Harold Mumford

Harold F. Mumford, 78, of Mountain Home, passed away on Oct. 19, 2009, at a local care center.

Cremation was under the direction of Rost Funeral Home, McMurtrey Chapel.

What Uncle Harold meant to me! He was always my favorite because I spent so much time with him as a small child. I remember way back when he lived here in Ponca City and he worked for the Sanitation Department. He was always bringing me something! It might be a bike or a watch or whatever else of a treasure he found.

I remember when he lived on South Ninth Street. He had a German shepherd dog named Spyder. Spyder disappeared and we drove around for hours looking for him. He showed up the next day! Uncle Harold loved to fish and we spent many hours hanging out at a fishing hole, didnšt matter if they were biting or not! We were fishing.

When I was ten years old he moved to Tulsa, this was in the late '60s and was manager of a full-service gas station. In those days someone actually pumped your gas and washed your windows. He was very good at his job and loved socializing with his customers.

I donšt know if Joe remembers him and I going to Tulsa to stay and help out at the gas station, but we did. We had found one box turtle and there were two of us so that meant uncle Harold had to drive around until he found another turtle! We named them Speedy and Slow Poke and painted their names on their backs and we would have turtle races at the station in between helping wash windows and pump gas.

McDonalds had moved in a couple doors down and Joe and I thought we were in heaven. We got a rubber one dollar bill and we were trying to see how far we could stretch it and Uncle Harold kept says its going to break. Guess we didnšt believe him, it did and it slung Joe one way and me another. Uncle Harold laughed so hard, thought it was the funniest thing he had ever seen. On the way home from that visit the car overheated and Uncle Harold, the mechanic, walked down to a pond and fetched some water and we were back on the road! Handyman he was. If he fixed one flat tire for me he fixed a dozen. After he moved to Idaho to be with his beloved brother, Bailey King, we didn't get to see much of him after that. I missed him always and wrote letters back and forth with him for years. He always wrote back and by the way I think I owe him a letter so let this be the final one!

I am saddened he has left us but he is at peace and with his family again, so I can only believe he is in a better place!

Rest peacefully Uncle Harold.

All my love, always.

Deb Lynn

P.S. We will all miss you "Uncle". Your family in Oklahoma and in Mountain Home.