John D. Ludwig
John David Ludwig passed away surrounded by what must have been to the nurses, an overwhelming amount of family at Mercy Hospital in Oklahoma City on July 8, 2022.
John was born Dec. 29, 1949, in Okarche to Marian and Donald Joseph Ludwig.
He graduated Okarche High School and signed up for the Air Force and in his words, “before the Army could draft him.”
After the Air Force, he co-owned a cabinet shop in El Reno, cared for the maintenance of Holy Trinity, built air conditioners for Temtrol and eventually retired from Pioneer Telephone as its painter and general handyman.
All of this while he continued to be a “part-time” cabinet and trim carpenter.
John was a soft-spoken perfectionist who cared and loved more than he would ever tell.
He married Karla LaRue Mayes on March 9, 1982, and proceeded to spoil her absolutely rotten for the next 40 years, 3 months, 4 weeks and 1 day until the Lord said he just couldn’t anymore.
In his younger years he was a bit of fun. He loved to tell stories of making chocolate cakes as soon as he could reach the pilot light, milking cows with his siblings, hiding the old dead hens before his mom could find and cook them, shooting his sister Joan with a BB gun, and paying her $.25 not to tell, and making his brother Ed mad just to see him turn red.
He loved his brothers and sisters very much and would often talk about growing up the fourth of 10 children and how no matter what happened, he chose to love them.
John has four children. The first two he wanted so much that he hand-picked them: Amanda being the first to join the family, but not the oldest; David the second child, but the oldest; followed by Terrell, the one he lucked into, and is still pretty awesome; then finally Halli, the one that made him decide he went too far.
John was not without his faults. He did impose forced labor on the oldest three children, having them sanding invisible saw marks only he could see off cabinets in his shop for $2 per cabinet.
No matter how big or how small the cabinet may be, it was always $2.
Meanwhile he let the youngest frolic and watch cartoons; she may disagree.
On any given night after shutting down his table saw, turning off his sander and setting down his nail guns, he could be found sleeping off a hard day’s work in his chair with a guarantee that some western was on the TV that he was “watching.”
The western channel of course would not be changed for anyone except a grandchild with a hug.
John was a very proud man. He was proud of the cabinets he built for his customers, proud of the life he provided for his family, proud of what he built for himself and Karla.
One of the things he was most proud of was his time in the Air Force. He would tell stories of Thailand, fried rice, giant lizards in his barracks, computers the size of busses, monitoring the Ho Chi Minh Trail, sending communications to the Pentagon, Hamm’s Beer and his little brother Gary trying to send his teddy bear off to Vietnam with him.
Given the chance, he would walk you down his hallway to show you his commendation medal for meritorious service of Sgt. John D. Ludwig, all with that very classic John smile on his face.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Marian and Donald Ludwig; mother-in-law Wanda Claunch; brother-in-law Allen McCully; and nephew Luke Yarrow.
John is survived by his spouse, Karla Ludwig of the home; son David Ludwig (Afton); daughter Amanda Cole and husband Chris (Norman); son Terrell Ludwig and wife Karen (Okarche); daughter Halli Ford and husband Robert (Okarche); brother Wayne Ludwig and wife Dianne (Okarche); brother Paul Ludwig (Okarche); sister Eloise McCully (Kingfisher); sister Joan Stone and husband Tom (Okarche); sister Ruth Beal and husband John (Yukon); brother Ed Ludwig and wife Joann (Okarche); brother Kenny Ludwig (Okarche); sister Mary Rother and husband Bob (Okarche); brother Gary Ludwig and wife Carole (Okarche); brother-in-law Kelly Mayes and wife Sherri (Weatherford); brother-in-law Bret Mayes and wife Sandi (Dover); sister-in-law Tara Kinsel and husband Jerry (Pinetop, Ariz.); brother-in-law Brad Mayes (Kingfisher); grandchildren Kristian Ludwig, Randel Ludwig, Brooklynn Cole, Emmeline Cole, Tenley Ludwig, Karter Ludwig, Hartli Ford; as well as numerous other cousins, nieces and nephews. (There will be a test later!)
Like always, John fought hard and loved harder up until the very end.
His final resting place will be Holy Trinity Cemetery in Okarche with services to precede at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Okarche at 10 a.m. Thursday, July 14.
A wake will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 13.
Services are under the direction of Huber-Benson Funeral Home, El Reno.
The family would love to hear your memories of a great man and requests that instead of donations, take your family to dinner and enjoy each other.
John would have loved that.