Graveside funeral service for Opal Shirley Stricklan will be 10:00 a.m. Saturday, May 29, 2021 in Sunset Memorial Gardens with Deacon Bob Quinnett officiating.

Arrangements are under direction of Becker-Rabon Funeral Home.

A Rosary will be held at 6:00 p.m. Friday in the Becker-Rabon Funeral Home Chapel.

Opal Shirley Stricklan died Monday, May 24, 2021 in Duncan, Oklahoma at the age of 71.  She was born June 27, 1949 in Walters, Oklahoma to Louie and Bertha Kahlden.  She grew up on a farm south of Chattanooga, Oklahoma and attended Ahpeatone School until it closed, transferring to Chattanooga High School.  The family moved to Lawton where she graduated from Eisenhower High School in 1967.  She then attended Cameron State Agricultural College as a music major.

She married Thomas H. Stricklan on August 24, 1968 in Lawton.  She became a cosmetologist, operating her own shop.  She joined the U.S. Air Force Reserves and was an administrative specialist to the commander of the 507 ^th Tactical Fighter Wing at Tinker Air Force Base.  She also became an ordained minister through the Jimmy Swaggart Ministries, drove a special needs school bus for Lawton Public Schools, worked for Civil Service at Fort Sill, and was a bookkeeper for ARA Equipment Rentals.  She was co-founder and past president of the Great Plains Republican Women, a member of the Oklahoma Federation of Republican Women, a member and Red Coat Ambassador for the Lawton-Fort Sill Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Comanche County Election Board, President of ACCW, a member of Eastern Star and participated in many other organizations.

She is survived by her husband, of the home; son and daughter-in-law, Eric and Tracy Stricklan; granddaughter, Rowan Morgan Stricklan; brothers, Gerald Kahlden and Marvin Kahlden; and several nieces, nephews and cousins.

Her parents, son, Thomas H. Stricklan, Jr., grandson, Kent Edward Stricklan, and her brother Louie Kahlden, Jr., preceded her in death.