Carl Forrest Edmundson Sr.'s Obituary
Carl Forrest Edmundson was born November 24, 1926 in Amarillo, Texas to Algernon F. and Almeda (Schnichels) Edmundson. He passed from this life on October 13, 2014 at the Veterans Center in Claremore, Oklahoma, he was 87 years and 11 months.Carl was the 6th out of 7 kids, his father was an oil driller and they moved often following the oil strikes across many states with his company the California Drilling Co; before settling at 31 and Oak Grove Road in Catoosa. His little sister Anna remembers that with Carl for her big brother she never worried about anyone bothering her because she had her own protector. Carl attended Broken Arrow and Central High School in Tulsa and joined the Navy in 1945. He served on the USS White Plains and the USS Suwanee during World War II. He returned and married Wanda Lee Benson on November 12, 1947. They moved into Grandma Peters 3 room home on the family farm where they began their family. Carl and Wanda had 4 children; Carl Jr., Jane, Billie and Linda.After their father died Carl and brother Frank remained on the dairy farm to support their mother and grandmother where they raised 9 children between them.In 1964 Carl and Carl Jr. began building their new home designed by Carls’ sister Almeda. In January of 1966 Carl went to work and returned home to find Wanda and the kids had moved into the new house. Wanda finally had running water, an indoor bathroom and a bedroom she did not have to share with 4 kids. The kids wanted a dog but Wanda didn’t so for her birthday in March she received a German Shepard puppy named, Candy. She made the dog sleep in the garage but once she went to bed Carl Jr. would go to the garage and bring Candy in to share his bed.Carl Sr. was very proud of the home they had built. He worked tirelessly for years plugging the grass for a beautiful yard. All his trees and shrubs were planted in straight lines so it would also be easier to mow. He always had a huge garden that provided ample vegetables for Wanda to freeze and can each summer. He didn’t just plant a few rows of corn and okra or a few tomato plants he planted every inch of a half acre garden. Many family gatherings and after school snacks were around the kitchen table with the best pickles, tomato juice and corn on the cob in the county. He could grow anything and lucky for him Wanda was a great cook and they enjoyed their life together and shared it with anyone who stopped by for a visit on the front porch.Carl also worked for McNabb Coal Co., Fred Jones Ford, Zeligson Trucking and retired from Wagoner County District One.Carl and Wanda loved to travel and once he stopped working the dairy farm, they were able to start taking vacations. They began by taking short drives to visit out of town relatives. The first big trip was to California in 1967. Carl Jr was following his Dad, Uncle Frank & Uncle Bill’s footsteps and joined the Navy. Wanda wanted to see where he would be stationed, so they loaded up the car and drove to California. They visited the Grand Canyon, and stayed with family in Pasadena, San Diego & San Francisco. This was the first of many driving trips Carl would take his family on thru the coming years.He was an extreme fan of Loretta Lynn and loved taking long weekend trips to her concerts and eventually we began going every other summer to Nashville to see the Grand Ole Opry and Fan Fair. He became such a regular at Loretta’s concerts that she knew him and called him by name. Wanda was never worried about another woman in his life, because she knew he would always be going home with her! He attended his last live concert in 2010 at Cains Ballroom in Tulsa with Billie.Carl and Wanda wanted to visit every state in the country, so Billie made it her goal to insure they would do so….at least one time! David, Billie & Dad finally achieved their goal in 2005 when they drove to Michigan to visit the final state. He had several cruises under his belt and visited Alaska & Hawaii several times.Carl & Wanda were blessed with 7 grandkids; Shannon Edmundson-Daane, Eric Treadgill, Chris Dovers, Jennie (husband Jeff) Riddle, Clint (wife Morgan) Myers, Audrey (husband Bryan) Graham, Darrel (wife Jeni) Burnett. Carl and Wanda have 9 great grandchildren Chantel Gallagher, Logan Riddle, Jakob Threadgill, Adam Daane, Tylor Dovers, Austin Riddle, Hannah Danne, Caymon Graham and Dayton Burnett. Carl loved his kids and expected them to behave well. Luckily his daughters rarely received a spanking from him because he was a big man and was afraid he might hurt them; however Wanda did not have that issue and was quite handy with a flyswatter. Unfortunately, Carl Jr received his share & probably the girls share from Dad thru the years. Carl Jr remembers the time that he spanked Shannon in Dad’s house, and Dad told him if he did it again, he would just have to leave, that he was not to spank her in his house. But, later in the years, Audrey became the first grandaughter to receive a spanking from her Grandpa. He told her to do something, she told him No and took off running home, locked the back door and laughed when he tried to open. Unfortunately for her, she didn’t think about the front door that was not locked, and was quite surprised to find him coming down the hall to her room. The rest of the grandkids soon learned that his bark was filled with empty threats and typically would behave just because they were never certain that he might not decide to teach them a lesson. Grandson Eric thought he was out from under his parents watchful eye and went to the coal pits to do donuts, grandpa drove by in the county gravel truck and saw him. Eric did not know he had been caught until he tried to story to his parents and grandpa had already told on him. He became quite the worrier in his final years as he would see the great grandsons doing things that he had done in his youth, like swimming in the pond, throwing fishing lines to close to each other, riding their bikes down the ramps they created or chasing each other and throwing punches in the yard. This did not curb their wild behavior only taught them to avoid windows where grandpa was able to see them doing it.Carl is survived by children Carl Jr., & wife Shari, Billie & husband David, Linda, son-in-law Larry & wife Sue along with their families and sister Anna Warburton. Sisters in law; Mary Edmundson, Telitha Edmundson, Elsie Benson and Mattie Benson Smith and many numerous cousins, nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his wife Wanda, oldest daughter Jane, brothers John, Bill, Frank and sister Almeda Hamilton.Carl spent the last year of his life in the caring hands of the Oklahoma Veterans Center in Claremore. His roommate, Ray Brantley and his nurses speak fondly of him. They remembered him for his kindness toward them and he always thanked them for taking care of him. They all knew where he had lived, worked and the love of his family & friends.
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