George Copeland

George Elmer "Jack" Copeland, age 94 and resident of the Dewey community, passed away on Tuesday, December 2, at his home. Jack was born on May 14, 1920 in Commerce, Oklahoma. He was always proud to be called an "Okie". He was the second son of William Frederick Copeland and Martha Estella (Plummer) Copeland. He moved to Kansas City as an infant and later moved to McDonald County, Missouri where he attended White Rock school in Jane, Missouri and later rode the bus into Pineville, Missouri where he graduated from high school. After high school, Jack and his brother, Bill (who when Jack was an infant had nicknamed him "Jack" because Jack and Bill sounded somewhat like the nursery rhyme "Jack and Jill"), attended and graduated from a 2-year business college in Joplin, Missouri. Afterward, Jack attended and earned a teaching certificate from the Body Works school in Kansas City. World War II was in progress and because of a very small hernia, Jack could neither join a branch of the service nor work in a war plant. Later as the war progressed, the rules became more lenient, so he was able to join the U.S. Navy. Jack attended the Body Works school in Norman, Oklahoma and joined the CASU-11 Unit and spent his tenure and served on Guadalcanal. Later this unit had many reunions in various locations and Jack didn't miss a one. After the war, Jack and Bill started a garage business in Pineville, but the winter was so bad that body work just wasn't working. So he went back to California and joined some men from his CASU II Unit and it was here he met his wife to be, Isabelle (Pat) Runyan. Pat had already been blessed with a son, Jim, and a little "doll" girl named Patty and Jack married them - all three in 1949. In 1950, Jack Frederick was born and the family moved to Lorain, Ohio to be close to Pat's family of many sisters and brothers. Five years later, Shawn made her entry into this world. Jack worked in several cities, but when Pat's health began to decline, they always went back to Ohio to be near her family. Upon the death of Pat, Jack's father had health issues, so he moved to Missouri to help care for his father and later to be with his mother. It was in McDonald County in 1977 that he met Betty Dobbs Lucas and his world made another cycle. Jack and Betty were married at the annual Dobbs family reunion in Riverside Park in Independence, Kansas, July 5, 1980, on a day the temperature was 105 degrees (greater love hath no man than to suffer like that). Jack was a member of the Disciples of Christ Church in Lorain, Ohio, but was a faithful attendee of the Rose Hill Community Baptist Church in Dewey. Upon moving to Bartlesville from Pineville, Jack was employed by Oakley-Pontiac-Buick in their body shop where he worked until 1986 when we had the major flood. Jack loved sitting around the kitchen table and enjoying his family and friends after cooking a great meal for all. After he lost his vision, the cooking stopped, but he still enjoyed the friends. Most of all, Jack loved to go. He kept his overnight bag on the cedar chest at the end of the four-poster he'd inherited from his parents, so he was ready to go when the opportunity presented itself. Jack was preceded in death by his first wife, Pat; his parents, Fred and Martha; his brother, Bill; Bill's wife, Edna; and Henry, his brother-in-law (husband of his sister, Udene) . He is survived by his wife, Betty, of the family home; children, Patty Palmer and her husband, Leroy, of South Colby, Washington, Jim Copeland and his wife, Norma, of Geneva, Ohio, Jack Copeland of Chanute, Kansas, Shawn Copeland and her husband, Michael, of Seabeck, Washington, Paula Giroir and her husband, Michael, of Dewey, Oklahoma, and Clark Lucas, Jr. and his wife, Janet Kay, of Cheyenne, Oklahoma; 13 grandchildren; many great grandchildren; sister, Helen Udene Torrence, of Dallas, Texas; and also numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and a host of friends.

Visitation Details

Thursday, December 4th, 2014 12:00pm - 8:00pm, Arnold Moore & Neekamp Funeral Home

Friday, December 5th, 2014 9:00am - 8:00pm, Arnold Moore & Neekamp Funeral Home

Saturday, December 6th, 2014 9:00am - 8:00pm, Arnold Moore & Neekamp Funeral Home

Service Details

Monday, December 8th, 2014 2:00pm, Copan United Methodist Church

Interment Details

Dewey, Oklahoma