David Kretchmar

David Michael Kretchmar was born on June 18, 1946, to Edward Marion Kretchmar and Alice Ada Hoskins Kretchmar.

He went home to meet the Lord on Feb. 18, 2022.

Dave grew up west of Kingfisher and attended Sts. Peter & Paul Catholic School and Kingfisher Public Schools.

While Dave was in high school he played football, ran track and spent lots of time in speech class being Roy Moore’s “gofer.”

As a young man, Dave taught himself to play drums and was in several bands.

In recent years, Dave was in the James Ave Band and played with several other men in the Kingfisher community.

Dave has always been a talkative guy and made many friends during those early years and those people have remained lifelong friends. Dave graduated from Kingfisher High School in 1965.

He worked for Pioneer Telephone for a short time. From 1967 through 1968, Dave was enlisted in the United States Navy where he was stationed at Da Nang Vietnam and worked in a warehouse.

While he was there, several young men from Kingfisher would come through and Dave would try to make them comfortable by providing clean, dry clothes and sending them to the mess hall for a good hot meal.

After his discharge, Dave enrolled at Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology in Okmulgee and earned an associate’s degree in refrigeration and appliance repair. He then went to work for a Whirlpool appliance dealership in Chickasha.

On Oct. 28, 1972, Dave married Mary Loretta Reherman. He loved to call her “Retta” and he teased and pushed her buttons from their first date night up until the end of his life.

Dave and Loretta made their first home west of Norge and he continued to work at the appliance’s dealership in Chickasha.

Their son, Brian was born during their time in Chickasha. In 1978, the family

In 1978, the family moved back to Kingfisher. Dave went to work for Pioneer Telephone and Kevin was born a year later.

After Loretta’s mother passed away, the family moved to the farm and Dave took over the farming operation.

He didn’t have very good equipment to start out. Art Annuschat once told him that he farmed like Fred Flintstone.

But later Art told him, “Dave, I didn’t know if you were going to make it, but you just kept working hard and you did make it. I’m proud of you.”

That meant so much to Dave.

During the years that Dave worked for Pioneer, he burned the candle at both ends, working for Pioneer during the day and farming at night.

He also squeezed in some community service.

He was a member of the local American Legion Post and served as commander for a couple of years. Dave also served on the Kingfisher County Wheat Growers Association board.

He enjoyed helping with the annual meeting and meal. He would keep the other board members entertained while they prepared the meal.

After his retirement in 2012, Dave got to spend more time with his family and friends and farming full time, which he loved. He liked to visit other farmers in the coffee shops, giving advice to the kids and grandkids and teaching the grandkids how to do things around the farm.

Dave and Loretta used to love doing things with their friends. They especially enjoyed Sunday breakfasts and trips to Branson with Gary and Gerry Mueggenborg.

They also liked to eat chicken with Wendal and Diane Brodrick.

When Dave really wanted to learn something, he would head over to the “Halls of Knowledge,” aka the Annuschat Dairy.

Those Annuschat brothers loved to talk and impart knowledge almost as much as Dave did. He really loved those guys.

He also liked to drive out to the feed lot and shoot the breeze with Scott Winters. Loretta had to track Dave down many times. Scott thought it was really sweet that Loretta was concerned about Dave’s well-being.

Dave loved God, his family and friends and his Church of Christ family. He also had a strong love of his country.

He never met a stranger. He always had a smile on his face and a cheerful demeanor and a great sense of humor.

He treated all people with respect and had a great work ethic. He tried hard to instill those qualities in his kids and grandkids.

In 2015, Dave’s health began to deteriorate and he had to go on kidney dialysis for almost five years until he got a kidney transplant in July 2020.

He was a strong man. He drove himself to dialysis three days a week and he didn’t feel that great, but he rarely complained. The dialysis nurses loved him and he brightened their day with all his stories.

During his last three or four weeks on earth, Dave spent time entertaining the nurses with his stories and spending time calling friends and family on the phone.

The nurses had to run into his room many times to scold him because he was using too much oxygen from talking.

Dave always hoped there would be dogs in heaven and absolutely no Mondays. We hope he is getting his wish.

We are really going to miss him.

In his wife’s opinion, the world would be a much better place if there were more men like Dave and fewer politicians.

Dave is survived by his wife, Loretta; son Brian and wife Sharine of Mustang and their sons Tristen and Jaxon; son Kevin and wife Ashley of Kingfisher and their children Kolton, Kaleb and Kurtis Kretchmar and Taylor and Skyler Peterson; sister Carole Rayburn and husband Dean; former sister-in-law Joan Schoelen and numerous extended family.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Ed and Alice Kretchmar; brother, Ed Kretchmar, Jr., and his in-laws, Henry and Lucille Reherman.

Services for Dave were Friday, Feb. 25, at the Kingfisher Church of Christ officiated by Rev. Daniel Mayfield under the direction of Sanders Funeral Service.