Billy Ray Sexton
Billy Ray Sexton, known as Bill to most and Ol’ Man Bill to a few, gave up his fight on March 20, 2006. Never ill most of his life that all changed in the last year. We almost lost him last July, but he fought his way back with the help of God. I am very thankful for these last six months and wish they could have been more. God decided he had suffered enough and took him home peacefully in his sleep. His last days were enjoyed planning a trip to the Hill Country to look at the bluebonnets, spending an afternoon enjoying an opera, and spending time with his family. We thought he was getting better and would be with us for years to come. He will be sorely missed.
Billy began his life on March 13, 1939 in the town of Coweta, Oklahoma and was raised in Wagoner with the help of his grandparents. They helped shape his life and values. His father Bill went to a new job in Pennsylvania where Dad graduated from Union High School, Newcastle in 1957. He was pursuing a degree in Electrical Engineering. His goal was to complete this degree. Getting married and having four children in the process, his revised goal was to finish his degree before his fortieth birthday. He was granted a degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Tulsa in 1979, three months before he turned forty. In the 1980’s he completed his Master’s of Business Administration.
On a blind date, set up by his best friend, he met Owana Banks. Mom said she used to watch from the windows at school for Dad’s old ’48 Chevy to drive up on Friday afternoons. He would drive from Norman were he was a freshman at the University of Oklahoma. After dating for awhile they eloped on November 1, 1958. They haven’t been apart since.
Family was always first with Dad, work was a close second. He always believed that you could not have one without the other. I can attest to the fact that whatever we needed, clothes, food, shelter, love, especially love, (even if he did not show it openly) we got. His children always knew they could dial 1-800-Daddy and a true need would always be met. He always said family comes first. “They will stick by you when others won’t.”
Dad was happiest during Thanksgiving when the whole family could get together, but anytime the family got together was special. Every Christmas Eve, after all the presents were opened, he would read us “The Night Before Christmas”, and then it was time to go to bed and we knew Santa would be there. He faithfully read this to us each year, even if we were away. He would call and read it for us. I will always hear his voice each time I hear or read the poem. He was hoping my brothers and I would settle down so he would know where to retire to. (He knew LuEllyn would stay in Scotland) He would have been happy with all of us living within walking distance of each other, especially if we were in Texas.
Dad always enjoyed working. More than a month off, except on vacations, would have
him climbing the walls at home. This would drive Mom nuts as he would always want her to go along on every errand. She was his best friend and lifelong companion.
Even after too few decades together they still talked on the phone every day that they were apart. Dad and Mom were looking forward to retirement and traveling to see more of the country. They planned on visiting LuEllyn and their grandkids in Scotland, with a side trip to Ireland of course. Dad was very much into history and enjoyed visiting actual historical sites. He has visited many Civil War era sites. He was a southern rebel at heart long before moving to Texas.
Dad did not have many structured hobbies but he did enjoy the simple things in life, good food, good friends, working in the yard, gardening, (when it wasn’t too hot), coin collecting, watching Fox News. (Mom had to limit his watching after last July) Dad enjoyed “taking a drive”. He used to drive, see the sights, find an ice cream stand or a root beer float and teach us songs. He continued this tradition with his granddaughters. His favorites were folk and historic songs. He was so full of life. He was planning on restoring his Dad’s ’63 Ford after retirement. While living in Wyoming he enjoyed watching the stars on a clear night overlooking the mountains. He looked forward to any day cold enough for a fire. He would spend all day tending it and relaxing in front of it. In his younger days he spent his evenings as a little league coach for my brothers and me.
Dad became a member of the Church of Christ after moving to Southeast Texas. Much to my surprise he relished it and hardly missed a Sunday. He became a Deacon and was very disappointed when health issues forced him to resign this position. While growing up, Dad rarely went to church with us. He and Mom would often discuss the sermon during our Sunday family lunch. He would tell us to read the Bible and decide for ourselves. He attended services in his youth. He led a Christian life before making a formal acknowledgement of Christ. I am sure he is in heaven with Jesus, his brother Bobby and father Bill, his grandparents Alice and Red, looking out for all of us down here. I have another guardian angel on my shoulder.
During Dad’s lifetime he worked many places. At Tenneco Chemical in Houston in the sixties, a union Electrician in Oklahoma in the seventies, and worked across the country for Bechtel. He worked on projects in Wyoming, Colorado, California, Louisiana, and finally in Beaumont, were he and mom have stayed for the last seventeen years. Diplomatic Engineer Bill of the eighties replaced Electrician Bill of the seventies. Electrician Bill did show up occasionally under stressful conditions at work. Dad spent a few years working for Fort Howard in Muskogee in the eighties. Dad took this job to be home so he could help his father battle cancer. After Bechtel finished their project at Mobile he wanted to stay in Beaumont so he went to work at Printpac. Then he went to work at Firestone Polymers were he finished his long career. Those that worked with, or for, Bill knew there was only one way to do the job, correctly, or you did it again. We did not call him the “Code Master” for nothing. He earned the respect of everyone he worked with. You always knew were you stood with Dad. Dad was very proud of his work and would show us all the projects he worked on during Sunday drives.
Billy was preceded in death by his Father, William Henderson Sexton, “Bill” of Muskogee, Oklahoma, and his brother, Bobby Wayne Sexton of Raytown, Missouri.
He is survived by Owana, his wife of forty-eight years; his daughter, LuEllyn and two granddaughters, Rachel and Natalie of Aberdeen Scotland; sons, Micheal of Tulsa, Oklahoma, William of Beaumont, Texas and Robert of Muskogee, Oklahoma; and his mother Esther Sexton of Muskogee, Oklahoma. We grieve as deeply as we loved.
Interment in his hometown of Wagoner, Oklahoma will be Monday March 27, 2006, following services at the Bradley funeral home in Muskogee, Oklahoma.
The family requests that memorial contributions be made to your favorite children’s home. (Children were Dad’s favorite charity, especially at Christmas)
