Kenneth Lynn Apple

On September 1, 2024, Kenneth Lynn Apple was reunited with his wife of 60 years and family in Heavenly splendor.  Ken, the only child of Mabel Augusta “Gussie” (White) Apple and Charles R. “Doc” Apple, was born on November 12, 1937 in Louisville, Kentucky.

A memorial service is planned for 10:00 A.M., Friday, September 6, at Western Heights Baptist Church with Rev. Jim Wilson officiating.  Inurnment in the Marlow Cemetery will take place at a later date under the direction of Whitt Funeral Home/Oakcrest Cremation Center.

Ken grew up west of Marlow on land his grandfather homesteaded in 1902.  After completing the eighth grade at Oaklawn, Ken went to Marlow High School for two years before graduating from Central High School in 1955.  His three fondest high school memories were playing on a championship basketball team, winning high individual honors in swine judging at the International Livestock Exposition in Chicago, Illinois, and accepting Christ as his Lord and Savior at Central Baptist Church.

After one year at Cameron State Agricultural College, Ken enlisted in the U.S. Navy as a tower air controller on Ford Island in Hawaii and a radar approach controller on the U.S.S. Ticonderoga in the south Pacific.  While on leave, he met “the prettiest girl in Marlow” at Brown Record Shop, eventually marrying the love of his life Linda Kay Thompson on July 21, 1962.

Ken earned his Associate of Arts from Cameron in 1962 before transferring to Oklahoma State University where he earned his Bachelors of Science in Vocational Agriculture Education in 1963.  He then took the first of many positions in the Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension Service as a 4-H Youth Specialist in Jefferson County. Ken and Linda set up home in Waurika and became the proud and loving parents of their only son, Jason Kinchloe Apple, on June 4, 1965.  Ken moved his small family to Stillwater, where he earned his Masters of Science degree in Animal Science in 1968.  Immediately upon graduation, the small Apple family moved to Wilburton, Oklahoma, where he was the first Area Livestock Specialist in southeast Oklahoma.  In 1977, Ken was transferred to Duncan as the Livestock Extension Specialist for 17 counties in south-central and southwest Oklahoma.  He built his family house on the original homestead, which was honored with being one of seventy Centennial Farms of Oklahoma in 2002.

Ken thoroughly enjoyed helping others, especially livestock producers. When football began at Central High, Ken was the first public address announcer from 1978 to 1996, and he enjoyed raising Angus cattle.  His greatest love, however, was serving his church, whether as church treasurer or men’s Sunday School teacher at Central Baptist (where he was ordained as a deacon), Highland Park Baptist Church, or Western Heights Baptist Church.  

Today, he is reveling in God’s glory with his wife; parents; stepfather, Fred Loughridge; mother-in-law, Sarah Lucille Thompson; brothers-in-law: Robert Thompson, Ted Dirickson; close cousins: Robert Green, Marita Alford, Vance Apple, Phil Apple, Chris Forrester; and his loving aunts and uncles, including: Thelma and Ves Green, Edna and Pete Apple, Eula Forrester, and David Kinchloe White, II.

Those remaining to celebrate his life include his son Jason and wife Allison (Corpus Christi, TX); grandchildren: Hanna Miller and husband Jeremy (Augusta, GA), Hadley Apple (Albuquerque, NM), and Zane Apple (Stillwater, OK); great-grandsons: Luke Henry and Archie Miller; sister-in-law, Mura Elizabeth “Bette” Dirickson (Edmond, OK); nieces: Teddi Jean Cuccio, Ashley Hall, and Eloise Kay Miller (all of Edmond); nephew, Dirk Thompson (Salt Lake City, UT); loving extended families including the Buchannans, Greens, Rameys, Alfords, and Apples; and many grand and great-grand nieces, nephews, and cousins.

The family is forever grateful and indebted to Kristen Seltzer, Dennis Sweat, and Edia and Donde Killgore, who lovingly cared for Ken and Linda for many years.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Baptist Home for Girls at 13976 Anthony Lane, Madill, OK 73446.

Online condolences may be made at www.whittfh.com.