William “Bill” Terry died in Chickasha on Monday, May 18, 2020 surrounded by his wife and four of his children, after fighting cancer for seven months. He was 69.
Bill was diagnosed in 2002 with throat cancer and successfully fought it off for nearly two decades. He began his second fight in October, when it came back with a vengeance.
He attended Marlow Public Schools for the first few years before the family moved back to Chickasha from Marlow, where he attended Saint Joseph’s Academy until eighth grade. He graduated from Chickasha High School in 1970. Afterwards he attended two semesters of automotive courses at OSU Tech in Okmulgee. There he met lifelong friends who stayed in touch until his passing.
He built Bill’s Auto & Diesel Service in 1973. For the first several years, he operated the business while also working as a roustabout for his father’s oilfield service company, Jim’s Construction. Bill operated Bill’s Auto until 2015, but for the next three years, he continued to maintain the all-hours roadside service portion of the business for one commercial client.
He was an affable, gregarious, colorful and ornery person who enjoyed fixing and racing cars, attending NASCAR events with his friends, wife and children. He and his son built a Z-28 Camaro in the early 1990s. On occasion, when his son was in trouble for antics, Bill would take that Camaro and cruise it around town, revving the engine and peeling out close enough to the house that Daniel could hear his beloved car and knew what he was missing out on.
In the 2000s, Bill and his friend Keith Klempa built and drove a cruiser in for a dirt track race series. Even after he stopped racing, he continued to attend dirt track events with his friends, wife and children.
Before he began racing cars, he loved fishing, water skiing and building and driving his jet boat. He was so passionate about slalom skiing, he owned a wetsuit so that he could start skiing as early as March in nearby lakes. There was no one else on the lake creating waves and the water was smooth as glass. He drove his jet boat like he drove his muscle cars–fast so fast your heart would jump up in your throat. In the 1980s, he was the president of the local BassMasters’ club for several years. He and his son competed in fishing competitions including the Walleye rodeo at Canton Lake.
He and his wife Kristy bred Labrador Retrievers and miniature Dachshund dogs for the better part of a decade. Several members of the Terry, Foster and Rayburn families had the privilege of owning the offspring that came from incredible, American-Kennel-Club-registered bloodlines.
His six grandsons were the light of his life. He built them two child-sized race cars and an adult-sized swingset with zip lines. He mowed the terraces on his acreage and turned those trails into a racetrack for his grandsons. At Ty and Cade’s insistence, he also bought a set of stadium seats, so the boys had a grandstand for their fans.
He enjoyed spending time with family and friends out by the pool or riding a golf cart around his land.
He was born in Chickasha, Okla; the oldest of seven children. He was preceded in death by his father Jim Terry, grandmother and grandfather Pat and Bill Terry, grandfather Carl Hebinck and his niece Anne Childers.
He is survived by his wife, Kristy, of Chickasha, daughter Scout E. Hebinck and Jonathan E. Ordanez of Walnut Creek, Calif., son Daniel Terry of Chickasha, daughter Jennifer Terry of Chickasha, daughter Sarah Terry-Cobo and Francisco Cobo of Norman, daughter Melissa Terry of Leeds, U.K, stepson Sam and Ashley Rayburn of Chickasha and stepdaughter Skyla and Tosin Olatunde of Bethany. He is also survived by six grandsons: Ty Rayburn, Cade Rayburn, Lane Rayburn, Holt Rayburn, Lincoln Olatunde and Remi Everett Ordanez. He also leaves behind his mother, Berna Dean Terry of Oklahoma City, his six siblings, Mary Terry and Frank Childers, of Bainbridge Island, Washington; Suzanne Terry of Norman; Michael and Lynn Terry of Chickasha; Pat Terry of Lexington, South Carolina; Paul Terry of Pryor, Oklahoma; Bernadette and Chris Faulker of Jackson, Tennessee and twelve nieces and nephews.
The family held a memorial service Saturday, May 23, 2020 at 11 a.m.
Cremation arrangements were under the direction of Ferguson Funeral Home.