Bill R. Tenopir

Funeral service for Bill R. Tenopir, 86, of Geronimo will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, April 5, 2024 at First Baptist East with Pastors Trey Smart and Doug Passmore officiating. 

Burial will follow at Highland Cemetery. 

Arrangements are under the direction of Lawton Ritter Gray Funeral Home. 

Visitation will be held at the funeral home on Thursday, April 4, 2024, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. with a special viewing and visitation for family and friends from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. 

Mr. Tenopir passed away on March 31, 2024. 

Bill was born on March 20, 1938 in Lawton, OK to Will and Opal Tenopir. He was raised by his loving uncle and aunt, Frank and Agnes (Tenopir) Havlik beginning at the age of eight. Mr. Tenopir attended school at Flower Mound Elementary, Central Junior High and Lawton High School. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Cameron College and earned a Bachelor of Arts and Social Studies and a master's degree in Guidance from Southwestern State. He taught at Englewood, Kansas for one year before returning to teach business education in Lawton at Eisenhower Senior High School from 1964-1967, becoming the media director where he served until retirement in 1993. Bill married Maxie Ruth Besherse in Loco, OK on December 29, 1965 and to their union one daughter was added. Mr. Tenopir loved riding horses and was a charter member of Grand National Horsemen Association serving as vice president, president and numerous other offices. He was awarded a lifetime membership in 2005. Bill also served as the president of the Lawton Saddle Club for one year in 1972 as well as many other officer positions. He was a life time member of the Oklahoma Education Association, the Lawton Education Association, the Oklahoma Association for Media and Technology, the Association for Education Communication and Technology, and the National Education Association. 

He is survived by his wife, Maxie, of the home; daughter, Julie Ann Tenopir, Blanchard, OK; brother and sister in law, Floyd and Donna Tenopir, St. David, Arizona. 

Mr. Tenopir is preceded in death by his parents; uncle and aunt Frank and Agnes Havlik; and sister, Helen Doughty.