TAHLEQUAH — A memorial service for Arthur D. Jordan, will be held Friday, Dec. 14, at 2 p.m., at Green Country Funeral Home in Tahlequah. Burial service will follow at Molly Field Cemetery on Highway 10 near Scraper.

Officiating will be Rev. Leighton Reed. Pallbearers are Phillip Jordan, John Conrad, David Jordan, Tyler Lewis, Jacob Lewis and chandler Cliburn. Honorary pallbearers are: Frank Sherman, Curtis Welch, Bill Copeland, Eric Wilson, Alan Wilson and Bill Swagerty. Online condolences may be left at tahlequahfuneral.com. Arrangements under the care of Green Country Funeral Home.

Surrounded by family, Arthur Dwayne Jordan, 86 years of age, passed away at his home in Scraper, Dec. 6, 2012, near his beloved Illinois River. Arthur was born in Oil Springs, April 10, 1926, the son of Homer and Pearl Jordan. He attended Kansas Schools and married Joan Sherman on Aug. 22, 1944.

World War II was being fought at this time, and in February of 1945, Arthur was drafted into the United States Army. He became an expert machine gunner and a member of the 1874th Engineer Aviation Battalion of which he specialized in carpentry. He was sent to Japan to fight in 1945; however, both bombs were dropped while he was underway which brought an end to the fighting. Amazingly while at sea, Arthur witnessed the mushroom cloud over Nagasaki. He went on to Japan and helped rebuild a hospital in the midst of the devastation, and assisted with other construction as well. He was also assigned to guard the captured Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo during his time there.

Meanwhile, back home in Scraper, his wife Joan had given him a son in March of 1946. In June of '46, Arthur was honorably discharged and was able to go home to his young wife, and meet his newborn son for the first time. The following year, the family decided to head west to central California where Arthur went to work at Steve Crow's Alfalfa Farm. There he trained in cutting edge agricultural science, and this is where a dream began. The next year, he went to work on Phil Moe's dairy farm. His employment there would begin to shape his career and destiny in the dairy farming business.

Mr. and Mrs. Jordan were blessed with a baby girl they named Shirley in January of '49, and they couldn't be happier to have a little princess in their family. In 1950, Arthur went into partnership on the Silvera Dairy in Newman, Calif., where he worked very hard for the next five years. In '55, he decided to take his family back home to Scraper, where Arthur purchased the Stewart Farm and began fulfilling his dream of growing the best alfalfa in the state, and having his own dairy. He also found the time to be appointed to the Kansas School Board, where he served for about eight years, and also the Secretary of the Precinct 18 election board for 25 years.

In time, his children became adults, and after his son Wayne returned from deployment in Vietnam, they decided to partner together in the dairy business. Arthur worked until 1976, at which time he gave control to his son and retired at the urging of his physician due to health reasons. However, he had one more highly important mission for the dairy. Wayne wanted to invest in a very special registered milk cow by the name of Leeds Chief Day, so he asked his dad to go get her, which he did – along with a few other registered cows. The dairy went on to have some of the nation's top producing milk cattle, Day being at the top of that list.

During retirement, Arthur stayed busy working part time jobs in the community, growing a beautiful garden, and being there for his family, and most importantly – taking care of his wife Joan, who in the last years of her life, had to deal with severe Post-Polio Syndrome. They were married for 67 years.

Arthur Jordan loved the Lord Jesus and was a faithful member and leader of Scraper Christian Church where he became an Elder and taught the adult Sunday school class until he could no longer teach. He loved people with all of his heart, and especially his wife and family, whom he loved passionately. He would give anyone the shirt off his back if they needed it, and he never met a stranger.

Arthur was preceded in death by his cherished wife, Joan, in January of this year; and also his beautiful daughter, Shirley in 2011. Arthur is survived by his son and daughter-in-law, Wayne and Ann Jordan; five grandchildren, Carol Lewis and husband Jacob, John Conrad, Phillip Jordan and wife Stephanie, David Jordan and wife Adrianne, and Joshua Swagerty and wife Kaily. He is also survived by six great-grandchildren, Tyler Lewis, Comfort Cliburn and husband Chandler, Hannah Swagerty, Treyton Jordan, Dylan Swagerty and Kelton Jordan.

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