Perry Irons

Funeral services for Perry Irons will be 1:00 p.m. Wednesday, July 21, 2010, at the First Baptist Church with Dr. Greg Hook and Dr. Ron Argo officiating. Interment will be in the Alva Municipal Cemetery under the direction of Marshall Funeral Home of Alva. Perry Irons, son of the late Frank Nelson and Bernard Hortense (Shidler) Irons, was born October 6, 1918, in Carmen, Oklahoma, and passed away July 17, 2010, at Alva, Oklahoma, at the age of 91 years, 9 months, and 11 days. Perry graduated from Dacoma High School with the Class of 1935. He received his degree from Northwestern State College in 1939, where he served as president of the Junior and Senior Class. He played baseball and basketball in high school and college. On July 24, 1941, he was united in marriage to Claudia Lucille Farrell at Alva, Oklahoma. In September, 1943, he entered the Army Air Corps where he graduated from the University of Chicago Meteorology School. He served a major role in forecasting the weather for the troops in the Philippines. He served until February, 1946. After his return from the service he worked for Zenith Gas Company. On August 30, 1951, he was recalled into active duty in the Air Force to serve in Korea. After his discharge, he returned to the family farm near Alva and, also, became a plumbing, heating and cooling contractor. He also owned and operated a sporting goods store and the Perry Irons Company, a hardware store. He continued farming until the late 1980s. Perry officiated football and basketball games in Oklahoma and Kansas for many years with Lee Haley and Bud Nichols. He took up golf in 1969 and continued to be an avid golfer until he and his friends retired from the game. He was a member of the Alva First Baptist Church. As a loyal Northwestern Ranger fan, he established the Perry Irons Scholarship in honor of his college coach, Jenks Simmons. He was Grandpa Perry to his grandkids, their friends and many Northwestern students. Besides his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife, Lucille, on October 26, 2008; and two brothers, Roy Irons and Maurice Irons. Perry is survived by one son, J. D. Irons of Enid; one daughter Judy Lyn Lyon and husband, David, of Alva; six grandchildren, Michael Irons and Angie, of Enid, Amy Crawford and husband, Brooks, of Mooreland; Michelle Porter and husband, Clifford, of Enid; Cris Meyer and wife, Brooke, of Alva, Tiffany Siders and husband, Eli, of Enid, and Shawn Tennyson and wife, Desirae, of Enid; 12 great grandchildren, David and Adrianna Irons, Billy Buller, Randy Porter, Keiton, Kaleigh, and Kole Crawford, Kaitlyn and Kenadie Meyer, Ethan Siders, and Mattie and Jayston Tennyson; four step grandchildren; six step great-grandchildren; two sisters-in-law, Margaret Irons of Dodge City, Kansas, and Berniece Farrell of Modesto, California; other relatives and many friends. Memorial contributions may be made through the funeral home to the First Baptist Church.

Perry Irons

October 6, 1918 - July 17, 2010