Funeral services for Leland James Unruh, 85 year-old Hydro, Oklahoma resident, will be held Monday, December 10, 2012 at 10:00 A.M. at the First Christian Church of Hydro with Rick Dyson officiating. Burial will follow in Hydro Masonic Cemetery under the direction of Lockstone Funeral Home.

Leland was born January 10, 1927 in Sickles, Oklahoma to Victor Jennings and Thelma Maurine (Hagerman) Unruh and passed away Thursday, December 6, 2012 at Weatherford Regional Hospital in Weatherford, Oklahoma. Leland attended Prarie Dale, a country school near Sickles, Oklahoma, through the 8th grade and graduated after four years of high school in 1944 from Sickles High School. Leland volunteered for the Army Air Corps in December 1945 and flew a desk at Andrews Air Force Base at Washington, D.C. during World War II. When on furlough to visit his parents in Sickles, he met Ella Marie Smith. A year later the couple was married at the Air Force Chapel at Andrews Air Force Base on June 1, 1948. After receiving an honorable discharge from the Air Force, Leland engaged in farming north of Hydro, Oklahoma. During his time, a son, Leland James Unruh, Jr. was born. A daughter, Linday May, followed to complete the happy family. Leland started his education by attending Southwestern University in Weatherford, Oklahoma where he received his Bachelors of Arts degree in 1966. After finishing this degree, the family moved to California where Leland started a teaching career at Malibu, teaching juvenile delinquents. While teaching there Leland attended San Fernando State College at Northridge and received a masters degree in education. Both children were married at this time and left the Uruhs with an empty nest. When Leland and Ella Marie retired from teaching, they moved back to their roots of Hydro, Oklahoma. They bought an R.V. and truly enjoyed their golden years seeing our beautiful country. During this time Leland was baptized and became a member of the First Christian Church in Hydro. In Lelands older years the couple bought a winter home in Yuma, Arizona and flew back and forth to Hydro. When residing in Yuma, Lelands continuing bad health sent him to Fargo, North Dakota, where he lived at Waterford, an assisted living community near his daughter, Linda.

Leland is survived by one son, Leland James Unruh, Jr. and wife, Martha; one daughter, Linda May Bennett and husband, Barry; brother, Nelson Seibert Unruh and wife, Betty; grandchildren, Owen James Bennett and wife, Roberta, Louis Leland Bennett, Maggie Marie Fleck and husband, Colin, Leland John-Hugh Bennett, Kailin May Bennett, Leland James Unruh, III, Matthew Anthony Unruh, and Ella Marie Unruh; great-grandchildren, C.J. Fleck, Cashlin Liberty Fleck, Marshal Gordon Fleck, Abigail Lynn Bennett, McKenna Ann Yarham, Samantha Marie Yarham, Ada May Eileen Bennett, and Maximus Bennett; and aunts, uncles, cousins, and a host of friends. He was preceded in death by his parents; wife; and sister, Margie (Unruh) Constien and husband, Marvin.