Funeral service for Dr. Jack D. Tyler will be 11:00 a.m. Friday, December 20, 2024 in Cameron Baptist Church with Rev. Mike Teel and Bro. Jay Driskill  officiating.

Burial will follow in Sunset Memorial Gardens under direction of Becker-Rabon Funeral Home.

The family will greet friends from 5-7 pm Thursday at the funeral home.

The service may be viewed by following the livestream link at Cameron Baptist Church.

Dr. Jack D. Tyler passed away on December 16, 2024 in Lawton, Oklahoma. He was born on July 18, 1940 in Snyder, Oklahoma, to Elmer W. and Naomi N. Tyler. Jack was active in scholastic endeavors and graduated as high school salutatorian in the class of 1958.  He spent several memorable years in the Boy Scouts, eventually attaining the rank of Eagle Scout.  His dad taught him to hunt and fish during his formative years, and he enjoyed these activities his entire life.  Jack and his wife Irene married on November 17, 2003 in Lawton.

He attended Cameron State Agricultural College, Southwestern State College (BS), Oklahoma State University (MS) and University of Oklahoma where he earned a PhD in Zoology in 1968.  Dr. Tyler taught in the Biologist Science Department at Cameron University from 1967-2003.  His upper-level courses always emphasized field trips as he and his students studied animals throughout the state.  Among those courses were:  Natural History of Vertebrates, Ornithology, Mammalogy and Ichthyology.

During his teaching career, Dr. Tyler and students published numerous papers pertaining to vertebrate ecology, the majority dealing with birds.  He felt that these were among his finest accomplishments.  Tyler also studied tropical ecosystems in Mexico, Costa Rica and Panama.

Dr. Tyler was a member of numerous scientific organizations, including The Oklahoma Ornithological Society, Oklahoma Academy of Science, Southwestern Association of Naturalists, Wilson Society, and the American Society of Mammalogists.  He wrote Birds of Southwestern Oklahoma and North Central Texas (1978, 2005) and co-authored Mammals of Oklahoma (1989).  For 19 years (1978-1997), he and colleague, John S. Shackford co-edited the Bulletin of the Oklahoma Ornithological Society.

Some of Dr. Tyler's favorite pastimes were hunting and fishing, bird study, reading, travel, knife collecting, flea markets, watching OU football, and playing the guitar.  But teaching was his passion.

Jack became a Christian at an early age.  For many years he was an active member of Cameron Baptist Church where he served as a teacher and director of his Sunday School class.

He is survived by his wife, Irene, of the home; a son, Jeff D. Tyler, Lawton; step-daughters, Regina Logan and husband Mark, Peoria, Arizona and Tina Sorrells, Lawton; step-son, Wesley Griffee and wife Shannon, Lawton; brother and sister-in-law, David C. and Glynda Tyler, Snyder, Oklahoma; sister and brother-in-law, Patricia and Don Davis, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma; nephew, Theron Tyler; nieces, Renae Mayfield and Neawana Garrett; numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren; and special friends, John Shackford and Warren Harden, devoted colleagues who were closely bound by shared interests.

He was preceded in death by his parents and a stepson, Kevin L. Griffee.