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Billy Gene DeHaas © Enid News and Eagle 02-25-2015 Submitted by: Glenn
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Funeral service for Billy Gene DeHaas will be 10 a.m. today, Feb. 25, 2015, at Henninger-Hinson Funeral Home Chapel. Burial will follow at Del Norte Cemetery, Drummond, Okla., with the Rev. Vernon Lee officiating.
Billy was born at home west of Drummond, Okla., on Dec. 13, 1929, to Sam and Vivian (Pearson) DeHaas and passed away in Hennessey, Okla., on Feb. 21, 2015. He attended Union Star and Del Norte schools and graduated from Drummond High School in 1947.
He was proud to have played basketball at Drummond under Coach Joe Vaughn and then for Dick Hyple at Northwestern in Alva.
He graduated from Northwestern with degrees in math, science and physics in 1951.
Billy worked for Shell Oil in Chickasha, Okla., where he also played basketball for the OK town team.
His ‘Claim to Fame’ as he put it, was that he stole the ball from Marques Haynes, who later became a Harlem Globetrotter.
Billy worked in Texas for Chance Vought Aircraft as an aerospace engineer, then for the Naval Air Weapons Station at China Lake, Calif., as a rocket scientist.
He was an athlete for most of his life, having grown up on a farm in a family of nine children, with a basketball court, baseball field and tennis court, all on the farm. They all enjoyed sports.
He and his brothers were all in the military. Although Billy was in the U.S. Air Force for only 69 days, his work for the Navy helped save many lives in combat.
Billy was a skier and won six gold medals in downhill skiing, two in Washington and four in Alaska.
Billy also was a gardener and won several awards for his irises.
He also had an avocado orchard in California and a tomato garden in Ames, Okla.
He enjoyed opera, tennis, baseball, basketball, football and of course skiing.
Billy was preceded in death by his parents, three sisters and four brothers.
He is survived by his sister, JoAnn Wallace and brother, Kenneth DeHaas.
Memorial donations can be made to Del Norte Cemetery, with the funeral home acting as custodian of the funds.
Condolences to the family may be made at www.enidwecare.com.
(Submitted by family)
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