Richard Jay Sailor

Funeral service for Richard Sailor will be held on Monday, August 15, 2016 at New Hope Church of God. Pastor Mark Tincher will officiate. Burial will follow at Oakhaven Memorial Gardens under the direction of the MMS-Payne Funeral Home & Cremation Service. Visitation will be held at the funeral home Sunday 1-6 p.m., and family will greet friends 4-6 p.m.

Richard passed away on August 11, 2016 at the age of 85.

The son of Charles and Blanche Stealy Sailor was born April 11, 1931 in Elkhart, Indiana. There he attended Elkhart schools graduating with the class of 1949. Upon graduation Richard continued working in Elkhart. There a short time later thanks to a friend he met Wilma Jean Parker. They would marry on December 23, 1953 in Monroe City, Indiana. The newly wed couple then packed their car and headed to their new home in Dallas. There Richard had secured a job as a job shopper for the Harper Corporation. For the next several years work took Richard and Wilma to many different locations. However with the birth of their first son the couple decided to quit traveling and settled in Nashville. After 6 years however Richard decided to make a career change and moved into the sales profession. This change would eventually take him back to Dallas.After establishing himself with Brown and Sharp in Texas he took on the challenge of new sales territory in Oklahoma and Arkansas and moved to Claremore, the middle of his sales territory, in 1974. He left Brown and Sharp and began working for Zeiss selling some of the most sophisticated quality control and measuring equipment used in the manufacturing industry. He retired from Zeiss in 1991.

Upon retirement Richard had more time to focus on the activities he loved. One of those hobbies was golfing. He was an avid golfer, who played weekly with a group of friends. Retirement also allowed him more time to work with wood in the shop he built. There he made many things, many he shared with his family. Then of course was more time for his family whom he truly loved, such as the time he was able to take the entire family on a cruise to celebrate his and Wilma's 50th anniversary.

Richard was also known as a very kind and giving person. He was proud to be a member of the New Hope Church of God. He donated countless hours serving on the rural water district #8 water board as well as the board of trustees for Heritage Hills Golf Club.

He is preceded in death by his parents, and siblings, Clyde and Virgil Sailor, Elsie Goodseane and Faye High.

Survivors include his wife Wilma of the home; children Rod Sailor and wife Lanna of Owasso, and Randy Sailor and wife Dr. Joanni Sailor of Lawton; grandchildren, Ryan Sailor, Kelsey Kuhlman and husband Jason, and Jenifer Sailor, and siblings Ernest Sailor, Leon Sailor and wife Blanche, Flawn Sailor and wife Nancy and Dana Sailor and wife Cathy and his stepmother Marguerite Sailor.