Bill Walden

Private services for Billy E. Walden, of Tulsa, OK are Saturday, November 14, 2020 at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Ada. The family will receive friends from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. Friday at Criswell Funeral Home.

Mr. Walden passed away Monday, November 2, 2020 in Saint Francis Hospital, Tulsa. He was born April 14, 1937 in Carthage (Panola County), Texas to James Mitt and Jewell Faye (Wood) Walden, the youngest of seven sons.

Mr. Walden attended Beckville, Texas Public Schools and moved to Oklahoma in 1952. He graduated from Pauls Valley High School. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Education Degree from East Central University, Ada and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri.

On June 16, 1961, he married Paddy Meryl Mason. She died on September 7, 1977. Mr. Walden married Thellys Oliver on May 31, 1982.

He taught school in Lindsay, Oklahoma and enlisted in the US Air Force in 1960. He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant at Lackland AFB in 1962. While in the Air Force he was a Personnel Officer and a Missile Launch Control Commander in the Minuteman program. He returned to Ada in 1974 and was involved in the oil industry. In 1985, he became the manager of Oak Hills Country Club. He was an adjunct professor at East Central University and in 1989 became a full-time instructor in the School of Business. In 2000, he moved to Tulsa and was employed as an instructor in the School of Business and Technology at Northeastern State University until his retirement in 2001.

Mr. Walden was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Paddy Mason Walden; one son, Randal Mason Walden; and brothers, E. C., J. W., E. F. (Smokes), E. R. and Don.

He is survived by his wife, Thellys Walden, Tulsa; sons, Glen Walden of Houston, TX, Steven Oliver (Kim), Tulsa, and Greg Oliver of Tulsa; daughter, Erin Walden, Ada; granddaughters, Serra Thompson, Ada, Kelsey Rice (David), New Orleans, LA, and Kenzie Oliver, Norman; grandsons, Maxwell Mason Walden, College Station, TX and Mykuhl Thompson, Ada; brother, Will of Collierville, TN; niece, LaDona Hill (Carlyle) Ada; nephews, Brent Walden (Zeddra), Ada, and Kent Walden (Jan), Ada.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to St. Luke's Episcopal Church Matthew 25, c/o St. Luke's Epispocal Church, P. O. Box 890, Ada, OK 74821.