Richard Gale La Mascus, age 86, passed from this life June 25, 2024, one-hundred- sixty-one days after his diagnosis with ALS, commonly known as Lou Gerhig’s Disease. His major symptoms began to emerge two years prior to his death. He was a man of God and has gone to live eternally in the sunshine of God’s face through his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Visitors will be welcomed by the family from 6 to 8 p.m. on Friday, June 28 at the Palmer-Marler Funeral Home in Cushing. On Saturday, June 29, at 10 a.m., a memorial service will be conducted at the 9th & Linwood Church of Christ in Cushing, with his son, R. Scott LaMascus, Ph.D., MFA, presiding. Internment will follow at the Oak Hill cemetery in Drumright.
Richard was born to William Haskell LaMascus and Craig (Jenkins) LaMascus on December 19, 1937 on a farm near Wallville, Oklahoma. He grew up there as the middle child and in Elmore City, where he and his four siblings enjoyed farm life. Later, as a teen, he worked in the family’s businesses – a Dairy Teen, gasoline station, and full-service grocery store across from the high school. He graduated from Elmore City High School (1956), Oklahoma Christian University (1958), and Abilene Christian University (1960). On June 15, 1958, he married another Oklahoma Christian student, Martha Madge Lowe of Drumright, Oklahoma. He worked as bookkeeper, accountant, and site manager for Kirkpatrick Supply Company in Ratliff City and in Hennessey. He was a small-business owner and landlord in Hennessey, where the family operated Martha’s Minute Mart and other businesses. He and son-in-law Rory Faulkner operated American Flamecutting, an optically-guided steel fabrication concern filling orders for firms from Houston to Chicago. He retired to Creek County to help operate LO Farm and drove trucks many years for Hausner’s Precast Concrete in Drumright. Along the way, he constructed three homes for his family using his skills as a draftsman and carpenter. He enjoyed bird hunting and fishing with his grandfathers and family.
Though he worked hard and was successful in work, the center of his life were family and a deep, spiritual life of daily Bible reading, church building, fellowship, and service in Christian community. Richard was active as a leader of the Hennessey Church of Christ; the 9th & Linwood Church of Christ in Cushing, and the Broadway Church of Christ in Drumright. He served as first President of the Board for a new Christian youth camp outside Geary, Okla., today known as Lariat Creek Christian Camp. He chose the slogan, “Happiness is….LCCC”, worked with land donors in the Rhinehart family, and oversaw construction of the first structures on the site. Richard was a long-term volunteer in correctional institutions in Creek County. The family was active as a short and long-term foster family for at-risk youth.
Richard Gale LaMascus is preceded in death by his parents; brother, Royce Dale LaMascus; and two children, Alan Haskell LaMascus and Lori LaMascus. He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Martha Lowe LaMascus; one daughter, Ronda Gale Faulkner, and her husband, Rory; and one son, Richard Scott LaMascus, and his wife, Alice Mankin LaMascus. Additional survivors include grandchildren Clark Faulkner and his wife Karen; Ellen Faulkner Carroll and her husband, Jason; Rett Faulkner and his wife, Olya; Parker LaMascus and his wife Kennedy McAlister; and Hadley LaMascus and his fiance Lauren Lee. He also is survived by great-grandchildren Lincoln, Logan, Harrison, and Emily Carroll; Ty Faulkner; Lauralie Werner; and Max and Viktor Faulkner. Three of his beloved siblings survive him: sisters Lynette LaMascus Hanun, Teletha LaMascus Minor, and Detra LaMascus Stephens. Four beloved sisters-in-law survive him: Janie Lowe Brooks, Joan Ashley Lowe, Dolores LaMascus, and Susie LaMascus.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations be directed to In Search of the Lord’s Way, Lariat Creek Christian Camp, or the LaMascus Scholarship endowment at Oklahoma Christian University.
