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William Alan Jaqua, age 59, passed away peacefully at his home on May 6, 2015 after a courageous fight with cancer. Bill was born on August 10, 1955 in Sacramento, CA to William and Mary Jaqua. As one of 6 kids, his childhood was spent in Sacramento and Baltimore before moving to Norman in 1965. Bill loved growing up on the 8-J Ranch riding horses with his brothers and sister, working on the ranch, helping with the cattle, and hosting many friends to share in his family's love of life. Bill graduated from Norman High School in 1974 where he loved playing basketball. He attended Lewis and Clark College in Portland, OR and Phillips University in Enid, OK, graduating with a degree in Communications.
After graduation, Bill taught 6th grade for one year at Longfellow Middle School, teaching speech and coaching basketball. He then began his career as a Landman in the oil and gas industry and worked for Gulf Oil, Chevron, his own company Packard, Inc., Crawley Petroleum Corp., Stephens Production Co., and most recently with Gulfport Energy Corp. Bill loved his job but mostly loved the people he worked with through all of the years. He enjoyed mentoring younger guys, and helping provide them with their own opportunities to grow in their careers. His sense of humor was seen in the workplace as he was a participant and receiver of many office pranks. He was a brilliant and creative Landman who was greatly respected in the industry. He had individual relationships with every single person he worked with; he always saw the person before the title, seeking to find something special in whoever he came in contact with in order to specifically encourage them, and learn from them himself. A true lover of people, it was hard to remain a stranger to Bill for very long.
Bill married Jennifer Powell, the love of his life in 1978. They were high school sweethearts. They lived in Norman for a year and half, then moving to Houston and Denver, before ultimately moving back to Norman in 1990. They were married for almost 37 years and loved spending time with each other, being with their kids and families and summers by the pool. In Bill's eyes, Jennifer was always right and he absolutely adored her. His ideal evening would be spent cooking dinner and enjoying just being together. They were blessed with 3 wonderful children, Aaron, Jeremy and Shannon, whom he loved dearly. Bill and Jennifer had two wonderful anniversary vacations to the Cayman Islands and their annual summer family vacations to Destin, Fl. provided joy, laughter and wonderful memories. On those vacations, Bill and Jennifer loved relaxing, reading on the beach, walking, watching the dolphins, kayaking, epic Scrabble battles, and most of all laughing with their kids. He could not wait to watch his sweet grandbabies play on the beach.
Being a father was one of the things that Bill loved most in his life, and he leaves an amazing legacy for his kids and grandkids. He loved spending time with his kids and was their biggest supporter in anything they wanted to do in their lives. The look on his face when they walked through the door is a priceless memory. Bill called Shannon "Sunshine," and loved being her Daddy. She had him wrapped around her little finger from the moment she was born and he loved sharing a dance with her at her wedding. He enjoyed hearing hilarious stories of her teaching elementary school and felt so much pride on the impact she had on her students' lives, and loved visiting her class. Bill shared in Jeremy's passion for baseball as a boy, playing catch, watching Field of Dreams any chance they got, and going on a special Father/Son trip to the actual Field of Dreams. He took every opportunity to go flying with Jeremy as he pursued his pilot's license and prided himself on being Jeremy's number one supporter of his music career as he watched and listened to him play drums as often as possible. He loved Aaron's joy for life, his passion for missions, and watching him as he ran several races and marathons. He grew in his faith in God through his influence. He loved listening to Aaron play the guitar and sing, and he and Aaron shared many, many long talks this past year. Bill was very proud of his kid's accomplishments and shared them with anyone he could. He was their number one encourager and he loved coaching his kid's sports and watching their baseball games. They all spent many hours together riding to practices and school, competing in "seat belt races," while being educated on his favorite classic rock music such as Boston, The Allman Brothers, Chuck Mangione, Led Zeppelin, and Elton John, just to name a few. Bill was always able to make them laugh and his humor was infectious. Whether it was going to OU football, Thunder basketball games or Dave Matthews concerts, he was always looking for different ways to spend time together. He had an amazing way of making everyone feel comfortable, laugh and relax, from his kid's friends to the chemo nurses over this past year.
Bill loved seeing his kids get married and he loved Laurel, SarahBeth and David as his own. He most enjoyed watching each of his kids become parents and how they loved on their sweet babies. He loved being a G-Pops to Lawson, Hayes, Bennett and Lottie. He highly anticipated the arrivals of his grandchildren, loved holding and walking with them, going on bug hunts, talking like "Donald Duck," and making them smile and laugh. He had tshirts made for them that said "G-Pops doesn't care, he loves me anyway" as they could do no wrong in his eyes. His love for his family will be the legacy that lives on forever in our hearts.
Bill was preceded in death by his parents, William and Mary Jaqua, and his brother David Jaqua.
Bill is survived by his wife Jennifer; son, Aaron, and wife Laurel and grandson Bennett of Norman; son, Jeremy and wife SarahBeth, and grandsons Lawson and Hayes of Dallas; daughter, Shannon Burget and husband David and granddaughter Lottie of Norman; brother, Evan Jaqua and wife Sue of Portland, OR; brother, John Jaqua and Renee Redman of Portland, OR; brother, Paul Jaqua and Barbara Mackintosh of Dallas; sister, Martha Lee of Oklahoma City; mother-in-law, Joan Clary of Norman; brother-in-law, Steve Powell and wife Gina, of Woodbridge, VA.; and nieces and nephews, Julie Law, Scott Jaqua, Jeff Duncan, Ashley Tucker, Stephanie Bruce, Daniel Jaqua, Claire Jaqua, Emily Jaqua, Matthew Lee, Adam Lee, Rachel Mullen, Josh Powell, Jonathan Powell, and Gabby Powell.
Expressions of sympathy may be made in Bill's name to Norman Community Church, Watermark Community Church of Dallas, or First Christian Church of Norman for music or children's programs.
A celebration of life service will be held on Friday, May 15, at 11:00am at First Christian Church in Norman, OK.
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