Obituary of John Charles Collums Sr

John Collums, 88, of Wilburton passed away peacefully on Sunday October 22, 2023.

The funeral service will be held at 11a.m Thursday, October 26, 2023, at First United Methodist Church in Wilburton, Oklahoma with Rev. Dana Hugle officiating. Burial will follow at the Masonic Cemetery in Wilburton under the direction of Waldrop Funeral Home.

John was born on July 8, 1935, in Jonestown, Mississippi to Velma and John Collums. He began working for the railroad at 15 years of age in Northern California. John continued his lifelong love of working and learning as a long-haul truck driver, diesel mechanic, dozer operator, entrepreneur, and small business owner. John was a Freemason earning the 32nd degree and a member of the Scottish Rite Akdar Shrine.

He met Sunny Knight in 1977 in Wilburton, where they married on the first day it rained as John promised Sunny when he proposed. They were married on September 22, 1978.

John loved to play in the dirt and build his rental properties. He was a loving and devoted husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, great-great-grandfather and friend.

He is survived by his wife, Sunny (Knight) Collums; children: Cindee Collums Blankenship, John Charles Collums, Jr and wife Kelly, Valerie Grosskurth and husband Paul, and Janina Fox; grandchildren: Jennifer Parks and husband Joshua, Jenny Collom and husband Brad, Rachel Conley, Benton Conley and wife Karen, Shelby Mayo and husband Dale, Jordan Carr Peterson, Sarah Blackwell, Michelle Collums, Maggie Weimer, Brady Fox, and Macie Grosskurth; 13 great-grandchildren and 1 great-great grandchild; brother, Billy (Bo) Collum; and a host of extended family and friends.

John was preceded in death by his parents, Velma and John Collums; his sisters: Francis Logan and Jo Wallace; his daughters: Beverly Cichon and Sandy Collums.