Harry H. Haigler, Jr., better known as “Junior”, was born December 8, 1917, ¾ miles west of Carlton, Oklahoma to Harry H. Haigler, Sr. and Myrtle Imogene Hollowell. At the age of 1 year, his family built a house 1 ½ miles west and ½ mile north of Carlton where he grew up. Harry had a younger sister Jeanne. Harry attended a one room school at Carlton until 1929 when he transferred to Canton schools. He says he often rode horses to school at Carlton with several of his cousins. He graduated from Canton High School in 1937.

Harry married Theresa Buchanan, the daughter of Dr. Frank and Carrie Hess Buchanan, June 4, 1938. They lived in a small house at Carlton until 1940 when they moved to their present home site ¼ mile west of Carlton. They celebrated their 50th Anniversary in 1988. Theresa passed in January of 1994.

Harry drove a Euclid dirt mover and later became a dragline operator during the construction phase of Canton Dam and Lake. Although farming and raising cattle were his main occupation throughout life, he also worked at several other jobs. In the early 1950's, he was the “ginner” at the Carlton Cotton Gin, then owned by the Lyle family from Silverton, Texas. They purchased the Cotton Gin from the Haigler family which was built by the sons of Barefoot Haigler. It had been closed for years due to the cutback of cotton allotments in Oklahoma. He also worked in Freemont, Nebraska in 1954 and 1955 helping build two grain elevators. The crew moved back to Oklahoma Where they built the co-op in Okeene, and then the Canton Grain elevator in Canton now known as Wheeler Brothers. His job was to keep the deck and forms level around the silo bins as they were being poured and the frames jacked-up as the concrete dried. He also worked a few years at the Gypsum Plant at Southard.

In 1977 Harry rented part of his land to Paul Heath, a cousin who had just graduated from high school, who wanted to farm with his dad, Clarence. He kept enough acres for wheat pasture and raising hay for his cattle. He continued to farm and raise cattle until 2002 when he rented the rest of the farm to Paul and Greg Heath. At the same time he sold his cattle and officially retired.

Harry and Theresa had two children, Robert and Karen. Robert or “Bob” married Shirley Riley. They have three children, Dawn Webb and husband Shane, Kimberly Owens, Mark Haigler, and son-in-law Roger Owens. Karen married Darel Elmore. They had two children, Lori Elmore and Jill Driever. Karen was killed in an automobile accident south of Geary in 2001. In addition to his grandchildren, Harry has eleven great-grandchildren; Colby, Reid and Stormy Haigler, Kasey Cavalier, Kayla Sutton and Cole Owens, Rikki Ashby, Angela Jones and Karri Ashby, Hanna and Tucker Driever, and nine great-great-grandchildren; Jada, Jazlyn, Imiyah, Imaleigh, Irilynn, Indy, Liam, Elora and Daegan. Harry was also preceded in death by his sister, Jeanne Abshire in 2009.

Harry was a member of the Canton Order of the Eastern Star and Canton Masonic Lodge. He celebrated his 96th birthday this past December and still resided on the family farm one quarter mile from where his was born.

Funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m., Friday, February 21, 2014 at the Canton Christian Church with Steve Driskill officiating. Interment will follow in Canton Cemetery under the direction of Haigler-Pierce Funeral Home, Canton. Memorials may be made to the Canton Masonic Lodge with the funeral home serving as custodian at P.O. Box 36, Canton, OK 73724. Condolences may be made online at www.haiglerpierce.com.