Fred John Oppel, Jr. was born on January 29th, 1929, in Kingfisher, Oklahoma. His parents were Fred Oppel, Sr. and Marie Kunneman Oppel. Fred passed away on October 4th, 2024, in Kingfisher, OK, at the age of 95.
He was baptized at home and later confirmed by Pastor Martin Yauk on June 7, 1942, at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Kingfisher where he remained a member until his death.
He attended grade school at Locust Grove and graduated from Omega high school as valedictorian in 1946. He then attended Central State University and Oklahoma A&M college where he graduated with honors in the school of engineering, receiving his MS in Agricultural Engineering and a BS in Mechanical Engineering in 1952. While in college he was a member of honorary fraternities, Sigma Tau, and Phi Kappa Phi. He married Mildred Marie Peters on November 16, 1958, by Pastor Knauft in El Reno, OK and she has been his loving wife for 66 years.
Fred was employed out of college by Phillips 66 in Bartlesville, OK ; but, only worked for a short time until returning to help his family with farming and ranching while also working as a soil conservation contractor.
Fred served his Lord and church in many offices at Emmanuel and taught Sunday School for many years. He was president of the Oklahoma district Walther League for 2 years. He also served as a lay representative for the Kingfisher Circuit of the Oklahoma district Lutheran Church Missouri Synod Board for 25 years. He was a member of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, serving as president for several years. Fred was faithful to his Lord and Savior, and he always treated others the way he would want to be treated.
He served as a director on the board of Kingfisher Regional Hospital and as a bank director of People’s National Bank for over a 20 year period. He also was a director at Farmers Coop Supply for 12 years as secretary for 11 years. He belonged to many organizations including Kingfisher County Cattlemen, Kingfisher County Wheat Growers and Oklahoma Land Improvement Contractors, and a member of the Kingfisher County Farm Bureau.
Fred was preceded in death by his parents and his two brothers, Henry and Robert. He is survived by his wife, Mildred of the home; two sons, Dale and wife Denise of Kingfisher and Fred III and wife Susan of Albuquerque, New Mexico; 4 grandchildren, Jennifer and husband Kennt Brady of Kingfisher, Jonathan Oppel of Oklahoma City, Sarah and husband Roger Brown of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Emily and husband Bill Pruett of Omaha, Nebraska; 6 great grandchildren and many cousins, nieces, and nephews.
Visitation for Fred will be from 9am-6pm, Wednesday, Oct. 9 at Sanders Funeral Service Chapel.
Graveside services for Fred will be 10:30am, Thursday, October 10th at Kingfisher Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Lutheran Hour Ministries, found at lutheranhour.org.
Under the direction of Sanders Funeral Service.
