Wilbur Glen King

Wilbur, otherwise known as Glen, Dad, Granddad, and Grumpy, was the most interesting man on earth. He was born a middle child to Sylvester and Lou Vera King with four older siblings and four younger siblings. This allowed him to be too young for certain responsibilities and too old for others. When he joined the Army as an infantryman, he was forced to toe the line which he managed to do for two years. He served honorably and became a member of the Army’s boxing team. Unfortunately, he could not win them all and after suffering a broken jaw in his last fight he and the Army decided to part ways. He was staying in Delaware with his older brother while trying to decide what to do with the rest of his life and along came Linda… He almost had to box her father to get him to agree that Glen and Linda could marry, but true love prevailed, and so the young couple said their vows in 1963 then moved to Crestview. Apparently, Glen was so happy to be back home that he hugged his mother hard enough to break three of her ribs. She hugged him right back and kept that a secret for many years.

Glen, again, had to decide what to do with the rest of his life. Five young’uns later… Sylvester (Syl) Katherine (Kathy) David (David) John (John) Pamela (Pam - who predeceased Glen and has by now greeted him in Heaven)

During the child-raising portion of Glen’s life he, true to a middle-child mentality, occasionally passed off his responsibilities. On one occasion he put the young-uns in charge of painting a canoe with marine-grade red paint. What actually got painted was the chestnut tree, the grass, the sand, the cat and all the kids. What didn’t get painted was the canoe and to this day Linda still does not like the color red. Stories like that are numerous but all Glen’s kids eventually became proficient in painting, using tools, problem solving and “getting it done”.

Other than Linda his greatest love became all the grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and the first great-great grandchild which were all lumped into one category called “grand-young’uns”. There was nothing that he loved more than to have a new baby placed in his arms. Glen never tried to keep their names straight but he assigned each child a nickname and those he never forgot.

Glen was an outdoorsman. He loved to watch Red Holland every morning and he didn’t care who he had to wake up when he turned the TV on. At every opportunity he took Linda, and as many young’uns, as would fit, on a boat out to the river where he was frequently known to stash other people’s kids in the middle of his own. This was either with the attitude that “one more won’t matter” or “I’m not exactly sure which kid is mine so I’ll take them all”.

He was a carpenter, millwright, sheet metal worker, county construction crewmember, oil rigger, shrimper, and overall jack-of-all- trades. There wasn’t much he couldn’t do if he set his mind to it. Although he enjoyed getting a paycheck, he most enjoyed on-the-job jokes. He was known to tell young carpentry apprentices to “go get the board stretcher”. While in charge of workplace safety he put a sign on a water cooler that said “DANGER: H2O” just to see what the responses would be. On one job he took in an aquarium filled with leaves, rocks, and sticks which he labeled “Invisible

Snake”. This was removed from the job site because more time was spent looking for the snake than actually working. Truly, Glen did it all and he loved to pass his skills along to everyone he could. Glen became a Christian and gave up as many bad habits as humanly possible. While never a perfect man he was always a loved man. At the end of the day, Glen never met a person he wouldn’t help, a fish he wouldn’t catch, nor a baby he wouldn’t hold. He will be missed.

Arrangements are entrusted to Whitehurst Powell Funeral Home in Crestview. Guest book and condolences are available online at www.whitehurstpowellfuneralhome.com

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Wilbur Glen King, please visit our floral store.