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At 105 years, the oldest living man in Oklahoma now resides eternally with his blessed Savior, Jesus and loving wife, Hazel.
From a very young age, Willard Randolph Qualls began milking cows with his brothers and helped in every way he could on the farm where they lived. “W.R.” as he preferred to be called, dearly loved his Christian parents, Tom and Dora, and enjoyed the farm life immensely. In 1926, the family moved by train from Wister, OK to Shawnee, OK. Everything changed for W.R. in 1939, when he met and married Hazel McCarter who he always referred to as a “beautiful girl.” For many years, they enjoyed singing duets in church, funerals, and hospitals.
W.R. had a 25 year career as a custodian in a Santa Ana, CA school district but also loved umping baseball games. After 14 years of umping area games, he was scouted by the major leagues. He made it through rounds of tryouts but was ultimately disqualified during an interview when they realized that the young whipper-snapper was actually in his late 40s and was “too old” for them.
W.R. was well known for his orneriness. Each granddaughter was told she was his favorite and each grandson was told he was the ugliest. New members to the family would be asked if they wanted to “wrassle” him. He was a tidy guy who kept his white carpet looking brand new for decades.
W.R. would randomly shout “PRRRRRAISE THE LORD!” and was prone to break into song at any given moment. “Amazing Grace,” “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” and especially “Love Lifted Me” were among his favorites. Playing guitar and worshipping were two of the great loves of his life, but his greatest love was his precious wife, Hazel McCarter Qualls and their 3 children, Don, Robbie, and Roddy. After 45 years of loving, living, and singing praises together, Hazel changed her address to Heaven in 1984 and W.R. grieved her absence each day since.
W.R. was a hopeless romantic and found love again in his sweet girlfriend of 25+ years, Marjorie Wood. Marjorie beat W.R. to Heaven and surely joined Hazel in his welcome party on April 27, 2021. Unless of course, to repay him for his cantankerousness, they opted to skip it for some other Heavenly event.
His only daughter, Robbie and her husband, Al Wright have been W.R.’s faithful caregivers during the final three years of his life. Never before has a man received such devoted attention and pampering than W.R. did at “the last house on Tough Street.”
W.R. is survived by his 3 children, Don Corbett of Shawnee, Robbie Wright and her husband, Al of Shawnee, and Roddy Qualls and wife Trish of Colorado; 8 grandchildren and their spouses, 20 great-grandchildren, 35 great-great-grandchildren, and 1 great-great-great-grandchild. W.R. was visited often by his devoted nephew Hoyt Qualls.
W.R. was preceded in death by his parents and siblings, as well as one great-great-grandchild, Cohen Davidson.
Visitation will be held Saturday, May 1st, from 9-3 PM at Resthaven, and Sunday, May 2nd, from 9-4, at Resthaven. Funeral services will be held Monday, May 3rd, at 2pm, at Resthaven Funeral Home in Shawnee, OK.
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