Jimmy Dale Wallis

Funeral services for Jimmy Dale Wallis, an Atoka resident, were held Friday, January 3, 2025 at Brown’s Funeral Chapel in Atoka with Bro. Jerry Williams and Bro. Ryan Meadows officiating. Burial was in Green Meadows Cemetery in Atoka with Brown’s Funeral Service of Atoka in charge of arrangements. Casketbearers were Lynn Wallis, Brody Wallis, Reese Wallis, Cory Raper, Rowan Raper, Greg Staggs, Trevor Foran, Stefan Brown, and Don Deaton. Honorary bearers were the Atoka Truck Stop Coffee Drinkers.

Jimmy Dale Wallis, 85, passed away in his home in Atoka, Oklahoma, on Sunday, December 29, 2024. Born on September 27, 1939, in Olney, Oklahoma, Jim was the son of JT and Audrey Wallis. In 1959, he married Evelyn Fern Reese in Bromide, OK. Together, they were pillars of the Atoka community until her death in 1995.

Before moving to Atoka, Jim and Fern had stops in Phillips, OK, Coalgate, OK, Wichita Falls, TX, and Bromide, OK. In 1966, they moved to Atoka. Around 1972, they became one of the first to call Chicken Fight Road home.

Jim managed Sheffield Farm and Ranch for many years. Prior to that, he was the manager of T&T Milling, an office manager for Dolese, and a rancher, among other things. He also attended bookkeeping and real estate school.

Jim and his wife enjoyed and excelled in making arts and crafts items, and if you needed childcare, they were the ones you wanted.

He was a board member of the Atoka Trail Riders and the Atoka Little League and President of the Quarterback Club.

Friendsofhissonwillremember him as a favorite Little League coach and a staunch supporter of Atoka athletics. Friends of his daughter will remember him as the ultimate holiday homeroom dad and someone who never missed a school function or event. Friends of him and his wife will remember him as creative, sociable, and always willing to lend a hand.

A man of many talents, Jim could make anything out of wood or metal. He loved team penning with his brothers. He was an absolute shark at Dominoes, and his son-in-law vowed never to play with him again after only one game. He loved to prank people (as his daughter-inlaw can attest). He was the proudest of grandpas to his three grandsons. He never met a stranger. He pretty much drank the Truck Stop out of coffee. He was stronger than most anyone knew. He will be missed.

Jim is survived by his children, son Lynn Wallis and wife Cindy of Atoka, OK; and daughter Sheila Raper and husband Cory of Fort Worth, TX; three grandsons, Brody Wallis and wife Cami of Bartlesville, OK; Reese Wallis and wife Kayle of Caney, OK; and Rowan Raper of Fort Worth, TX; four brothers, Sam Wallis of Muskogee, OK; Jerry Wallis and wife Kelli of Ft. Cobb Lake, OK; Charles Wallis and wife Belinda of Warner, OK; and Wade Wallis of Missouri; and two sisters, Zelda Boyer of Warner, OK; and Delphia Hinton and husband Kurt of Elk River, MN; along with many nieces, nephews, other family members, and a lifetime of friends, including special friends Sherri and Joe Courson and Ashley Nelson.

Jim is preceded in death by his wife, Fern Wallis, and parents, JT and Audrey Wallis.

A life is lived in stages. Jim had three distinct ones in his 85 years: one as the hard-working eldest of seven siblings, one he shared with the love of his life for 35 years, and one for 29, where he was lost without her. They are now reunited, and he is free of pain and happy. We can all rejoice.

Condolences may be sent to the family by email to: browns@ atoka .net. Please reference the name of the deceased in your correspondence.