Cecil P. Newkirk, Jr.

Harmon County Funeral Home

Submitted by: Jo Aguirre

Cecil P. Newkirk, Jr.

Harmon County Funeral Home

Cecil P. Newkirk, age 79, of Scurry, Texas, formerly of Altus and Hollis, passed away Monday, March 14, 2011, at Texas Health Presbyterian of Kaufman, Texas.

Mr. Newkirk was born on August 3, 1931, to Nellie Mae (Cooley) Newkirk and Cecil Newkirk, Sr., in Oklahoma City, where he grew up and attended school. From January 1948 until January 1952, he proudly served his country in the United Sates Navy, being stationed in Yokosuka, Japan and Key West, Florida. In 1952, Cecil went to work for Dolecam Corporation & American Machine and Foundry Company as an electrical Inspector and Precision Mechanical Inspector in Boston, Massachusetts. From 1957 until 1962, Cecil worked for General Dynamics Astronautics as a Quality Control Supervisor at Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma, Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane, Washington and in San Diego, California. He moved to Hollis in 1961, where he was employed by the missile defense base East of town. On June 20, 1962, he married Wanda Beth Horton of Hollis, Oklahoma and began working for Doc Horton, farming and ranching and later served as a foreman with Melpar, Inc., in Oklahoma City. In 1964, he opened The Coin Emporium, in Altus, first as a part-time business and later full-time, and sold and traded coins for the next twenty-five years. During the time from 1967 until 1974, Cecil worked for North American Rockwell, Space Division at Downey, California as a Senior Mechanical Inspector on the Apollo Space Program, later advancing to an Engineering Change Coordinator and Lead Engineer in the same program for flight testing. He also worked for a time at Bell Helicopter in Amarillo, Texas as a Quality Control Supervisor. A hard worker all of his life, Cecil loved dealing with coins and guns.

Preceded in death by his parents; his wife; two sisters, Evea Blanch Newkirk and Margaret Elizabeth Newkirk and one brother, Benjamin Newkirk, he is survived by two sons, Shane Newkirk and wife Trixie of Scurry, Texas and Gregg Brown of Hollis; two grandchildren, Breana Newkirk and Willie Brown.

Funeral services for Cecil Newkirk will be at 2 p.m., Saturday, March 19, 2011, at Grace New Life Fellowship Church, in Altus, with Pastor Mark Olson officiating.

Interment will follow at the Altus City Cemetery under the direction of Harmon County Funeral Home of Hollis.

Online tributes may be made to the family at www.HarmonCountyFuneral.com