Dr. Myers William "Bill" Lockard

Bill was born in Oklahoma City to Katharyn Eleanor Steele and Dr. Myers William Lockard, Sr., and lived with an older sister, Joice. As children during the Depression, Bill and Joice raised roosters "Conoco" and "Texaco" and a racing greyhound "Lucky Squeak." They disliked beets, so when "planting" the seeds in their father's garden, Bill and Joice pocketed them and baffled their green-thumbed father when he couldn't get them to grow. He attended Classen High School and played trumpet with the Sooners Dance Band. Upon expressing an interest pursuing a career in music, his instructor advised him to become a dentist. At the University of Oklahoma he was a member of Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity (FIJI).During his dentistry studies at Northwestern University Dental School in Chicago, he met the love of his life, Suzanne Elizabeth Wehrs. He saw Sue in a booth at Pizzeria UNO and asked if she was alone. She told him to "bug off." Two weeks later her roommate set them up on a blind date. When Bill came to the door, Sue said, "Oh, it's you!" He claimed he became a taxi driver and even donated blood so he could afford to take Sue out to eat. He once drove Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier to the wrong hotel on Michigan Avenue.Bill and Sue married on June 11, 1955 in Oak Park and shared the same birthday one year apart. They made their first home in Lake Charles, LA where Bill served in the Air Force. They moved to The Village in Oklahoma City in 1958 and enjoyed block parties with the neighbors as Bill went into dental practice with his father. Bill and Sue built a home with a paddle tennis court and swimming pool in Quail Creek in 1967, where they lived happily for 50 years and raised their three children. They hosted volleyball parties, Fourth of July celebrations and multi-family New Year's Eve parties.After his father's death in 1969, Bill built new offices in 1971 and practiced dentistry with 6 other doctors. He became a part of the cadre of founding members of the Pankey Institute in Florida where he later served as Associate Faculty, Advisory Faculty, and on the Board of Trustees. He developed the Institute's first course for dental assistants, and remained engaged at the Institute for almost 50 years. He lectured in Japan in 1984, many of those dentists continued to come to the Pankey Institute yearly for several years and then created their own learning foundation, "Exceptional Dental Practice of Japan". Although he retired from practice in 1991, he and Sue provided dental services to nursing homes for several years. In 2007, he authored The Exceptional Dental Practice: Why Good Enough is not Good Enough.Family life was important to this loving and dedicated husband, father, and grandfather (Grande). He enjoyed wine, grapes, pears, and cheese before dinner, dancing in the kitchen with Sue, and teaching his daughters and granddaughters to dance by standing on his feet. He was involved with his kids' many activities—volunteering as starter at swim meets, Scoutmaster for Boy Scout Troop 168, instructing children to safely handle firearms and to hunt, backpacking, canoeing and camping trips, and family beach (Hawaii, Michigan, and Mexico), and Colorado snow-skiing vacations. When his grandchildren were about ten years old, Bill and Sue planned memorable cousin trips such as rafting, horseback riding, fishing, or train rides. They also madegreat efforts to be present at grandchildren's events and holiday gatherings. He especially enjoyed seeing little ones open stockings and presents at Christmas and competing with them to find the biggest blueberry.Bill was a legendary hunter and adventurous explorer. He put his son, Mike in afternoon kindergarten so they could duck hunt in the mornings. Bill took his son, in-laws, and grandsons pheasant hunting in Kansas at the Flying W. He also hunted with Mike in the U.S., Canada, Alaska and the Yukon Territory. His combined hunting and pleasure trips with Sue encompassed 62 countries on six continents where he collected 163 animals and 142 species including 71 listed in record books. He rode on a dog sled and slept in an igloo above the Arctic Circle, sailed the Nile, narrowly escaped the charge of an enraged rhinoceros, fled the USSR on the last plane out of the country after a Cold War incident, and nearly shipwrecked off the northern coast of Australia. He founded the OKC Station for Safari Club International, and received the 2012 Safari Club International Crowning Achievement Award.During college, Bill rode motorcycles with friends across post-war Europe. Bill and Sue also liked to travel with other couples. They took Rolls Royce road trips across the southern U.S. with the Sessions of Atlanta, enjoyed travels to Germany, Austria, Italy, and France's Midi canal with the Pearces of Colorado, and sailed the Virgin Islands with the Kembels and Fretwells of OKC. Bill regaled friends and family with travel stories but liked to remind his loved ones that "Success and happiness are not destinations. They are never-ending journeys; they are the entire trip."Bill is preceded in death by his parents, sister Joice Percival, and his wife of 65 years, Sue (March 2020). He is survived by his children and their spouses Mike (Beth) Lockard, Betsy (Donnie) Lennox, Amy (James) Craddock; grandchildren Todd, Austin (fiancee Christine) and Elizabeth Lockard, Amy von Gillern, Sarah Moreland (Ted), Josh (Caroline), Weston (Catey), Melissa, Moriah, and Archer Craddock; and great-grandchildren Winston, Ella, June, Asher, Mari, and baby (due June 11, 2021) Craddock.In accordance with Bill's wishes that others not contract Covid-19 by gathering in his memory, the funeral service and burial will be limited to family only. The funeral service, however, will be live-streamed via Smith and Kernke website.In memory of Bill's dedication to dental care, donations may be made to the William Lockard Development Fund at the Pankey Institute to further promote excellence in Dental faculty. The Pankey Institute, 1 Crandon Blvd., Key Biscayne, FL 33149 or www.online.pankey.org or phone (305) 428-5500.