◤━━━━━━━━━━━◥

Bio updated: 6/29/2026

Click on the picture to enlarge it.

∼Thank you for your patience when requesting memorials changes/transfers. I suffer migraines daily and some are worse than others and I can get behind but I always try to catch up.

∼I grew up in El Reno, OK and graduated EHS in the class of 1999. I have a twin brother named, Chad!!! Most people around here know him if even if they don't know me, LOL.

∼I attended Oklahoma City University and obtained a Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Accounting. For about 11 years had lived in Yukon, OK. I married my beautiful and amazing wife Amy on February 15, 2013 which happened to be my parents 33rd Wedding Anniversary.

∼My wife and I bought my childhood dream home and her dream home here in El Reno on August 14, 2015!!! Hard to believe it has been ten years that we have lived here now. I pinch myself every day. The home is a two-story colonial with balcony and three columns. The home was completed in January 1909. We are beyond excited to own this amazing historic home!!! We live on what was the original route of 66 highway through town from 1926 - 1932.

∼We lost our Beloved Labrador Retriever Oakley in February 2018!!! He is the big one in the photo. He is/was my very sweet "Boo Bear"!!! Always had a smile even up to the end at age 12 years old.

∼I was made a Master Mason in the Masonic Lodge in February 2018. Now working to get my proficiency. On September 5, 2018, I received my "Welcome Letter" to the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry in Guthrie, OK. I took the degrees at the reunion weekend in October 2018.

∼

∼My parents both retired from the Federal Correctional Institution here in El Reno, OK.

∼I am a record keeper at heart. This is a great place to share some of the information that I have and hopefully help others in their research as well. I spend a lot of time walking the cemeteries and getting information and photos for the memorials, but my purpose is not to have "ownership" of them, but to make as many available for family, loved ones and genealogy researchers that I can. If I can help someone find information about their relatives by posting an old obituary it makes it worth my time. If I have made an entry that needs correction or if you would like it transferred, please just let me know and I'll be happy to help. If you want to contact me with information, links or corrections for any of my memorials, please use the "Suggest A Correction" (SAC) link on the "Edit" tab of the memorial.

∼**** If you volunteer on this website and decide you no longer want to maintain the records, please transfer your records to someone who has an active account and willing to take over the records. I am one of many willing to take over records. This really will help reduce duplicates. It would also be a good idea to leave someone instructions on how to do make these transfers should you go inactive without warning. ***** Thank You (Borrowed from another FAG Contributor)

∼"What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal." ~ Albert Pike

∼"Show me the manner in which a nation cares for its dead and I will measure with mathematical exactness the tender mercies of its people, their respect for the laws of the land and their loyalty to high ideals."

~ Sir William Gladstone

∼"He who endeavors to serve, to benefit, and improve the world, is like a swimmer, who struggles against a rapid current, in a river lashed into angry waves by the winds. Often, they roar over his head, often they beat him back and baffle him. Most men yield to the stress of the current... Only here and there the stout, strong heart and vigorous arms struggle on toward ultimate success." ~ Albert Pike

∼"Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality." ~ Dalai Lama XIV

∼"I'll just quietly slip away." ~ Frank Sinatra

∼

"The life of the dead is placed on the memories of the living. The love you gave in life keeps people alive beyond their time. Anyone who was given love will always live on in another's heart." ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

∼"I know for certain that we never lose the people we love, even to death. They continue to participate in every act, thought and decision we make. Their love leaves an indelible imprint in our memories. We find comfort in knowing that our lives have been enriched by having shared their love." ~ Leo Buscaglia

∼"No matter who you are, you will be put abed at last with a shovel."- Austin O'Malley, M.D. (October 1, 1858 - February 26, 1932)

∼"As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so life well used brings happy death."~ Leonardo da Vinci

∼"Love is stronger than death even though it can't stop death from happening, but no matter how hard death tries it can't separate people from love. It can't take away our memories either. In the end, life is stronger than death." ~ Unknown

∼"The spirit of brotherhood recognizes of necessity both the need of self-help and also the need of helping others in the only way which every ultimately does great good, that is, of helping them to help themselves." ~ Theodore Roosevelt (American 26th US President (1901-09), 1858-1919)

∼"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on." ~ Winston Churchill

∼"I am prepared to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter." ~ Winston Churchill

∼"Somebody should tell us, right at the start of our lives, that we are dying. Then we might live life to the limit, every minute of every day. Do it! I say. Whatever you want to do, do it now! There are only so many tomorrows." ~ Pope Paul VI quotes (Italian Pope. 1897-1978)

∼"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I have not lived." ~ Henry David Thoreau quotes (American Essayist, Poet and Philosopher, 1817-1862)

∼"You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment." ~ Henry David Thoreau

∼"Show me your burial grounds and I'll show you a measure of the civility of a community." ~ Benjamin Franklin

∼A good character is the best tombstone. Those who loved you will remember. Carve your name on hearts, not on marble. ~ Charles H. Spurgeon

∼"Time is like a river made up of the events which happen, and a violent stream; for as soon as a thing has been seen, it is carried away, and another comes in its place, and this will be carried away too." ~ Marcus Aurelius

∼Dear Ancestor, Your tombstone stands among the rest, neglected and alone, The name, the date, are chiseled out in weather-beaten stone. It reaches out for all to see, it is too late to mourn, You did not know I would exist, you died and I was born. Yet each of us are part of you, in flesh, in blood, in bone, And in my breast there beats a pulse entirely not my own. Dear Ancestor, the place you filled One hundred years ago Spreads out among the ones you left Who would have loved you so. I wonder if you lived and loved, I wonder if you knew That someday I would find this spot, and come to visit you. ~Author: Walter Butler Palmer (1908)

∼Genealogy begins as an interest, Becomes a hobby; continues as an avocation, takes over as an obsession, and in its last stages, is an incurable disease.--Author Unknown

∼"Those we love remain with us for love itself lives on, and cherished memories never fade because a loved one's gone. Those we love can never be more than a thought apart, for as long as there is memory, they'll live on in the heart."– Author Unknown

∼"Silently, one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven, Blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels."~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

∼"There is much in the roll of a law enforcement officer that changes over the years. Two factors remain constant: A dedication to serve and a willingness to make whatever sacrifices are required" –Unknown

∼∼ Away By: James Whitcomb Riley I cannot say, and I will not say That he is dead- . He is just away! With a cheery smile, and a wave of the hand He has wandered into an unknown land And left us dreaming how very fair It needs must be, since he lingers there. And you- O you, who the wildest yearn For the old-time step and the glad return- ,Think of him faring on, as dear In the love of There as the love of Here; And loyal still, as he gave the blows Of his warrior-strength to his country's foes- .Mild and gentle, as he was brave- ,When the sweetest love of his life he gave To simple things- : Where the violets grew Blue as the eyes they were likened to, The touches of his hands have strayed As reverently as his lips have prayed: When the little brown thrush that harshly chirred Was dear to him as the mocking-bird; And he pitied as much as a man in pain A writhing honey-bee wet with rain- .Think of him still as the same, I say: He is not dead- he is just away! James Whitcomb Riley

∼Splendor in the Grass "What though the radiance which was once so bright Be now for ever taken from my sight, Though nothing can bring back the hour Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower, We will grieve not, rather find Strength in what remains behind; In the primal sympathy Which having been must ever be; In the soothing thoughts that spring Out of human suffering; In the faith that looks through death, In years that bring the philosophic mind." ~William Wordsworth

∼"Only one life, twill soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last. Only one life, yes, only one, soon will it's fleeting hours be done." ~CT Studd

∼

"To live in the hearts of those we leave behind is not to die." ~Thomas Campbell 1777–1844

Thank you Patricia Anne Jensen Palovcak (1938-2022) - Find a Grave Memorial for sharing this quote with me.

∼

THE RECORDING OF A CEMETERY

BY THELMA GREENE REAGAN

Today we walked where others walked

On a lonely, windswept hill;

Today we talked where others cried

For Loved Ones whose lives are stilled.

Today our hearts were touched

By graves of tiny babies;

Snatched from the arms of loving kin,

In the heartbreak of the ages.

Today we saw where the grandparents lay

In the last sleep of their time;

Lying under the trees and clouds -

Their beds kissed by the sun and wind.

Today we wondered about an unmarked spot;

Who lies beneath this hallowed ground?

Was it a babe, child, young or old?

No indication could be found.

Today we saw where Mom and Dad lay.

We had been here once before

On a day we'd all like to forget,

But will remember forever more.

Today we recorded for kith and kin

The graves of ancestors past;

To be preserved for generations hence,

A record we hope will last.

Cherish it, my friend; preserve it, my friend,

For stones sometimes crumble to dust

And generations of folks yet to come

Will be grateful for your trust.

∼

~The English custom was never to mention a lady's name; hence: "Mrs. James Jones", or the "Wife of James Jones"

~Often a family surname is used as 2nd name: "James Smith Jones".

~For centuries the custom was NOT to mention someone's birthday! ~~ Only his/her (exact) age at death. that's why you see on old stones: "Aged 85 Years, 6 Months, 12 Days" or "Aged 85 y, 6 m, 12 d" We in 21st century in Find a Grave can fill in the birthdate as customs have changed.

~Dutch custom is to hyphenate a woman's maiden name to her surname: "Volten-Langewis".

~In Spanish speaking countries the surname of the mother is ALWAYS added to the name:

"Antonio Fernandez Velasquez". Velasquez is maiden name of the mother.

~Very confusing, as different countries have opposite customs.

One has to know the origin of a name to fill in the right name(s) in Find A Grave.

Thank you, Member Profile: Glenn Chipman - Find a Grave for these interesting facts.

∼

◣━━━━━━━━━━━◢