Marland Floyd

Marland Dale Floyd, resident of Ponca City, passed away Friday evening, October 9, 2009 at the Ponca City Medical Center. He was 75 years of age. Dale was born July 14, 1934 in rural Akins, Oklahoma, the son of E.W. and Beulah Vesta Wickett Floyd. Dale was a 1952 graduate of Sallisaw High School. After high school, he enlisted in the United Sates Air Force and served his country as a radio operator on a DC-3 aircraft. He served a tour of duty in Japan and was honorably discharged as a staff sergeant in 1956. Dale met Mary Lou Chastain on a blind date with his first cousin, Doris, and after a short courtship, they were married on September 6, 1953. Following his discharge, Dale and Mary Lou moved to Tahlequah to attend Northeastern State College, earning a degree in accounting in 1959. The family moved to the small town of Whitewater, Kansas, near Wichita, where Dale taught business and Mary Lou taught second grade. He was varsity head coach, taking the football team to the state championship. In 1952, the family moved to Ponca City, where Dale briefly taught typing at Ponca City High School, before a career as an accountant with Conoco prior to his retirement in 1992. Dale was an active member of the Ponca City Masonic Lodge, serving as Master of the Lodge in 2006 and earning the prestigious 32nd degree. At the time of his death, Dale was the Commander of the York Rite and an associate patron of the Eastern Star Chapter here in Ponca City. Dale was a longtime member of the First Baptist Church, greeting members of the congregation at his beloved North Door. In his earlier years, Dale was an avid softball player and golfer and most recently enjoyed wood carving with his pal, well known local artist, Gene Dougherty. He is survived by two sons, Michael Dale Floyd, St. Petersburg, Florida and Mark Floyd and wife, Nadine, of Albany, Oregon; two grandchildren, Shaun Floyd of Albany, Oregon and Brooke OHearn and husband, Will, of Monmouth, Oregon; two grandsons, William Travis OHearn and Gregory Isaac OHearn both of Monmouth; one brother, Dr. Don Floyd, Hot Springs, Arkansas and one sister, Mary Ellen Voss, Nowata, Oklahoma; other extended family and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Mary Lou on December 23, 2003 and one infant brother, Bobby. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday, October 13, 2009 in the Worship Center of the First Baptist Church with Russell Aday presiding. Interment will be at 4 p.m. Tuesday in the Akins Cemetery Northeast of Sallisaw under the direction of Grace Memorial Chapel. Casket bearers will be Gary Grayson, Bob Thomas, Lee Struble, Paul Taylor, Doug Hart and Orville Wilkes. Honorary casket bearers will be Virgil Petty, Bobby Gray, Ike Daniels, Don Crawford, Dennis Tatum, Gene Dougherty, Joe Nimmo and Paul Lessley. Memorial contributions may be made to the Mary Lou Chastain Floyd Memorial Scholarship Fund, in care of John Gyllin, 812 North Cedar Ave., Tahlequah, Oklahoma 74464-2406.