William "Bill" Robert Strong

William "Bill" Robert Strong passed away on March 4, 2024.  Bill was the second child of Homer Strong and Anna Laura Payne born in Duncan, Oklahoma on February 20, 1934.  As the second son of seven children, he had four brothers and two sisters.

Bill gained a love of music and singing from his father who sang in a Barbershop quartet throughout his childhood.  He received a scholarship in music to Oklahoma State University in 1953 and helped to create the singing group called The Four Chi's as a part of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. He met the love of his life Betty Wehunt on a blind date at the University. He was drafted into the Army after college in late 1957.  During boot camp he married Betty in Colorado Springs on February 22, 1958.  He spent 20 years in the Army and then had a 20-year career with Hearst Publishing.  He enjoyed traveling, and both of his careers provided plenty of it.  They lived in Europe several times and transferred to six different states while in the military.  He also traveled all over the states for his job at Hearst while based in Oklahoma.

Bill was a class clown who loved one liners and corny "Dad jokes" which always made us laugh.  He also had a lifelong love of dancing.  No matter where we lived, he would find a restaurant with a dance floor and would dance with mom while the kids ate.  He loved going out on a family vacation.  While his children were young, they either went camping, boating, sailing or drove cross country to visit out-of-state relatives every summer.  Later in life he and his wife would take 2 vacations a year traveling either to Europe or visiting their children across the nation. When Bill retired, he bought a home in Texas and spent his later years "snow birding" from Oklahoma to Texas with a few trips to see his children in the US or friends in England.

He was diagnosed with cancer over 10 years ago.  His cancer resurfaced in 2019 and then again last year in 2023.  The last reoccurrence eventually took his life after nearly a year of chemotherapy.  Bill is survived by his brother Thomas Strong (wife Vicki) and his brother Paul David Strong; his son, Richard Strong; his son, John Strong (wife Kim and son Benjamin); his son, Stanley Strong (wife Ginger and daughters Kennedy, Brooklyn and Rayanna); his son, Gregory Strong (wife Cecille and son Maximillian).

Private services will be held.