Ivan Tompkins

Ivan Tompkins died in Mercy Hospital in Kingfisher, Oklahoma, Monday, December 9, 2013, at the age of 94. He was born in EI Reno, Oklahoma, on March 16, 1919, to Mattie and Isaac Winfield Tompkins. He was preceded in death by his wife, Oneda Laverne Tompkins, on November 20, 2002. Ivan and Laverne were married November 20, 1941, at the First Methodist Church in Waurika. Two months after they were married he was drafted for the Army to serve in World War II. She went with him to EI Paso for his training. After his training,she went back to Walters and he went to the Aleutian Islands. Later he went on the Queen Mary ship to England. After the war, he came back to Walters where they bought a little house and he worked for Bill Hurst as a mechanic. Later he opened his own garage. Then he worked for the H. E. Bailey Turnpike, as a civilian at Ft. Sill, and at United Parcel Service. In 1969 they moved to Lawton. He had been a member of the Masonic Lodge in Walters and as a couple they were members of The Order of Eastern Star. The biggest hobby in his life was his music. He loved to play and sing the old country and western songs. He and Laverne belonged to a group of musicians who played together at the Fletcher High School Cafeteria every month. He had a music room set up in their house where he played and sang with all kinds of instruments and microphones. He was preceded in death by his mother and his father; brothers and sisters, George J and wife Veta Ruth Tompkins, Leona High and husband Pete, Audrey Spense, Ruth Tompkins and Rheta Tompkins. Ivan is survived by his two children, Iva Nell Wetzel of Kingfisher, OK, and Donald Tompkins, of Lawton, OK. His grandchildren are Russ Wetzel and his wife Celeste and their children, Roy and Cordie of Warrenton, VA, and Richard Wetzel and his wife Leigh and their children, Anna and Katie of Plano, TX.