Christopher Bryan Bordelon was born in Alexandria, LA, July 1, 1954, and died July 24, 2023, at his home in Watonga, OK. The family lived in Louisiana until Chris was in the 7th grade and then moved to Bartlesville, OK. Just before his senior year, they moved once again to Sand Springs, OK, where Chris graduated from Charles Page High School in 1972. He then attended Southwestern Oklahoma State University on a music scholarship, serving as drum major of the Bulldog Marching Band for three years. Upon graduation in 1976, he began his first job as the band director and vocal instructor at Mountain View, OK. In 1979, Chris became the band director for Watonga Public Schools, where he remained until his retirement in 2007. He then worked as a roadman for Midwest Music in Weatherford, serving band programs throughout western and southwestern Oklahoma for the next ten years.
Chris and his wife George Ann, also a teacher in Watonga, married in 1981 and welcomed their son Alex in 1988. They have continued to make their home in Watonga.
Chris is widely known in the band world, not just for the consistent excellence of his bands, but for what he brought to the table for each student, each rehearsal, and each performance. He was unendingly positive, enthusiastic, and encouraging in dealing with kids and creative, original, and innovative in planning half-time and contest shows, parade performances, and concerts. Though he was certainly competitive and expected his students to do their best, Chris never considered awards and trophies to be the mark of a successful program. His career-long goal was to teach kids to enjoy playing music, to have fun doing it, and to entertain the crowd – whether it was a 6th-grade Christmas concert at the bank, half-time shows with costumes and props, or the community band concerts featuring current and alumni band members. Chris was a man of great humility, but his family is very proud that, among his many personal awards, he was named the Oklahoma Bandmasters Association’s Director of the Year in 2007 and inducted into the OBA Hall of Fame in 2012.
Chris also poured his energy and creativity into working with small choral groups from the Kingfisher church of Christ for the Leadership Training for Christ program, preparing them for performances at regional conferences. He was very proud when one of the groups was selected to perform at the conference’s closing ceremonies. In keeping with his desire to serve the Lord, he also loved leading singing at church and volunteered several summers as a volunteer kitchen helper and grounds custodian at Lariat Creek Christian Camp.
In his community, Chris served as a Boy Scout leader and Peewee baseball coach, was an active performer and member of the Watonga Community Theatre and was named Watonga’s Citizen of the Year.
After the Lord, his family, and good music, Chris loved the outdoors and took every opportunity to go hunting and fishing, loving every bit of it whether he caught anything or not.
Chris worshiped with congregations of the church of Christ in both Kingfisher and Watonga and dearly loved both church families.
Chris is survived by his wife George Ann, his son Alex and wife Stephanie, whom he loved like a daughter, and their children Kylie and Jax, the two most perfect grandbabies God ever created; his parents Allen and Pat Bordelon, sister Karen, brothers Mike (Laure) and Bruce, sister-in-law Kathy Adams (Warren), and dear family friend Jan Priddy; his parents-in-law W.A. and Mertie Hartwig, brothers-in-law Jeff Hartwig (Claudia) and Billy Gus Hartwig (Shelly), and sister-in-law Lisa Hartwig; several aunts, uncles, and cousins, and many much-loved nieces and nephews on both sides of the family, who counted on Uncle Chris to make every family gathering something memorable – which he did! He is also survived by close friend Patt Curtin, the Man Trip guys Donnie, Jim, Larry, and Ray, and long-time hunting and fishing buddies Will and Leon. He was preceded in death by his younger brother Tim.
Memorial services will be 10:30am, Thursday, July 27 at Kingfisher church of Christ.