Obituary of Curtis Dwaine Williams

Curtis Dwaine Williams, age 84, passed away on August 25, 2023, in Sulphur, Oklahoma. Funeral Services will be held at 10:30 AM, Tuesday September 5, 2023, in the Chapel at Griffin - Hillcrest with Pastor Lee Brown officiating. Interment to follow in the Seaman First Class Billy Turner Cemetery. Curtis was born on December 12, 1938 to Finnie and Ruth (Adams) Williams, in Hagerman, New Mexico. He was raised in Checotah, OK. He enlisted in the US Navy on Sept 24, 1956. He married his grade school sweetheart on Oct 4, 1958, then just 4 months later was deployed to Japan to serve his country. He returned home with an honorable discharge November 9, 1959 and moved to Bakersfield, California in 1966 where he bought his first home on 5 acres and quickly filled it with farm animals. Curt’s first job was in construction framing houses. He obtained his General Contractors license in 1974 and named his company Curt Williams Construction. He was not an easy man to work for but those who survived his work ethics became successful in their own lives. Every Friday at noon his employees could count on their paychecks with a smile and a handshake. After 30 years of building homes, he laid his hammer down and moved back to his home state of Oklahoma where he decided to “upsize” and bought a 230 acre horse ranch from Dr. Patkowski on Brock Rd. He was 68 years old and every single day for the next 16 years, he was up before the crack of dawn with a pot of coffee and a few games of solitaire and then it was off to work to tend to his paint horses, cow calf operation, haying, and inventing a major water irrigation system to water his farmland. “Down sizing” was not a word in this man’s vocabulary. Curtis and his wife JoAnn were known as regulars at El Tapatio Mexican Restaurant where they would stop several times a week after their trips to Winstar Casino. He was never afraid to take big chances and even won an Infinity Sports car. He sold it the next week because it didn’t have room for him to wear his Resistol hat. His old Dodge pickup and a new American flag every year for Christmas was all he needed. We would like to thank his Mercy doctors, nurses, therapist, pharmacist, personal care givers, his wife, ranch hands, and son-in-law, Dusty Watkins, for standing behind his goals and making it all possible for him to keep living life to the fullest no matter what. He was preceded in death by his parents, six brothers and sisters; Clausine Williams, DJ Williams, Delmar Williams, Mildred Morris, Helen “ Lopy” DeRamus, and Patsy Tiger. Curtis is survived by his wife, JoAnn, of the home, daughters, Sherrie Watkins, and husband, Dusty, who was loved like a son and Tammy Churchfield. Two grandchildren; Nikki Jo Watkins and Emily Yanez, and one great- granddaughter, Farrah Gene Freeborn.