A graveside service for Earl Strickler, 88, will be held at 2:00 p.m. Wednesday, March 12 at Enid Cemetery.  Arrangements are entrusted to Anderson Burris Funeral Home, Enid.

Earl passed away on March 8, 2008. He was born in Texhoma, OK on March 25, 1919.  His parents Paul and Bertha Strickler farmed land in the Oklahoma panhandle before and during the dust bowl days. 

He attended grade school at Pioneer School near Waukomis, OK and high school at Enid High School. Thereafter, he set out for travel and adventure with his lifelong friend Don Tender of Enid.  Earl and Don often told harrowing stories of hopping railroad cars to find work during the Great Depression. Earl had fond memories of helping on his aunt’s dude ranch in what is now part of the Olympia National Forest, and of working on the Civilian Conservation Corp Grand Coulee Dam project. During World War II, Earl worked on military bases in California, Washington, and Alaska in munitions and aircraft construction. A born storyteller and humorist, he delighted family and friends alike with tales of an exciting life.

He met and married his wife Letha Day in 1940. She shared his love for travel as over the next few years, they made their home in Washington, California, Minnesota, and Wisconsin before returning to Oklahoma to raise their family.  They lived in Medford, Guymon, and Mooreland, OK, where Earl retired from Michigan-Wisconsin Gas Pipeline Co. after 34 years of service.  In 1991 he moved from Webbers Falls to Edmond, OK.  He was a member of the Masonic Lodge in Guymon, OK.

He is survived by four children, Earlene Riser of Baytown, TX; Carol Kiser of Oklahoma City, OK; Sharon Tiller of Tucson, AZ; and Robert Strickler of Edmond, OK. He has five grandchildren, Jake Riser, Jed Riser, Leslie Hughes, Kelli Kiser, and Paul Tiller along with nine great grandchildren.