Final Salute

Raymond Kinzie of Perkins, reaching the age of 101, peacefully left this world on Saturday, January 25, 2025, at the Southern Oaks Care Center in Pawnee, Oklahoma, and now resides with Jesus Christ within the Golden Gates of Heaven. The family will receive friends on Sunday, February 2, 2025, from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Strode Funeral Home in Stillwater. Funeral services will begin at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, February 3, 2025, at the Lost Creek United Methodist Church, located at 8002 South Washington, Stillwater, Oklahoma. The services will be live streamed (www.lostcreekumc.org) with burial immediately following in Sunset Memorial Gardens South of Stillwater. Raymond will be buried with full military honors.

Raymond was born October 21, 1923, at the Kinzie home near Ripley, Oklahoma, and was the second of six children of Charles and Bessie (Broyles) Kinzie. His siblings were Sister Pauline Hansen (deceased), Brother Lewis (deceased), Sister Carol Dickey (deceased), Brother Charles and Sister Patsy Lile. In his youth, he attended the Church of the Brethren at Cushing, Oklahoma, where he was saved and baptized. He greatly treasured his faith in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.

In 1929, at age five, Raymond and the Kinzie family boarded a train and moved to Pritchett, Colorado, to work on the Broyles Family Farm and returned to Oklahoma in 1933. His Dad “Charlie” later purchased a 160 acre farm Southwest of Stillwater where the family raised cattle, sheep, hogs, chickens, and guinea fowls. They also raised small grains, peanuts, cut/baled hay and worked the ground using a team of horses. Raymond learned how to use the team of horses at a young age and worked the family farmland with his Dad. The family also had a large garden, canning a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. They also sold eggs and made/sold homemade sweet cream butter, bread, and yeast rolls. Additionally, they butchered their own meat. Each member of the Kinzie family worked hard every day, and for the most part, lived a self-sustaining farm life.

In 1933, Raymond and his siblings began attending the Elm Grove “one room” and “one teacher” schoolhouse, located Southwest of Stillwater, which is about one half mile from their (then) family farm. Raymond walked to and from the school which had no electricity, no running water, and coal was used to heat the schoolhouse in a potbelly stove. The schoolhouse is still in existence today and is used for various community functions and official election voting. In 1939, Raymond attended Perkins Schools and graduated in 1943. While in high school, Raymond drove a school bus for extra income.

Raymond was also active in 4-H and FFA and showed registered sheep, steers, and hogs. In 1942, he was hired by the Oklahoma State University (OSU) Sheep “Shepherd” to help take care of the sheep at OSU. Raymond rode a train from Perry, OK to Chicago to assist with a national sheep show. Raymond stated that he and the Shepherd rode “in a train boxcar with the sheep” to Chicago and back in October 1942.

In 1941, during World War II, Raymond was ordered by the War Department to continue working on the family farm as part of the war effort. Then on February 27, 1945, Raymond was called to Active Duty in the Navy, where he served in the 35th Naval Construction Battalion, called the Seabees, at Manilla, Philippines. Raymond operated a large dozer and helped build an aircraft runway for the B-29 aircraft that would soon land at the Philippines in route to Japan. Then in August 1945, after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Raymond assisted in the Naval base shutdown effort and later returned to the States. He received an Honorable Discharge on April 22, 1946, as a Seaman First Class.

On Sunday, April 27, 1947, he met Delia “Marthell” Maddon at the Last Chance Baptist Church in Last Chance, Oklahoma; the two went to a rodeo that afternoon. After the rodeo, they began dating in the Okemah area until Marthell moved with her parents to Nocona, Texas, in the summer of 1947. Raymond then began the long commute to Nocona, traveling there about once a month and taking homemade butter, jams, and other delicacies, his Mother made, to Marthell’s Dad every time he went to visit.

On June 6, 1948, he married Marthell in Dewar, Oklahoma. The couple then began farming and raising their family on the existing (then 160 acre) farm near Perkins. Raymond also mentioned that he and wife Marthell spent their honeymoon on a combine. To this union, four sons were born: Terry, Ricky, David, and Roger.

Dairy farming was an extremely tough life for Raymond and his Family. It was a 24×7 job with little pay, and time off was a luxury. Raymond and Marthell started out with three dairy cows, some chickens, and a couple hogs. In the early years, there was no electricity, water was pumped by hand, and wood was cut to burn for heat. Gradually, Raymond increased his dairy herd and began selling cheese milk, all the while milking his cows by hand. In 1952, after electricity was introduced, he was able to build a Grade “A” dairy barn and began selling refrigerated Grade “A” milk in 10-gallon cans, again, increasing his herd. Soon electric milkers were introduced and what a time saver that was. Later, Raymond purchased a “B” Model John Deere tractor to work the fields and was also able to purchase more farming implements.

In total, Raymond operated a dairy from 1948 until 2005, milking up to 199 head of Holstein cows and produced millions of gallons of Grade “A” milk for Oklahomans, friends, and family. He went from hand milking three dairy cows in a barn built in the early 1900’s to a (then) state-of-the-art milking facility. In the 1970’s and 1980’s, silos were added and filled to brim each year with silage for the hungry cows. Wheat was harvested and hay was baled each year. In 2005, dairy cattle were sold, and the family began raising Black Angus beef cattle and have grown the Angus herd to over 300 head today.

Raymond also gave back to his community and organizations in many capacities. Raymond was a School Board Member from 1965-1973 with Perkins Schools. He was also a Board Member for the Payne County Soil Conservation Service, a Charter Member of the Cimarron Valley CO-OP, Board Member for the Associated Milk Producers Inc., as well as the Payne County Farm Bureau. He was also a Charter Board Member of Rural Water District 3 and a Dairy Superintendent at the Payne County Fair.

In 1955, Raymond was voted as the Outstanding Young Farmer in Payne County. In 1983, Raymond and Family were humbled to receive the Payne County Farm Family of the Year Award. Then in 2014, Raymond and Family received the Payne County Cattleman’s Association Hall of Fame Award.

In 1970, tragedy struck when son Ricky was killed in an automobile accident while attending college at Okmulgee. Raymond then set up a scholarship fund at Perkins Schools to honor the memory of Ricky.

In the couples’ retirement years Raymond and Marthell enjoyed many travel adventures with friends and family. Raymond and Marthell were avid bowlers and became more active at the Lost Creek Church. While at Lost Creek, they both volunteered at the food bank, worked on church bulletins, and were Sunday morning greeters.

Raymond and Marthell were avid OSU football and basketball fans and attended many home and bowl games. One of Raymond’s greatest memories was when OSU Head Football Coach Mike Gundy stopped by the farm to wish him Happy Birthday on his 98th birthday.

Raymond and Marthell were happily married for 73 years. He so missed Marthell after she passed away in 2022. Raymond deeply loved his family and especially loved each of the grandchildren and great- grandchildren. He was loved by his family, by many friends and acquaintances. He will be greatly missed.

Raymond is survived by Brother Charles and wife Darlene of Arkansas City, Kansas, Sister Patsy Lile of Perkins, sons Terry of Perkins, David and wife Sharon of Perkins, and Roger and wife Brenda of Perkins. He is also survived by Grandchildren Kamichia Rudnick and husband Paul of Oregon, Kate Daniels of Washington State, Sam Kinzie of Perkins, Monica Kinzie of Texas, Amy Kinzie and husband Jimmy Williams of Morrison, Nicole Byrd and husband Jason of Perkins, Eric Kinzie and wife Danielle of Tryon, Erica Shaw and husband Jon of Ft. Gibson, Robbie Payne and wife Krystal of Arkansas, Bryan Payne and wife Alexandria of Perkins, Rickey Kinzie and wife Kelsey of Bixby, and Tanner Kinzie and Kayla Robinson of Perkins. Additionally, he is survived by nineteen great-grandchildren, three great-great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins, and other relatives throughout the United States.

Serving as pallbearers are Eric Kinzie, Rickey Kinzie, Tanner Kinzie, Sam Kinzie, Jon Shaw, Jason Byrd, Bryan Payne, Robbie Payne, and Jimmy Williams. Honorary pallbearers are Amy Kinzie, Kamichia Rudnick, Nicole Byrd, Erica Shaw, and Monica Kinzie.

The family would like to extend our special thanks to the many caregivers who helped both Raymond and Marthell over the past 10 years. We also express our sincere appreciation to the Southern Oaks Care Center in Pawnee, Oklahoma, and Luminos Hospice of Chandler, Oklahoma, for the wonderful care given to Raymond during his time of need.

Those wishing to honor the memory of Raymond, in lieu of flowers, may do so by sending a remembrance to the Lost Creek United Methodist Church Benevolence Fund, 8002 South Washington, Stillwater, Oklahoma, 74074.
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