Bill Stewart

Willis Dale Stewart was born to Lee Stewart and Agnes Allen Stewart on February 13, 1935 in Elrod Township Clark County, South Dakota. Bill was the youngest of four children. He grew up with three sisters: Marylee, Charlotte, and Phyllis on land that was homesteaded by their father, uncles, and grandfather in 1898. Bill joined the US Air Force in 1955 and was stationed at Chanute Air Force Base south of Chicago. His next station was Ardmore Air Force Base. Bill and his buddies would load up on Friday and Saturday night and head over the mountains to roller skate at Cedarvale and then on to Wynnewood to drag main. One day right after Christmas in 1956, Bill and his friends saw a man chopping down a tree and stopped to help. Six months later he married that man’s daughter. Surrounded by their families, Bill and Kathryn Ann Litchfield were married on June 8, 1957 in the First Baptist Church at Wynnewood. That was the first time Bill’s dad had been outside South Dakota since he walked into the territory in 1898. They wasted no time in relocating, Bill had orders to report to Langley Air Force Base in Virginia Beach. They stayed there for about a year. Bill worked his whole life. His first love was the farm so they decided to try their hand at farming. They moved back to South Dakota to farm in what was the driest summer since records started being kept. Bill collected his crop insurance and it was off to Wynnewood. He worked for Wayne Litchfield for a short time and Ralph Shebester for a long time. Bill went on to work at Kerr-McGee Refinery in the early 1970’s. He greeted at Wal-Mart and was finally the Animal Control Officer in Wynnewood. Bill and Kathy had two daughters, Mary Susan and Sandra Kay. Bill had three step-grandchildren whom he loved very much; MAJ Phillip Mallory of Honolulu, Hawaii; CPT John Mallory Elmira, California; and Dr. (CPT) Grant Mallory of Rochester, Minnesota. They are all currently serving in the Air Force. Bill had three grandsons he was very proud of – Stewart Mallory who graduated from the University of Hawaii last week; Austin Mallory who works at the Olive Garden in Columbia, South Carolina; and Aaron Mallory wo will be a Senior at West Point next year. Then, Bill had a granddaughter and anyone who has seen Bill in the past sixteen years knows Morgan. Morgan will be a junior at Wynnewood High School next year. Services will be held Tuesday May 24, 2011 at 2:00 PM at the First United Methodist Church in Wynnewood, OK officiated by Rev. Roland Barrick. Burial will follow at Oaklawn Cemetery in Wynnewood, OK. Services under the direction of DeArman's Wynnewood Funeral Home.

Tributes

Bill Stewart

February 13, 1935 - May 20, 2011