Howard Baggs

Howard Allen Baggs, age 79, passed away March 20th, 2023. His family will receive friends for Visitation at Hart Wyatt Funeral Home in Walters, OK, from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm on Thursday Evening, March 23, 2023.

Howard was born in Walters, OK on December 15th, 1943. His parents were Cecil and Maurine (Martin) Baggs. He grew up on the family farm in the Cookietown community where he learned many useful skills. He drove his first tractor at age 5. Some of his jobs included plowing, working cattle, planting and combining wheat, and hauling hay. For fun, his buddies and him would sometimes run the banks of Deep Red and Cache Creek all night trying to tree a raccoon. He often made pets of young animals including a crow named Bob and baby raccoons that would carry his dad’s tools away to their pen.

Howard attended grade school at Union Valley and graduated from Big Pasture High School. He married his high school sweetheart, Bonnie Williams, and they enjoyed 60 years together. The family circle was completed with the arrival of twins, Stephen and Shayla, in 1976. In 1971, they bought a farm near Cookietown which became home for the next 52 years. He graduated from Southeastern State College with degrees in history and physical education. He received his masters in administration from TWU at Denton, TX. Howard was a passionate educator for 46 years. He was an avid supporter of students, teachers, and parents. His career began with a three-year stint as a high school teacher and coach in Wilson, OK. For the next 30 years, he worked as a teacher and administrator in the Burkburnett ISD. He was a mentor principal in Burkburnett for several years, traveling and presenting successful classroom practices to teachers and principals.

After retiring from Texas, the last 13 years of his career he was employed as an elementary principal in Walters, OK. As a farmer and rancher, Howard savored country living. He took pleasure in a nice rain, freshly plowed fields, golden wheat waving in the wind, watching newborn calves with their mothers, and observing vivid Oklahoma sunrises and sunsets. He often observed all kinds of birds and wildlife in their natural habitat. Howard was a devout Christian who accepted Jesus as his personal savior at a very young age and was baptized at the Union Valley Baptist Church. He was a blessing to many teachers, parents, and children throughout his career. He liked to tell others that the gates of heaven opened right above the Cookietown area.

Howard liked helping other people any way he could. He was known as a great story teller, and loved telling his stories to family and friends. He enjoyed fishing, sightseeing, listening to country and old-time gospel music, watching sports, and old westerns on tv, and looking at classic cars and antique farm equipment. Bologna sandwiches and rib eye steaks were his favorite foods.

He was preceded in death by his parents and sister, Kay Davis. Survivors include his wife, Bonnie of the home; a daughter, Shayla Chaplin of Lawton, OK; a son, Stephen Baggs, Randlett, OK, and a granddaughter, Alexis Chaplin of OKC, OK, his sister, Billie Ann Downs of Mount Pleasant, TX; and his brother Don Baggs of Randlett, OK, other relatives and many friends.
He will be missed by his family; to his wife, he was the best husband; to his children, a great dad; to his granddaughter, a loving Papaw.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in his honor to the Union Valley Baptist Church in Cookietown, OK.