William Oakes

William R. Oakes (AKA Bill), age 71, born on March 12, 1948 in Morgantown, West Virginia, passed away Thursday, November 14, 2019 at 8:30am at the Ohio State University Hospital.

Bill was raised on a farm and went to West Virginia University for agriculture. It was here in Biology class where he met his wife, Joanne. After marrying his sweetheart, they moved to Virginia where he became a truck driver and had two children; both girls whom he treasured and loved. With a job transfer, he moved his family to Columbus, Ohio in 1981. In 1988, he began driving for Yellow Freight Company where he retired in 2009.

Bill and his wife, Joanne, retired on 52 acres of land in West Virginia near the farm he grew up on. It was here he tended to his deer and fed them during their daily visits (along with turkey and the occasional bear). Bill loved deer hunting and enjoyed viewing the other wildlife on his property. After experiencing some health issues, Bill and Joanne decided to move back to Ohio to be closer to their daughters. With every free moment he worked hard to upgrade their new home with little help (thank you to those that did).

Bill was a loving father! He would be there for Ginny and Robin at the drop of a hat- no matter what.

Bill was a loving husband! I wish everyone was able to grow up with this example of unconditional love.

Bill was a man of God! He last attended DRB Church in Zanesville, Ohio where he met great people.

Bill was outgoing and didn’t know a stranger. His word and his handshake were bond; our loyalty and hard work ethic were learned from him. A great storyteller he was not…. we dreaded his long pauses and irrelevant details in his stories, but loved laughing with him about it. He was witty and always had a crazy comeback. And his fudge... undeniably the best! There is no such thing as a perfect person, but it would take a while to come up with any major flaw of this man. This man was our “SUPERman”.

Bill’s passing was unexpected.  We were not ready to say goodbye…