William H. Bill Vavra passed from this life Thursday, October 10, 2002, in the W.Erle and Emma White Hospice Center at the age of eighty-nine. He was born February 8, 1913, on a farm northwest of Caldwell, Kansas, during a snow storm. Mr. Vavra was a retired tool pusher. He lived in Waurika for twenty-five years and was a member of the First United Methodist Church of Waurika. He graduated from Winfield, KS, High School in 1931. Bill was an accomplished carpenter in his younger days and built a beautiful three-bedroom home for his family in Hutchinson, Kansas, where they lived for many years. He worked in the oil fields for most of his life in Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico where he explored for uranium. He also spent a brief period in the South American oil fields. Bill was thirty-second degree Mason in the Waurika, Oklahoma Lodge #531. He and his longtime companion and next-door-neighbor, Lorene Blackburn were well known for sheltering several dogs and quite a few cats from time to time, lending credit to their kind and generous hearts.

Survivors include: two sons - Bob L. Vavra and his wife Connie of Mountain Home, AR, and Doug Vavra of Wichita Falls, TX; one daughter - Jo Carol Freisen and her husband Roy of Shell Knob, MO; three sisters - Sybil Beuchline of Tulsa, OK, Lena Tibbits of Oklahoma City, OK, and Ruth Lawson of Joplin, MO; five grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, and eleven nieces and nephews.

Mr. Vavra was preceded in death by his first wive, Verna, in 1936, and his second wife, Golda Irene Beck, in 1973.

Funeral services for Mr. Vavra were at 1:00 PM, Monday, October 14, 2002, in the First United Methodist Church in Waurika with Rev. Reed Montgomery officiating. Private burial was in the Riverside Cemetery under the direction of Dudley Funeral Home of Waurika. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to:

Hospice of Wichita Falls
4909 Johnson Road
Wichita Falls, TX 76310