David Ralph Prather

Funeral Service for David Ralph Prather will be held 10:00 am, Thursday June 27, at the Musgrove-Merriott Smith Chapel, Claremore. Bro. Lorne Beck will officiate. Burial will follow at Washington Cemetery. Visitation will be held at the funeral home Wed. 5-7 p.m.

David passed away Friday, June 21, 2013 in Vinita, at the age of 57 after a battle with cancer. David was born March 15, 1956 in Claremore. He attended Foyil Schools and Washington Baptist Church where he was saved and baptized in adolescence. David was best known for his love for the outdoors and nature.

He worked as a welder for many years before leaving welding to work outdoors. He worked long, hard hours as a driver and mechanic for Chelsea Refuse Service and Bristow Refuse for over 20 years and where one man’s trash was David’s greatest treasures. David collected thousands of music albums and hundreds of 45 records simply from laying on the top of people’s trash. David got excited when he talked about his record collection. One of his greatest finds was a 45 record of the actual footage of the bombing of Pearl Harbor with President Franklin D. Roosevelt covering the event. David loved his home in Bristow surrounded with his albums, his garden and his whitetail deer farm. He was a simple resourceful man knowledgeable about plant and animal life. He would grow bountiful gardens and drive around giving bags of food away to strangers and loved ones. He was always eager to invite his friends and family down for a feast from his garden. He loved to cook a pot of beans with all the garden trimmings. He quickly grew well known across the Internet forums as 'dcwhitetails' for his knowledge of nutrition and breeding of whitetail deer until his health failed him and he returned home to Chelsea.

David was a man with a soft heart but a man of few words. He loved his family and friends and expressed his abundant love in his final hours of life. He distributed tremendous hugs and holding our hands until the Lord wrapped his loving arms around David and took him home.

He leaves behind wife Cindy, Bristow; mother, Joyce Prather, Wood Manor of Claremore; three children: Angie Martin, Brad Prather and wife LeAnn, Donna Taylor and husband, James; twelve grandchildren; four sisters, Susie Maggard and husband Randy of Adair, Pam Zincke, Claremore, Tammye Cox and husband Billy, Fairland, Sherri Riddle and husband Royce, Chelsea; one brother, Jack Craig and wife Nicole, Pryor; Uncle, Kenny Prather and wife Betty, Claremore; and a host of nieces, nephews and cousins.

He is preceded in death by mother, Ruby Dayton; father, Ralph Prather; and Grandparents, Oscar and Jessie Prather.

Memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society.