On October 6, 1935 in Finley, Oklahoma, Alice Whitson gave birth to a three and a half pound baby boy and named him Loyd Melvin Whitson. He was so small that they kept him in a shoebox until he got a little bigger. Loyd was the first son of Theodore and Alice Whitson and the oldest son of their ten children. Loyd quit school just a couple weeks into his eighth grade year but could spell and write extremely well. His first job was working as a gas attendant in Cheyenne, Oklahoma. He did this until he entered the U.S. Marine Corps in 1954. In 1955 he met his wife, Betty Habekott, daughter of Bill and Lena Habekott of Arnett, Oklahoma. Loyd served in the Korean War and was then discharged with the honor of ‘Expert Rifleman’ in 1956. Loyd and Betty then moved back to Oklahoma and started a family. They had five children, three boys and two girls. Loyd, better known by his family as “Bud”, enjoyed fishing and hunting and went every chance he got. In fact, there is a spot on Foss Lake known as “Whitson Point”. He raised greyhounds and loved to chase coyotes with his father-in-law, Bill. He also liked to ride horses and once fancied himself a cowboy. Bud worked odd jobs and moved the family numerous times until settling in the town of Burns Flat in 1971. There he worked as a bulldozer operator making flood control dams and later entered the oilfield and worked his way up to driller. Bud drilled until the oilfield slowed down in the 1980s and then he started working odd jobs again until he retired. He also looked forward to elk hunting trips to Chama, New Mexico with his sons, brothers in law and friends. As he got older he began to tinker in his shop making things from scrap lumber. Bud’s greatest accomplishments were his family. He was very proud of his kids and grandkids. He was always joking around and loved to tease. He will be greatly missed.
Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, March 9, 2016 at Cheyenne First Baptist Church, Cheyenne, Oklahoma. Interment will be at 2:00 p.m. at Debolt Cemetery in Arnett, OK. Services have been entrusted to the care of Martin-Dugger Funeral Home in Elk City, OK.
Loyd was preceded in death by one daughter, Lanita “Sissy” Whitson; parents, Theodore and Alice Whitson; two brothers, Gene Whitson and Charlie Whitson.
Loyd is survived by his wife Betty of sixty-one years; three sons: Rocky and wife, Trenna of Arnett, OK, Lonnie and wife, Kathy of Clinton, Oklahoma, Melvin and wife, Amy of Weatherford, Oklahoma; one daughter, Kim and husband, Joe Brady of Elk City, Oklahoma; four sisters, Cleo Pierce, Della Mae Andrews and Fern Boyett of Cheyenne, Oklahoma and Roberta Williamson and husband, Don of Fritch, Texas; three brothers, Orbie and wife, Wanda and Joe Whitson of Cheyenne, Oklahoma, Mike Whitson and wife, Sue of Mustang, Oklahoma. Loyd has ten grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren with one on the way.
Memorials can be made to the Cheyenne/Arnett Ministerial Alliance in care of Martin-Dugger Funeral Home, 600 West Country Club Blvd., Elk City, Oklahoma 73644.
Online condolences can be sent to the family by using the online guest book at www. martin-duggerfuneralhome.com.