Woodward County Obituary
Mooreland Cemetery

© Billings Funeral Home
WOODWARD, WOODWARD CO, OK
(permission granted)
Submitted by: Ann Weber

ARNOLD BARTOW

July 2, 1926 - March 22, 2018

Arnold Bartow, 91 year old former Woodward resident, died Thursday, March 22, 2018 in Wichita, Kansas. Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m. Thursday, March 29, 2018 at the First Assembly of God Church in Mooreland with Reverend Phillip Ludwyck officiating. Burial will follow in the Mooreland Cemetery.

John Arnold Bartow was born July 2, 1926 in Mooreland, Oklahoma to Archie and Emma (Adams) Bartow. He grew up on the family farm northwest of Mooreland. Arnold attended the Roundtop Country School and then attended Mooreland schools. With World War II underway, Arnold enlisted in the United States Army, as soon as he turned 18 years of age, foregoing his senior year of high school.

Arnold served in combat as an automatic rifleman with the 253rd Regiment, 63rd Infantry Division during the Rhineland Campaign through Germany. He was awarded the Combat Infantry Badge, a Bronze Star, and a Purple Heart. During operations near Bubingen, Germany where the 253rd Regiment earned a Presidential Unit Citation, he was severely wounded by enemy mortar fire on March 5, 1945. He was evacuated through Army hospitals in France and England and eventually to the United States. Along the way he underwent experimental surgeries involving nerve transplants to restore use of his arm and leg. Eventually he spent several months recuperating at the Army's O'Reilly General Hospital in Springfield, Missouri. Arnold is listed as a World War II Honoree at the National World War II Memorial Registry in Washington, DC.

After his honorable discharge, Arnold returned to Mooreland and married the love of his life, Wynona Maxine Murray on March 24, 1947 in Dodge City, Kansas. They made their home near Mooreland where he started his farming and ranching operation with money earned breaking horses for other cattlemen. Thy had one child, a daughter, Treisa Lou. In the 1960's, Arnold obtained his pilots license and purchased a used Piper Cub airplane which he kept on the ranch. More than a few Curtis and Mooreland area youngsters still talk about their first airplane ride with Arnold and Treisa in his Cub. In addition to flying, his hobbies included hunting, fishing, collecting cartridges, and amateur radio.

Arnold and Wynona continued farming and ranching until moving to Woodward after his retirement. A series of strokes in 1999 caused him to spend most of the rest of his life in a wheelchair, but his loving wife Wynona cared for him in their home until they moved to Dove Estates Assisted Living in Goddard, Kansas in 2014, to be closer to their daughter.

Arnold attended the First Assembly of God Church in Mooreland. He enjoyed traveling and being with his family.

He is survived by his wife Wynona Bartow of the home; one daughter, Treisa Lou (Bartow) Reese and husband Monte Reese of Goddard, Kansas; two grandchildren, Bartow Allan Reese and wife Claudia, Monica Lynelle (Reese) Cromwell and husband Stephen all of Goddard, Kansas; one great-grandson, Dylan Ryan Reese of Goddard, Kansas; other relatives and friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Archie and Emma Bartow and one sister Helen Frances Bartow.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Disabled American Veterans as well as Patriots of Praise with the funeral home accepting the contributions.