Cecil R. Kerrens Jr. died Monday. He was 78.

He was born February 23, 1922, in Oklahoma City, the son of Cecil R. Kerrens and Emma Johanna Baier.

He graduated from Wellston High School in 1941.

He entered the Air Force in 1942 and began his military service in the Field Artillery at Fort Sill, Lawton.

He was later assigned as an instructor to the Air Force Mobile Training Unit and was honorably discharged in 1945.

He married Marie Sims on November 3, 1945. They lived in Wyoming and Oklahoma during their 55 years of marriage.

They operated a dairy northeast of Wellston in the early '60s and purchased their home in town in 1968.

He was a B-52 inspector at Tinker Air Force Base and retired in 1985 after 25 years of civil service.

He was preceded in death by his parents; a brother-in-law, John Sims of Rock Springs, Wyoming; uncles Adolf and Julius Baier of Fallis and Wellston and an aunt, Louise Baier Evans of Chandler.

Survivors include his wife, Marie, and their daughter, Sharon Marie; grandson, Paul Allen Steele and wife Cindy; great-grandson, Austin Michael Steele; and great-granddaughter, Heather Mitchell.

Viewing will be until noon Wednesday at the Parks Brothers Chapel in Wellston.

Funeral services will be 2:00 p.m. Wednesday at the First United Methodist Church of Wellston with Rev. Jim Moody officiating.

Burial will follow at the Wellston Cemetery under the direction of the Parks Brothers Funeral Home, Chandler.

Published June 13, 2000.