Woodward County Obituary
Mooreland Cemetery

© Woodward News
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Reprinted with permission
Submitted by: Ann Weber

GARY WILLIAM BLOXSOM

16 Nov 1936 - 18 Nov 2014

Gary William Bloxsom went home to be with the Lord on November 18, 2014.

He was born in Ashland, KS on November 16, 1936 and attended school in Ashland before moving with his family to Woodward, OK. He graduated from Woodward High School in 1954, then attended college at Phillips University in Enid, OK, and Wichita University in Wichita, KS. In 1960, Gary started his banking career at Del City State Bank, and later worked in banks in El Dorado, Moore and Noble Oklahoma. He then moved to Mooreland. OK and served as vice president and cashier of the Mooreland Bank until joining the Stock Exchange Bank of Woodward.

Gary’s passion for music began at a very young age, when his parents gave him a xylophone and a drum. He loved it when his parents would take him to dances, and he would sit and listen to the music. He learned to play the piano and clarinet often playing by ear. When his grandparents bought him a standard Sears guitar, he reworked it with his father, making it into his first steel guitar. In high school, he joined the school band playing the clarinet and he played the steel guitar with his two younger sisters and playing in local talent shows as The Bloxsom Trio. After high school he joined with Hurshul Clothier and the Oklahoma Travelers, traveling throughout Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, New Mexico and Kansas, earning a reputation as one of the leading dance bands in the Southwest. In 1955 they were heard daily on radio station KSIW in Woodward, OK and also appeared on KGEO television in Enid, OK. While playing in Nashville, Gary met the musicians he liked such as Johnny Cash, Chet Atkins and Jim Reeves. He also toured with Bob Wills Western Swing band, Merle Lindsay and Lefty Frizzell. While playing with Merle Lindsay, he began to play the saxophone, one of his career goals, and became an accomplished saxophonist. Thru the years he would come off the road, but would always return to his beloved music that brought him memories and friendships that he said “money can’t buy.” In 2001 he was inducted into the Seattle Western Swing Hall of Fame and in 2003 was inducted into the Western Swing Music Society of the Southwest Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City.

When asked to write his biography, he wrote “The Mindset of a Male Musician”. He wrote, “Musicians live in a totally different world than most people – they eat, sleep, dream and breathe music. They are completely consumed by music”.

Gary left behind a legacy to his children –his love and music and natural talent.

Gary was preceded in death by his parents, George and Vida Bloxsom. Surviving him are two sisters, Glenda Schoenborn and Nanette Welch with their families, daughters Deborah Wadsworth, (husband Burton), Patricia Mcbee,(husband Edwin), grandchildren Dustin Wadsworth, Cynthia Holloway (husband James), Eric Scott (wife Hannah) and Erin Dreyer (husband Jeremy). He also leaves great-grandchildren, Arianna Scott, Tyler Henry and Maylynn Henry, other family members and many friends.

Memorial Services will be held at First United Methodist Church in Woodward, December 5, 2014, with interment following at the Mooreland Cemetery.