William L."Bill" Reichardt beloved husband of Sandra Ewing passed away after a September 6, 2016 diagnosis of brain cancer Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016 in his home with Sandra by his side.

A celebration of Bill's life will be 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 13, 2016 at Becker-Rabon Funeral Home Chapel, Lawton, OK. A private internment will follow on Monday.

Bill was born May 25, 1937 in Cook County, Illinois to Beryl Houser Reichardt and William C. Reichardt. When he was 12, his family moved to the Morning Sun Ranch at Evening Shade, Arkansas, where he first learned to work with cattle. He graduated from Evening Shade High School and attended the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. He came to Lawton, OK in the late 1950's to work for the Arkansas Louisiana Gas Co. He moved to Apache, OK during his 13 years with Arkla. He worked for the APCO Refinery in Cyril, OK until its close in 1985. During his time in Apache he was President of the Apache Free Fair and was a 20-year volunteer fireman for the Apache Volunteer Fire Department. Bill moved back to Lawton after the refinery closed and began working in the trucking industry, first for Miller Transportation for 6 years and then for Ryder Dedicated Logistics until retirement in 2002.

Bill was an Extra Class Amateur Radio Operator serving as an Authorized Examiner for those testing for licenses. He was a past member of the Lawton-Ft Sill Amateur Radio Club and a charter member and treasurer of the Lawton Independent Repeater Alliance.

In the last 11 years Bill has enjoyed serving on the board of the Southwestern Oklahoma Historical Society first as treasurer and then as membership chairman. Lately he headed the editorial staff of the Prairie Lore, the Society's publication. Being a history buff already, he had a passion for finding interesting stories and articles for publishing.

Bill enjoyed horses and working with cattle. He "Day Worked" for the Elling and Hearn Family Ranch, Cache, the Mattoon Farm, Apache and the Early Farms, Amber, OK. Although Bill and Sandy travelled extensively, his favorite trips were to Idaho, making his last trip this summer to one more time work on the Bar H Bar Cattle Ranch, Soda Springs.

Bill was an avid reader of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, preferring history. He has an extensive collection of Western American history, fiction and poetry. He and Sandy traveled to Cowboy Poetry Gatherings in Lubbock, Alpine and Ruidoso for many years, making good friends everywhere.

He loved working outside with his hands and would often set up his workbench under a tree where he made lamps, shadow boxes, picture frames and did all kinds of repair work.

Bill chose to handle his Sept. 6, 2016 brain cancer diagnosis with his characteristic great sense of humor. He joked with and teased his Visiting Angels and everyone else who came to visit. He was kind and patient with us all through these difficult times.

Bill was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Alan.

He is survived by his soul mate, his wife of 27 years, Sandra J. Ewing; 2 sons, Randy and his wife Michelle and their daughter Bailey and Leslie and his wife Darlene and their son Justin, all of Arkansas.; a sister Dana Reichardt Salguero, her husband Carlo and their son Alonso of Costa Rica; a sister-in-law Judith Reichardt, San Antonio, niece Vicki Kennedy and her family of San Antonio; nephew Brett and his family of Kansas; his aunt Emma Lou Carlson of Tucson; two special cousins and their families Ron Carlson, Victor, Idaho and Jan Skibbe of Tucson and last but not least Sandra's loving family.

Sandra wishes to thank the many friends and family who celebrated Bill's life by the care and concern shown over the past 2 months.

Thanks also to Comanche County Memorial Hospital Hospice and Dr. Brent Smith and staff and a big special thank you to our Visiting Angels; Karen, Tenisha, Tunya, Ernika, Diamond, Shawna, Jaden, Kemishia and of course Jenna.

In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to Bill's 2 favorite charities, Salvation Army of Lawton, PO Box 3075, Lawton, OK 73502 and Cal Farley's Boys Ranch, P.O. Box 1890, Amarillo, TX.