Loyd “Keith” Rupe

Memorial service will be held for Loyd “Keith” Rupe on Friday, De cember 20, 2019 at 11 am at the Open Door Church of God in Walters, Oklahoma. Roger Noland will officiate and welcomes all family and friends.

Keith was born to Cecil Loyd and Pearl Ella (Pursley) Rupe on September 26, 1956 in Lawton, Oklahoma and departed this life in Copperas Cove, Texas on December 10, 2019, at the age of 63.

Growing up in the Walters, Oklahoma area, Keith was the youngest of three boys. In school he enjoyed sports and other outdoor activities, competing in football, basketball and baseball. He was a great fisherman and hunted game as often as he got the chance. At an early age, Keith and his brothers worked long hours during harvest season in wheat fields from Texas to Montana. He attended school in Montana and at Oklahoma University in Norman, where he was proud to be a Sooner athlete.  

He returned to the Cotton County, Oklahoma area where he met and married Kim MacDowell of Temple, Oklahoma and together they had two children. The couple divorced in the early 1980s.  

Working for Haliburton during the height of an oil boom, his job took him all over the country. He settled in Comanche County, Oklahoma where he met and married Debera Williams of Lawton, Oklahoma. The couple had one daughter.  They divorced in 1992. During this time he worked in property management and maintenance. In 1989 he went to work for a property management firm in the Los Angeles, California area, working in San Diego, Palm Springs, Cathedral City, and Long Beach.

In 1992, Keith returned to the Walters, Oklahoma area and managed a cattle operation in Cotton County. He married Jana Lynn Rupe of San Diego, California and the couple raised cattle, horses, a variety of exotic animals...and many of his children for a time.

In 2001, following the events of 9/11, the family moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado where Keith worked along the front range of the Rocky Mountains for the property management firm of Griffis-Blessing. He enjoyed the mountain climate and was inspired by the scenic beauty of that area. Much of his time was spent driving and hiking in the gold rush towns nearby, taking in the local scenery and festivities. In 2005, the family made their way to Jacksboro, Texas where Keith went to work for Jack County. Following an accident at the wheel of a tanker truck, he spent the next several years recovering from his injuries. He relocated to Wichita Falls, Texas where he sought treatment for health issues. He and Jana Lynn divorced in 2013.

In the fall of 2018 Keith was moved from a hospital in Wichita Falls to an assisted living facility near his daughter in Killeen, Texas. Keith suffered a stroke in November, 2019, from which he never fully recovered.

Keith was preceded in death by his parents and a son, Kristopher Shane Rupe of Wichita Falls, Texas.

He is survived by his brothers and their spouses: Cecil Mike and Carol Rupe of San Antonio, Texas; John and Sherry Rupe of Jacksboro, Texas; his sisters Pam Mealer and Darrell of Ninnekah, Oklahoma; and Scharla James of Chickasha, Oklahoma; his children Bridget (Rupe) and Jeff Legon, of Wichita Falls, Texas, Courtney (Rupe) and Ssgt. Louis DePan of Killeen, Texas; and son Trevor Keith Sherman and finance Angelica Pickens of Moore, Oklahoma; his grandchildren, Denny Blane Rupe, Austin Turner Rupe, Cassidee Suede Rupe and Civic Riley Rupe, all of Wichita Falls, Texas; Brecklyn Taylor DePan and Jaxon Louis DePan of Killeen, Texas; and six great-grandchildren.