Vernon Walter Bliss
May 30, 1921 - Oct 18, 2007

© Glenn

Posted by Jo Aguirre

He was born May 30, 1921, in Hopeton to Roy and Essie Bliss and died Thursday, Oct. 18, 2007. He was the fourth of five boys and moved with his family to the Lookout area shortly after his birth.

He attended a one-room schoolhouse through the eighth grade and graduated from Freedom High School in 1939. Following graduation he joined the CCC.

Following his marriage to Maxine Thompson, they moved to California, where he joined the Navy Seabees and spent two years in the South Pacific. Upon his return, they made their home in Richmond, Calif., where he worked for Standard Oil. In 1949, they returned to Lookout, where he farmed and ranched. He later took a job in Wichita, Kan., laying bricks. She died in 1995.

In 1997, he married his current wife, Denzel. They lived in Freedom and Woodward. He was a member of Woods County Fair Board, Freedom Museum Board, and Veterans of Foreign Wars. He was named Freedom Rodeo’s Old Cow Hand in 2006.

Surviving are his wife, Denzel, of Woodward; three sons, Con of Huntington Beach, Calif., Dale of Oklahoma City and Ron of Newcastle; six grandchildren; and many great-grandchildren.

In addition to his first wife, Maxine, he was preceded in death by one daughter, four brothers and a grandson. Memorials may be made to Freedom Museum.
Condolences may be made online at www.whartonfuneralchapel.com.