David Shofner

David Lee Shofner of Marland, Oklahoma, passed away unexpectedly on Saturday, December 1, 2018. He was 60 years old. A memorial service will be held at 2:00 pm on Sunday, December 9, 2018, at Grace Memorial Chapel, 2016 North 14th Street, Ponca City, Oklahoma.

David was born on March 22, 1958, to Don and Helen (McMahan) Shofner in Pawhuska, Oklahoma. He grew up in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and graduated from Sooner High School in 1976. After high school, he married Michelle Thompson and had two children, Brandon and Kyla. In 1987, he married Cynthia Brown for 21 years and they had three children, Alicia, Marissa, and Sarina.

David embarked on many adventures in his life. In high school, David was a wrestler and on the football team. During his summers as a teenager, he worked as part of a custom cutting crew harvesting wheat in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska. Wanting to serve his country, David joined the marines after high school, but due to an injury was not able to finish basic training. He spent a few years as a farrier shoeing horses. He worked several years in construction in Bartlesville. He then moved to Joplin, Missouri, and worked at TAMKO Asphalt Products. David began his own excavation business, Advantage Backhoe Service, working for numerous contractors and individuals in the Joplin area. He later started Cornerstone Communications Services, and as owner and operator, employed multiple subcontractors laying fiber optic cable lines across the United States. In 1989, he obtained his commercial instrument rated pilot's license. He was an excellent heavy equipment operator and worked for several companies in Cushing, Joplin, and Ponca City. He was good at working on almost any project and was always working on someone's car. David always said he was a jack of all trades and master of none.

In 2012 David moved to Ponca City, Oklahoma, where he started work at International Energy. For the last four years, he was employed as a refrigeration mechanic at Dorada Foods, where he worked at the time of his death. It was in Ponca City where he met the love of his life, Peggy Evans.

David was such a kind man with a wonderful sense of humor and was loved by so many. He dearly loved his kids and was known as Grampy to his grandkids. David enjoyed telling family and friends about his life experiences. He loved talking about the summer visits with his grandparents in Saint Jo, Texas, when he was younger, and the tales of flying his Piper PA-38 Tomahawk. David treasured his four mission trips to Brazil where his team would build chapels in just a week. He had fantastic stories from his times spent there. He was an avid OSU Cowboys and Denver Broncos fan. He loved being outdoors, and fishing and playing pool with Peggy. He spent his evenings playing with his pets, Barkley and Mustard.

David is survived by his fiancée and soulmate Peggy Evans of the home; his daughters Alicia Shofner Wright and husband Jeffery, Marissa Shofner Womble and husband Samuel, and Sarina Shofner, all of Joplin, and Kyla Shofner of Bartlesville; his son, Brandon Shofner, of Bartlesville; his brother Ray Shofner and wife Melissa of Fort Gibson, Oklahoma; his sister Sharon Shofner Helm and husband Ben of Drumright, Oklahoma; his grandchildren Hadley, Hudsynn and Jack Wright of Joplin, and Eli Toker of Bartlesville; and his numerous nieces and nephews. He is also survived by Peggy's daughters, Carlie Evans and Francesca Evans, both of Stillwater, Oklahoma, his dog Barkley and cat Mustard, and many, many friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents and two grandchildren, Riley and Reese Wright.

David had previously expressed a desire to support the Wounded Warrior Project. The family requests that donations be made to this organization in David's memory at www.woundedwarriorproject.org

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