Eddie “Beano” Dean Stark

Eddie “Beano” Dean Stark, 73, of Lehigh, Oklahoma passed away peacefully on February 26, 2022, in Durant, Oklahoma.

He was born to Otto William and Anna Edith (Cox) Stark on August 20, 1948, in Amarillo, Texas. Eddie was raised in Hobbs, New Mexico and moved to Midland, Texas, where he graduated from Robert E. Lee High School in 1966.

Eddie was a United States Navy Veteran serving during the Vietnam War Conflict, serving as a Master Mechanic AMS-3 ^rd Class Petty Officer aboard the USS John F. Kennedy CVA-67. After his military tours, he worked as a Master Mechanic for Northrop Aircraft (currently Northrop Grumman Corp.) in Hawthorne, California, from 1974 to his retirement in 1994. Even as an employee of Northrop, he was deployed to global assignments in South America and Saudi Arabia, domestic assignments at White Sands, New Mexico; Wright Patterson AFB in wind tunnel model support and Cruise Missile support in Troy, Alabama.

Eddie was as brilliant as he was adventurous. He loved flying a para-plane and was often seen in local parades highlighting his plane hobby.

Eddie leaves in God’s care his two dog companions, Peanut and Wally; his two nieces, Debbie K. Kinsey and her husband, John, of Lehigh, OK; Tammy Powell of Phillips, OK; his best co-worker and friend, Eddie Wells and his wife, Paula, of Nampa, Idaho as well as numerous nieces, nephews, and friends.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Vickie Newport, his parents, Otto Stark and Edith Stark, his brothers Donald Stark and Pat Stark, and his sister, Penny Powell. A Celebration of Life service will be held at 1:00 pm on Saturday, April 2, 2022, at the Coalgate Cemetery.