William Allen Best

William A. (Bill) Best, born December 2, 1933 in Poteau, OK, was the son of the late Henry and Kathryn Best and was the older brother of the late Marilyn Ann Best and sisters Janice (Wayne) Plummer of Poteau, OK and Kay (Ken) Nickles of Burleson, TX. He departed this earthly life on Saturday December 9, 2023 at the age of 90. Bill is survived by his wife, Betty Warren, of Tulsa, OK, his three children, Marilyn Jane Best of Lawrence, KS, Randy (Mary) Best of Lakeville, MN, and Karen (Harold) Laurence of Lansing, KS, and six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

While earning his engineering degree from Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, OK, Bill married H. Marlene Carpenter. In 1956 he took his first job with John Deere as an engineer in Waterloo, IA, but was shortly thereafter called into military service. He entered the US Army and served two years in Regensberg, West Germany. In 1959, Bill and Marlene had their first daughter, Marilyn Jane. In 1961, they had twins Karen and Randy, and then they moved to Oklahoma where Bill worked for Norge Appliance Company in Ft. Smith, AR. They later returned to Cedar Falls, IA where Bill again worked for John Deere, taking an early retirement in 1986. Bill continued working as an Amway distributor thereafter.

Bill was an avid snow skier, and there were regular family ski trips to Colorado a couple of times a year (until the kids got too involved in their own lives!). Bill continued to ski though and made many trips with friends to ski in the upper Midwest, mountain West, and in Europe. Bill exercised daily, and he continued to ski into his late 70s.

In 1994, after returning to Oklahoma, Bill was re-married to Darline Eck, where they lived until her death in 2014. During that time, many happy times were had with both of their sets of children and grandchildren. The entire family would all gather each year for Thanksgiving dinner, followed by bingo and gift exchanges. Trips with family were plentiful, to "fun" spots (ski trips to Colorado, Wisconsin Dells, and multiple trips to Branson, Missouri) and to the kids' homes.

Bill also had a passion for genealogy, and he and Darline traveled around the country to gather family stories and pictures, interview long-lost relatives, visit cemeteries and review records at county courthouses. Bill built a computer database of what he found and put together binders of historical information for family members. We are all thankful to him for doing this work for us. All his life he was a good storyteller and would captivate the kids with stories of his antics with his cousin ("B&G stories"), stories of his life in college and when he lived overseas in the military, and life at "the pump station" where he grew up.

Bill was active in his local church, where he led an adult Bible study for many years and where he met Betty Warren, whom he married in 2015. His service work included delivering medicine and supplies from a local pharmacy to people and visiting sick church family members at their homes and hospitals in Tulsa.

Bill also had a big heart for his oldest daughter Marilyn, and (if Marilyn would let him!) loved to spend time drawing pictures for her when he visited her.

We will miss our beloved earthly husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. Above all we give him thanks for leading our family to know and love our true father, our Lord Jesus Christ, who now watches over Bill, and who loves each of us and awaits our return to Him one day.

Arrangements are entrusted to Schaudt's Tulsa Funeral Service, 5757 South Memorial Drive, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74145. Family and friends are invited to leave kind words of comfort, share special memories, and offer condolences to the family online at www.schaudtfuneralservice.com.