Sanford William Stearns' Obituary
Sanford William Stearns, 99, Broken Arrow, went to be with the Lord Saturday, December 13, 2014. He was born June 21, 1915, in Murphysboro, Illinois, to Truman Cleveland Stearns and Nellie Lee Davenport.During WWII he worked as a machinist foreman in Houston, TX, building Liberty ships and destroyer escorts. After the war he worked in the oil fields on the Gulf coast, including on the first off-shore drilling rig. In 1954 he formed Continental Laboratories, Inc. of Montana, an oil field service company in Billings, where he was president until 1977 when he retired to beautiful Beaver Lake in Arkansas, where he built his dream home.He helped establish the first Southern Baptist church in the state of Montana. He enjoyed traveling, hunting, fishing, swimming, SCUBA diving, antique cars, genealogy, coin collecting, card games, and playing the harmonica and psaltery by ear. After moving to Arkansas, his favorite place to visit was Branson, Missouri. In Broken Arrow, his favorite place to visit was Wal Mart! He loved all kinds of seafood, Kiefer pears, etoufee, and escargot.He had 9 children, five with his first wife, Evelyn LouellaYoungman, and four with his present wife, Gladys Verlene Bolton, whom he married on August 5, 1945. He was preceded in death by his parents, four sisters, four brothers, his daughter, Shirley Young, his grandson, Ryan Shaw, his granddaughter, Lisa Stearns, and two great-grandsons, Josiah Stearns and Dustin Caden Ratcliff.In addition to his wife, Gladys, Sanford is survived by one brother, Marvin, of Houston, TX, daughters, Dee Ratcliff of Powell, WY, Sandra Scott of Houston, TX, Sharon DeCock of Hysham, MT, and Kirby Shaw of Broken Arrow; sons, Lee Stearns of Liberty, TX, Cliff Stearns of Arlington, TX, Richard Stearns of Powell, WY, and Mark Stearns of Butte, MT.; 27 grandchildren, 54 great-grandchildren, and 37 great-great grandchildren.In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be made to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for international missions through Arrow Heights Baptist Church, 3201 S. Elm Place in Broken Arrow.Viewing will be Friday, December 19, from 1-8 PM at Floral Haven. A memorial service will be held Saturday, December 20, at 1:00 at Arrow Heights followed by a graveside service at Floral Haven who provided all the arrangements.
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