Funeral service for Eldon Henry Adler, 89-year-old Weatherford resident and longtime businessman, are scheduled at 2 p.m. Monday, December 14, 2015, at Zion Church of Weatherford with Pastor Ron Thiessen officiating. Burial will follow in Greenwood Cemetery under direction of Lockstone Funeral Home of Weatherford.

Eldon was born June 20, 1926, in the family farm home 3 miles north of Corn, Oklahoma, the youngest of five children of Henry and Rena (Kissler) Adler. He died Wednesday, December 9, 2015, at the Clinton Veterans Administration Center in Clinton, Oklahoma, where he had lived since May 2014.

Eldon attended Enterprise rural school through the eighth grade, then Weatherford High School, graduating in 1944. He played third base on the Eagles baseball team, and his teammates his senior year included Doyle and Laverne Bergner, Leroy Adler, Calvin Kissler and Eddie Short.

After graduation from high school, Eldon helped his dad on the farm until 1945 when he was drafted into the U.S. Marine Corps. His train ride to basic training at Parris Island, South Carolina, was the first time hed ever been east of Oklahoma City. He served stateside from July 1945 until his honorable discharge in November 1946.

On Christmas Eve 1948, Eldon proposed marriage to Rosella Sauer. She happily accepted and the two were wed on May 15, 1949, at Zion Congregational Church, which was then located in the country only two miles from his childhood home. The couple raised wheat, cotton and cattle on the homeplace for six years before moving into Weatherford just before the birth of their only child, Larry Paul, in 1955.

Eldon worked for some time with A.J. Sawatzky in the construction business in the Weatherford-Clinton area. He then operated a Phillips 66 service station on Main Street in Weatherford. In 1961, he opened Adlers Conoco at 817 E. Main, a business he ran for more than a quarter-century until selling to Albert King and Jerry Ross. Eldon retired shortly thereafter.

During his business career, Eldon was a board member of the Weatherford Area Chamber of Commerce. He was also involved in the Kiwanis Club, serving as its president in 1965. Many of his years in the club were spent as chairman of the Summer Recreation Committee, which organized baseball, swimming and other youth activities for local kids. Under Eldons tutelage and directors under the committees hire such as Forrest McElroy, Dean Karns, Kenneth Johnson and Tom Gage, Weatherfords Little League became one of the model youth programs in the state. There was also the annual Kiwanis Easter Egg Hunt, which began in Ed Pages field southwest of town. Back then, the race was for real eggs, and while their fellow Kiwanians hid the eggs early on Sunday morning, several other members had to stand watch on crow patrol with shotguns at the ready. As far as anybody knows and by Gods grace, no one was ever injured.

Eldons hobbies included bowling, golf and watching TV sports, but most of all, looking after his grandchildren Justin, Derek and Taylor, often taking them to coffee at Jerrys Restaurant. He was a charter member of Weatherfords Monday night Commercial bowling league at Southwestern Lanes, and was a member of the Weatherford Mens Bowling Association Hall of Fame.

A committed Christian since 1952, Eldon was a lifelong member of Zion Church, serving as church treasurer for many years. He sang bass in the church choir for decades and in quartets. He loved quartet music and singing and listening to old-time gospel hymns. He also sang in a barbershop chorus, a group that included businessmen such as Jake Wright, Rex Gates and Drew Denney.

Survivors include his wife of 66 years, Rosella, of the home in Weatherford; one son and daughter-in-law, Larry and Terry Adler of Edmond; two grandsons, Justin Adler and his wife Brooke of Charlotte, N.C., and Derek Adler and fiance Brittney Taylor of Charlotte; one granddaughter, Taylor Adler of Weatherford; two great-grandsons, Hudson Brennan Adler and Merritt Henry Adler of Charlotte; one nephew, Arlen Kaiser and wife Cheryl of Jenks; four nieces, Sandra (Dalton) Splawn and husband Ken of Perryton, Texas; Gloria (Dalton) McCallister and husband Rudy of Gunter, Texas; Rosalie (Yost) Schroeder of Chandler, Ariz.; and Wanda (Dalton) St. Leger and husband Dan of Celina, Texas; and one special brother-in-law, Kyle Dalton of Bonham, Texas.

He was preceded in death by his parents; four sisters, Rachel Kaiser, Dorothy Genett, Ethel Dalton and Adelia Yost; an older brother in infancy; and three beloved brothers-in-law, Clarence Kaiser, Frank Genett and Woodrow Yost.

In his time at the Clinton V.A. Center, he became especially fond of the nursing staff, who treated him more like a father or grandfather than as a patient. They fondly recall cold-natured Eldon always wearing his red cardigan sweater, regardless of the temperature outside.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials be made to Zion Church or to the Clinton V.A. Center.