Leon Glen Inman's Obituary
Leon Glen Inman met the love of his life at Williams Bethel Assembly of God church in Waveland, Arkansas and married Melba Wallace on May 17, 1952 in England, Arkansas. They had three children, Shirley Wheeler (husband Steve), Larry Inman, and Arthur Inman, all of Coweta, Oklahoma.They had one grandson, Travis Rohr (wife Michelle), and two greatgrandchildren, Raven Rohr and Felicia Rohr, all of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Of Leon’s seven siblings one survives, Ruth Richards of Danville, Arkansas. The two redheads survived the rest.He had to quit school in the 4th grade to go to work to help his mother and seven siblings survive the hard times. He farmed, picked cotten, sawed wood, any work he could find. He served in the Army, stationed with the 309th Air Engineering Squadron in Honshu, Japan when he was 18 years old. It was quite an adventure to sail on a big ship when he had hardly been out of Arkansas. He rode a train by himself to see Mt. Fugi while the other guys were partying. He bought a pearl necklace in Japan and when he left to come home he saw a lot of things being confiscated. He smoked at the time so he cut the bottom of the cigarettes off and hid the necklace in the bottom. The pack was opened several times but he made it home with the necklace. His daughter Shirley was given the necklace many years later and wore it when she married her husband Steve.He took us camping a few times, once taking only pork and beans and potatoes because he was going to catch fish for us to eat. All we remember is eating pork and beans and fried potatoes for three days. I guess the fish weren’t biting for some reason. One time a storm came and our canvas tent collapsed. We had to stay under it until the storm passed, but we survived.He always had a big garden and gave vegetables away to anyone that would take them. He took some turnips to the Coweta Manor Nursing home several years ago and they said, that boy can sure grow them turnips. He took cherry tomatoes to his Dr and she told him later that she ate them like candy.He always kept the cars running and all three of us started driving in the same big clunker and dinged it. He fixed it himself each time. He bought a baby blue Ford Fairlane 500 for his daughter for $100 when she was in highschool. He put $150 into it and she drove it for almost 10 years.He loved to make birdhouses out of metal with rivits similar to the planes he worked on for so long. Several family members have one in their backyard. He also built a train for the children to ride in at New Bethel Assembly. Pastor Dan asked him to make one and Leon said, well I’ve never made anything like that before, and Pastor Dan said, it’ll come to you. Leon started with a riding mower, added a cow catcher on the front, a bell, and welded the frames for the wheels under the big plastic tubs he bought at Walmart for the kids to ride in. He also had a train engineer hat and loved to make the children happy.He worked in some capacity at every church we attended, even sweeping the floors with sawdust and laying chalklines so the pews were straight. He helped build the Trinity Assembly of God in Wichita, Kansas and the youth building at New Bethel in Coweta, Oklahoma.He loved to fish and once caught a 55 lb catfish with his fishing buddy Allen Gilbert.He went to Colorado deer hunting a few times with church members and snuck deer meat into our hamburgers when we were kids. He asked how it tasted and we said that’s the best hamburger we’ve ever eaten! Of course when he told us it was deer meat we didn’t like it as much.He worked for Boeing in Wichita, Kansas but was laid off after a few years. We moved to Fort Smith so he could help his brother-in-law Willie Lewis build houses. We weren’t there very long when he got a letter from Boeing. He took a deep breath and said I know what that is, they’re calling me back. Later he was sent to Marquette, Michigan in the dead of winter for a few months so we didn’t go with him. Later he was sent to Seattle, Washington for 6 months. After he found a house to rent we followed with our little dog Tubby. Shirley read the map and we only took one wrong turn from Wichita to Seattle. He worked for Boeing for just 2-3 days shy of 15 years but decided to leave to take a job he was hired for at American Airlines in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Boeing would not give him the 15 year credit. He was laid off from AA after a few years and found jobs building mobile homes, welding, driving a dump truck, and at North American and Cessna. American Airlines finally called him back so he retired from there in 1989 after 36 years in the aerospace industry. For a man that had to quit school in the 4th grade, he did very well at American Airlines, winning many suggestion awards. He was always able to provide for his family.Leon lost the love of his life on March 16, 2018 due to Alzheimers. He cared for her as long as he was able and when she finally had to go into long term care he visited her every single day. He slowly declined after she passed, until he was unable to live without her. Now they are together again at last.Memorial Services will be Sept 14 at 11:00 at Moore’s Chapel near Waveland, Arkansas.
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