Austin Keith Moody's Obituary
Austin Keith Moody was born on March 16, 1935, in Kenefic, Oklahoma to Austin Woodrow Moody and Pauliine Bronaugh Moody. He was called home on Tuesday, October 25, 2022, at the age of 87. He had one brother, Harold Gene “Bud” Moody. He was a proud Chickasaw elder and proud military Veteran. School friends called him Austin. In the military he was known as A.K. and everyone else knew him as Keith. The family moved from Nida to Tulsa when Keith was in elementary school. He graduated from Tulsa Central High School in 1953 from the original building in downtown Tulsa which is now the PSO building. In 1953 Keith married Della Overturf and that marriage lasted 19 years and resulted in two children, Terry and Dee. In 1973 Keith married Linda Wade and they were married 49 years until his passing. Their marriage produced two children, Brian and Kristen. He retired from Sun Oil Refinery in 1990. He then became a school bus driver for the Pryor district and transferred to the Union district when the family moved back to Tulsa in 1996.
He was blessed with 11 grandchildren (Alisha, Shaun, Heather, Patrick, April, Cassia, Bethany, Abigail, Jacob, Haddie, and Hayden) and 11 great-grandchildren (Noah, Christopher, Anthony, Jeremiah, Kaylee, Ethan, Austin, Madison, Jordan, Alexis, and Poppy). He was preceded in death by his father and mother, brother, and son Terry.
In 1953, Keith joined the military and proudly served in the Navy for 26 years. He then transferred to the Air Force and served another 6 years for a total of 32 years of service, including active duty during the Korean and Vietnam Wars. A.K. made and maintained some of his best friends during his military years. A group of four of them would get together quarterly well into their 80s to catch up and reminisce. His best friend, Cecil Martin, and his wife Sonnie were very special friends that Keith and Linda would spend vacations together and enjoyed many late night game nights. Cecil and another friend, Jim Campbell, were
both able to visit him before his passing. Dad and Cecil were a couple of jokesters, as evident in the many stories of their travels. The family could listen to their stories for hours.
Keith loved his family and church. In 1981, Keith and family moved to Pryor, Ok. He attended and was active in The First Church of God. The family went on yearly ski trips with the church in which Keith would alternate as one of the bus drivers. Keith especially enjoyed playing the High Priest Caiaphas in the yearly drama, The Cost of Easter. In 1996 the family moved back to Tulsa and Keith returned to Southern Hills Baptist Church. He first attended Southern Hills Baptist Church at the age of 16 because he wanted to play softball. At that time, the church was called Bethel Baptist Church. Keith and Linda were faithful servants for over 20 years. Keith volunteered to drive the church van and was on the security team at church. When health started failing them both, they would attend church online. His last service was two days before his passing.
This is his youngest child, Kristen. My daddy was my best friend, mentor, and role model. He gave me the best childhood. He worked hard for us but was always present. He never missed a ball game. I remember him toting the 100 pound over the shoulder ginormous camcorder at my soccer games that took the full size VHS tapes. In the 2nd grade I was in the Johnny Appleseed play and he rehearsed my lines with me so much that I knew every line of the play. He put me to bed every night with a backrub and I would often wake up to one as well. Sunday mornings were my favorite because dad was in charge of breakfast. He would make either oatmeal or waffles before church. He loved to sing, especially in church and his gentle soul was often brought to tears during hymns. Never, not once ever, has he been able to make it through It Is Well With My Soul, without tears. Dad and I would sing together, and he was always impressed when I would sing the harmony
of the song by either giving a little smile, raising his eyebrows, or gently whispering after, “I heard that.” He went to church camp with me as a camp counselor. I won outstanding female camper, and I loved seeing how proud he was of me. He also went as a chaperone on my high school choir ski trip to Colorado. He was a handyman and liked to build. He framed a barn, the wind blew it down, so he started over and finished it. He built a gorgeous deck. He restored my sister’s house and did a lot of carpentry for my brother’s house. My dad liked to watch sports, especially college football. There was one game, I know it was OSU but not sure who the opponent was, but we watched the game together over the phone. For hours we made commentary about the game to one another. When I moved to Canada, dad and I would talk every other day if not daily. I love thunderstorms and it would rain in Saskatchewan but not storm, so my dad would call me during a storm and stand on the porch and hold the phone out so I could hear the storm. He was the most kind, gentle, giving, God loving, attentive, caring, involved dad and I’m so proud to call him mine. He got dementia which increased in severity around age 84. I lived for the moments that he saw me and his eyes would light up with recognition. I’d rub his back or scratch his beard and he’d say, “I’ll give you 20 minutes to quit that.” Until the end he still called me Shug or Baby. My heart would melt when he would say, “I’m so happy to see you.” He gave the best hugs and gentle kisses on the cheek.
This is his daughter Dee. I was asked to write a paragraph about a meaningful story about my daddy. I suddenly realized there were too many stories to try and determine which story to share. So instead I will tell you about my father. He was the most amazing, caring, loving, gentle man. He believed in you when you didn’t believe in yourself. He encouraged you when you didn’t have the strength to go on. He loved you unconditionally. Different times in my life he knew I needed help
before I knew I needed his help. He was always there for me and my children and our whole family. He spoiled us all. He loved us all. We were all so fortunate to have him. I’m not sure I will ever get over the loss of him. He was my rock, my stabilizer, my daddy, but I will always love and adore him.
This is his first grandchild, Alisha. It’s no wonder that my best memories with Grandpa always involved food or a pool. That’s how we grew up- swimming and eating at Pa & Ma’s. My favorite memories are of sitting at their hourse in Pryor early in the morning eating oatmeal with Grandpa. More than the food, it was the time he took to sit and listen and hearing him say “hi, baby” while he rubbed my back. Grandpa made rooms calmer just by walking in. It was just who he was; love, patience, and kindness just radiated from him.
This is his granddaughter, Abigail. Papa used to have the perfect sized papa belly and I loved playing on his belly with my dolls and Care Bears. He would play too, and he did the voices for all of the characters. I would sit on his lap and he would tell me stories. He would often doze off in the comfy chair and I would pull on his chest hair to wake him up. I have very fond memories of yearly trips to Branson together. He didn’t like rides. I think what he really liked was seeing his kids and grandkids have a good time. He would watch and wave at us as we went around and around on the kiddie rides. He would call me sugar, lil shug, or shuggie and gave me the best back rubs and warm hugs.
He is survived by his wife of 49 years, Linda Moody; his children Dee Moody, Brian Moody, and Kristen and Kirby Moody; grandchildren Alisha and Noah Smith, Shaun Hillis, Heather Hillis, Abigail Johnson, Haddie Moody, Jacob Johnson, and Hayden Moody; 6 great grandchildren, and his best friend of 70 years Cecil and Sonnie Martin; along with a host of other family and friends that will forever miss him.
He is reunited with his parents Austin and Pauline Moody; his brother H.G. "Bud" Moody, and his son Terry Moody.
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