Senior Cleyon Walker

Senior Cleyon Walker, 99, resident of Eldorado was called to Heaven on Sunday, July 30, 2023. Services will be at 2:00 PM on Friday, August 4, 2023 at the Kincannon Memorial Chapel in Altus with Rev. Bobby Jones officiating. Burial will follow at the Eldorado Cemetery under the direction of the Kincannon Funeral Home and Cremation Service. The family will greet friends at Kincannon Funeral Home at 12:00 PM before the service.

Senior was born to Lloyd Newton Walker and Lue Penny Walker (Mayberry) in the Midway community of Eldorado, Oklahoma in a house located on the north side of the road approximately ¼ mile west of the Midway Hi-Point Church marker on Highway 5 on 27 Jan 1924. The family lived at several different Midway farm locations, including a short stay in Hemet, California during the Great Depression. Senior graduated Midway High School in 1941 where he was an outstanding 2nd baseman for the Midway High School baseball team that advanced to the State Tournament in 1940 before being eliminated after three games. In that same year, Senior also won the Midway High School batting average competition on the team for the season.

Upon graduation, he worked on the family farm and attended Altus Junior College where mathematics was always his focal point. He worked on the survey team that eventually led to the Lake Altus/Lugert irrigation system. On April 26, 1947 he married Billie Phyllis Jones and they began a farming occupation in the Midway area east of town. They lived 7 miles east of Eldorado until they moved from the farm to Eldorado in 1972, while continuing their farming and cattle operation.

Senior’s faith was built on solid rock. His daily actions, language and activities were a constant reflection of his true character and core religious beliefs. He always credited his character to his parents and the formative years in the Midway country churches, especially Hi-Point Methodist Church east of town on Highway 5. Senior spearheaded the erection of the existing Hi-Point Methodist Church monument marker after the church dissolved. The granite marker was always a proud accomplishment. He wanted to preserve the historical reverence to God that the country church provided to so many of the farming community residents throughout the years.

The family and his partnership with Phyllis were most important. Farming and cattle production always created moments that would test your faith and trust in each other. Senior’s constant positive attitude and eternal optimism was witnessed by his sons and their families his entire life.

Scratching the dirt for signs of first life in a newly planted crop, or smiling at the birth of a newborn calf, were two of the things he loved and admired the most. He never tired of witnessing the next generation of life. The same was true with his Grandkids and Great Grandkids.

Grandkids and Great Grandkids were his treasures of the family. Taking them to the country to drive a tractor, jump on the hay bales, feed a cow, play in a ditch or whatever they wanted was always part of his plans for their visits. He and Phyllis always put them front and center at every visit. They made them smile, and he was always their loving Granddad Senior.

He loved Oklahoma State University sports, especially football and basketball. He has spent countless hours listening to games on his Sony Walkman headset. Some of his fondest memories in earlier years were attending games in Stillwater and playing host to the annual quail hunts to his farms by the Gundy family.

A few days away from the farm with the family on a simple summer vacation were always highly anticipated. The summer days of camping in Colorado were his most memorable. The early years of taking motorcycles and later progressing to ATVs brought true family joy to everyone.


Traveling the Midway country roads with Senior in a pickup truck always produced a surprise bit of history on every trip. Few landscape secrets exist for someone who has traveled the same roads on a near daily basis for 99 plus years. Non-descript places where houses, people, family, schools and civilization once existed would be pointed out, along with a related personal story.

Two of Senior’s many core values were helping others and taking people at their word. He trusted others when they spoke. Plus, one of his legacies passed along to his children, grandchildren and now extending to great grandchildren is the promotion of independence and following one’s own life’s path. Home is where the heart is, but he encouraged the creation of self-independence along the journey of life.

Senior was active in the community where he served on the Eldorado School Board, Farmer’s Cooperative Association Board, USDA Jackson County Board, Eldorado Lions Club, many positions in the Eldorado Methodist Church, Booster Club for Eldorado Schools and community projects for Eldorado.

Senior is preceded in death by his parents; wife, Phyllis; sister, Melrose Powers; and brother, Maburn.

He is survived by sons, Rodney and Harva Walker of Midwest City, Oklahoma, and Rocky and Brenda Walker of Stillwater, Oklahoma; 4 grandchildren, Deena Nguyen, Robin Avery, Shiloh Walker, and Kelsey Mitchell; 7 great-grandchildren, Sydney Nguyen, Rylee Ortivez, Mason Avery, Eli Mitchell, Ella Mitchell, Cooper Mitchell and Corbin Walker; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Online tributes may be made at kincannonfuneralhome.com. The service livestream may be viewed at https://youtube.com/live/3A2K2XPFt44?feature=share .