Frank W. Durham's Obituary
Frank W. Durham Born: June 29, 1921 in Bixby, Oklahoma. Passed to the arms of our Heavenly Father, on April 7, 2012. Frank passed with the peace and dignity of a faithful Christian who was certain of his place with Jesus Christ. He was preceded in death by his parents, Franklin Garrett and Sarah Gist Durham, several siblings, and his wife of 45 years, Audrey Phillips Durham. He is survived by his son, Frank LaMont Durham and his wife Carol of Sand Springs, Oklahoma, and his daughter Gloria Catherine Spurlock and her husband Phil of Plano, Texas. He is also survived by one sister, Mildred Cox of Tulsa, Oklahoma. He has 5 grandchildren, Phil Spurlock, Jr., and his wife Christine, Kevin Spurlock, John Spurlock and his wife Sarah, Cory Durham and his wife Morgan, and Megan Durham. He is also survived by seven great-grandchildren and many loving nieces and nephews, along with a large number of loving friends and relatives and his many friends at the Broadmoor Independent Living Village, where he lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Around the year 1920, before Frank was born, his family moved from Ozark County, Missouri to a house on Snake Creek at Wealaka, in the Bixby/Leonard area of Tulsa County. Frank told about moving from there to near the Arkansas River in Leonard, Oklahoma, where he attended the Leonard School, which was then called Yellow Dog School. In 1930, his family moved to the Cateshan Bottoms, and from there moved to Sand Springs. Decorated with the Philippine Liberation Ribbon and a Bronze Star, Frank proudly served in the army during WWII from 1939-1945. He served with the 124th Field Artillery, 3rd Division, Company B, and was made a Rifle Marksman in 1942. Her served in New Guinea and the Philippines, and was released from active duty as a Tech 5. The day following his discharge from the US Army, Frank and Audrey were introduced on December 14, 1945, by Frank's sister and Audrey's best friend, Mildred. They fell in love and were married a few weeks later on January 19, 1946, and they had 44 wonderful years together. I know this is hard for his friends to believe today, but Frank was very shy and bashful around girls, so the short courtship was a big step for him. For Christmas, shortly after they started seeing each other, he bought Audrey a beautiful $15 comb, brush and mirror set and had it wrapped for her. Then he walked around town trying to get up the nerve to give it to her, afraid she wouldn't like his gift. Finally, he ended up sitting in a movie theater, not watching the movie, trying to talk himself into going to her house and giving her the present. But his painful shyness could not let him do it, and he walked out of the theater, leaving the beautifully wrapped Christmas present in the seat he had been sitting in. Audrey did not know about this until weeks later. However, not wanting her to get away, he did get up the nerve to ask her to marry him. He took her to dinner at the Silber Castle restaurant in Tulsa, asked her to marry him, and they carved their initials into the table at which they were sitting. Frank took pride in being a Pie Man, working for Mrs. Marshall's Bama Pie for 42 years, where he held several positions during that time. He started with Bama in Route Sales, driving a delivery truck to stores and restaurants. After a year and a half, he became the local sales manager, supervising 22 routes. After several years, he moved to dispatching and supervisor of the dock. In 1975, he was promoted to vice-president of Base Incorporated, a division of Mrs. Marshall’s Bama Pie in North Tulsa. After retiring, he continued with Bama as a consultant. He was good friends with the Marshall family, and until a couple of months before his death, he frequently visited Mrs. Paul Marshall at the family home. He was a faithful member of the Lakewood Assembly of God Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He moved to the Broadmoor Retirement Community in 2009, after recovering from injuries sustained when he was broadside by another car. He was very happy living at the Broadmoor and made many new friends. He remained very active until the end, enjoying church activities, trips to Branson, Wii Bowling, dominoes, bingo, playing computer games and keeping up with friends on the computer. He was also a mall walker for the last twenty years at the Promenade Mall where he had many friends. Visitation will be held from 6-8 pm on Monday, April 9, at Floral Haven Funeral Home in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. Funeral services will be at 10 am on Tuesday, April 10, at the Floral Haven Chapel. Interment will be at Floral Haven.
What’s your fondest memory of Frank?
What’s a lesson you learned from Frank?
Share a story where Frank's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Frank you’ll never forget.
How did Frank make you smile?