Graveside services for Edwin L. Wedel, age 90, of Enid, are 10:00 am, Monday, May 9, 2016 at Memorial Park Cemetery. Reverend Dr. Jarrett Banks and Reverend Don Johnson will officiate, with the United States Navy providing military honors. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Ladusau-Evans Funeral Home.
Edwin was born January 13, 1926 to Jacob Wedel and Ruth (Koehn) Wedel in Major County, Oklahoma, three miles north of the town of Meno, in the Koehn ancestral farm home. He passed away Thursday, May 5, 2016 in Enid. He grew up in the Goltry, Alfalfa County Community. He obtained his elementary school education in Pleasant Ridge School, Dist. 102, located five miles Southwest of Goltry, graduating in May 1940 at the Alfalfa County Seat of Cherokee, Oklahoma. In early September, 1940 he entered high school at Helena High School, Helena, Oklahoma, graduating May 1944.
On December 20, 1944, he was inducted into the U.S. Navy in Oklahoma City and assigned basic Naval training duty at the Great Lakes Naval Training Base, Illinois. Upon completion he was assigned radio operation training at University of Wisconsin, Madison. He was then assigned shipboard duty in the Western Pacific Region of Japan and China. He received his honorable discharge on July 3, 1946 at Norman, Oklahoma. He re-enlisted in the Naval Reserve in 1948 in Oklahoma City; and was recalled to active duty March 31, 1951 at Indianapolis, Indiana. He was assigned shipboard duty in the Atlantic and Caribbean Sea areas and was released from duty on June 9, 1952 at Great Lakes, Illinois, receiving his honorable discharge March 7, 1953 at New Orleans, Louisiana. Total service time (active and non active) 6 years, 6 months, and 14 days!
He attended Oklahoma A & M College and the University of Oklahoma. He received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Radio & Television Engineering from Indiana Institute of Technology at Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1952. December, 1952, he accepted employment with Chance Vought Aircraft Corporation in Dallas, Texas as an Electronic Engineer; subsequently, he continued his Engineering employment in the Dallas area during the next twenty years with Temco Aircraft Corporation, Collins Radio Company, SPACE Corporation, and Ling Temco Vought Corporation. He then accepted a position with Boeing Aerospace Corporation in Wichita, Kansas where he retired on January 1, 1985.
Edwin was baptized according to the commandment of the Lord Jesus Christ on May 1, 1949, becoming a member of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He subsequently was a member, (by transfer) of West Creighton Avenue Christian Church, Fort Wayne, Indiana; East Dallas Christian Church, Dallas, Texas, Hillside Christian Church, Wichita, Kansas; and, Central Christian Church, Enid, Oklahoma. He was a deacon, active in Sunday school and a lifetime member of the Sanctuary Choir.
His spare-time interests were ball room dancing, flying his private airplane, studying economics, assembling and maintaining electronics, woodworking, reading, writing, music appreciation and followed professional golf. During his retirement years he traveled, attended Elderhostel Programs throughout the U.S. as well as China and Russia. He also had an avocation encompassing research and study of his family ancestral history, covering the homelands of his ancestors in five European nations over a span of four centuries before immigrating to America. His computer version of the family genealogy records the names of seven thousand individuals.
Edwin was preceded in death by his parents Jacob and Ruth Wedel; nephew Allen Curtis Wedel; and brother-in-law Keith Peacock.
He is survived by three brothers; Roger Wedel, of Midwest City, Oklahoma; Marvie J. Wedel and wife Shirley, of Monument, Kansas; Milford Ray Wedel and wife Edith, of Wichita, Kansas; two sisters, Neva B. Peacock, of Mission Hills, California; Deloris J. Fouquet and husband Samuel, of Guymon, Oklahoma; as well as numerous nieces and nephews, family and friends.
Memorials in Edwin’s name may be made to Newview Oklahoma with Ladusau-Evans Funeral Home serving as custodian of the funds.
Online condolences may be made at www.ladusauevans.com