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HARRY T. CHEATWOOD, 73, passed away of natural causes in his sleep on March 31, 2020. A private family celebration of his life took place, complying with current gathering restrictions, in kind cooperation with Dighton-Marler Funeral Home in Stillwater.
Harry was born August 24, 1946, to Lowell and Edith (Flanagan) Cheatwood in Oklahoma City. He grew up in Oklahoma City and graduated from Harding High School in 1964 as a three sport letterman. He went on to play football at Oklahoma State, 1964-67, as a Safety/DB earning 1st Team All-America and All-Big 8 honors his senior year. He also played in the East/West Shrine Game and the Senior Bowl. Throughout his career he was known as a heavy hitter, ball-hawk and an even greater competitor. (In `99, the Daily Oklahoman listed him on OSU’s 1st Team All-Century Squad as a DB.) Even after a Senior Bowl neck injury, he played briefly in the Canadian Football League.
After his football career ended, Harry returned to OSU as a graduate assistant football coach before transitioning to an administrative assistant to the Athletic Director, Floyd Gass. During that time he travelled to many top notch NCAA athletic departments to explore new and innovative ways to enhance alumni and donor relations. Even after leaving OSU to pursue his entrepreneur ambitions, he remained an avid lifetime fan of all OSU sports. (He proudly supported his son, Mark, a `91, `92, `94 football letterman for OSU.)
Harry took his competitive sports attitude into the business world, which served him well. His entrepreneurial spirit led him to many learning experiences before settling into the water filtration business in the mid 1970's. After working for the two largest foodservice water filtration manufacturers in the world as a regional and national sales manager, he founded and operated his own water filtration manufacturing and distribution company, PureMark International. He developed some of the highest rated products in the world for foodservice. He literally traveled millions of miles in the air and hundreds of thousands of miles on the road throughout his sales and CEO careers. His business travels took him to Italy, Germany, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, Canada, Mexico and virtually every state in the U.S. Harry also owned a restaurant and built Cowboy Sports Complex in Stillwater. He was an inventor, patent holder; developer of air filtration technology, scale prevention technology along with a host of other highly creative and sophisticated technology ventures.
Harry passionately invested his time and resources into his family. They were his life's focus and hobby. Whether attending orchestra concerts, middle school band concerts, dance recitals, cheerleading competitions, football – soccer – basketball – baseball games, fishing and frog-gigging, going to movies, taking the family out for dinner or just spending quality time in meaningful conversations, he always came away ready to do it again and again.
There wasn’t a single aspect of fatherhood that Harry didn’t thoroughly enjoy. From the day his children were born he was a beaming proud dad ready to do all he could to help. Nothing was too big or too small for him to do. Whether it was reading books to them, teaching them games, sharing his biblical knowledge or even keeping them in line, Harry worked hard at being a good dad and husband. He openly demonstrated his love for his wife for all to see. He cherished vacationing with his family and showing them different parts of the country. Family time was so very valuable to him and upon the arrival of his nine grandchildren over the years, his capacity to invest and dedicate himself to being a loving grandfather far exceeded the demand.
Still, Harry loved people! He looked for ways to encourage others and to be a positive force in their lives. Anyone that knew Harry would attest to his vivacious approach to life and how he genuinely wanted to see them succeed. He enjoyed encouraging young athletes, volunteering for outreaches and Christian causes, yet his greatest act of charity was giving in secret. He enjoyed finding creative ways to covertly help widows, families with financial needs, sending kids to Kanakuk and anonymously assisting charitable causes with his connections, resources and time.
Although family, friends and people were vastly important to him, nothing could top his intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. He was an avid disciple of Jesus and his Bible was rarely too far out of reach. He loved learning new things about God as he read his Bible and listened to ministers preach the Word of God. Whether using his sense of humor, sensitivity, boldness and even some loving aggression, if needed, he always looked to reach the lost for Christ. Greatest of all, his love, kindness and compassion preached the Gospel louder than any message he could ever speak… Harry truly walked with God.
Preceding Harry’s passing were his parents, an infant sister and two brothers, all of Oklahoma City, along with his mother-in-law and father-in-law of Vinita, Oklahoma.
Survivors include Sharon (Thomas) Cheatwood, his college sweetheart and wife; his daughter, Jeanne (and son-in-law, Kevin) Wisner, his son, Mark (and daughter-in-law, Jennifer) Cheatwood; grandchildren Elena, Mikhail, Justin and Jared Wisner along with Rhett, Luke, Brooke, Seth and Drew Cheatwood.
He is also survived by one sister, Nina Stern of Nashville, Tennessee; sister-in-law Dorothy Cheatwood of Oklahoma City; brothers and sisters-in-law COL (Ret.) Robert S. and Susan (Thomas) Cox; and Dr. Mark and Sandy (Thomas) Mueller all of Stillwater; and survived by many beloved nieces and nephews spread across the USA.
There are no events scheduled.
To send a note by mail please address it to: Wisner Law, 703 S. Western Rd., Stillwater, OK 74074
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