interment was at Highland Cemetery under the direction of Parks Brothers 
Funeral Home.