Bennie "Pastor" Wesley Waller of Checotah, Oklahoma, was born July 26, 1925, in Stroud. He died Monday, February 10, 2014, at the age of 88 years.

Waller, the son of Earl Otis Waller and Rose Lee Key Waller, married Jacquelin Faye Wilson on May 4, 1961, in Clinton, Oklahoma.

He attended Chandler Public Schools and served in the United States Navy.

He and his wife owned and operated Checotah Insurance Agency and Jackie's Jewelry Store before he went into the ministry. He was pastor of several Methodist churches with the last one being Bokoshe United Methodist Church in Bokoshe, Oklahoma.

Preceding him in death were his parents, his brother, J. C. Waller and sister, Lois Mitchell.

Survivors include his wife Jackie; his children and their spouses, Brenda and Gary Pounches of Kearney, Nebraska; Michael and Carla Jo Grace of Oktaha, Oklahoma; Ronnie and Paula Ann Grace of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; his sister, Lorene Summers of Seal Beach, California; five grandchildren; eleven great grandchildren; and other family and friends.

Funeral services were held Thursday, February 13, 2014, at First United Methodist Church in Checotah.

Burial followed at Oktaha Cemetery under the direction of Shaw Funeral Home, Vici Oklahoma.

Published February 20, 2014, Page 4.