Billy Don Imboden

This is the life of BILLY DON IMBODEN as written by me.

I was born in Enid, Oklahoma on March 24, 1932. My father was Donald Ray Imboden. My mother was Edna Mary Faye. I lived in Enid until 1942 when our family moved to New Orleans, Louisiana. My father worked in the shipyards during this period of World War II.

I had one sister, Betty Ruth, who was 2 years older than me. My mother got pneumonia in March of 1944 and died a few days later on April 1. She was 33 years old. Both of my parents were hard-core Baptists and took me to church about four times a week. I was 12 when she died and always blamed part of her death on me because I wasn’t saved at the time. I was later saved at the age of 14. Her death influenced my future life more than anything else.

After she died, we moved back to Enid where I lived with my grandmother and aunts, and sometimes with my father and his new wife. I worked at a garage as a mechanic while in high school. I graduated in 1950. I met my wife, Betty Jane Voegele, in July and married her on August 12, 1950. She was 16 and I was 18. I was making $35 a week when we got married.

We had a son, Billy Wayne, in January 1952 and a daughter, Patricia Ann, in January 1954. I joined the Oklahoma National Guard in April 1951 as a recruit. After 23 years of service in the Guard and Army Reserve, I retired as a Major. I made every rank from private to Major and am very proud of this achievement.

We moved around several times to enhance my position in the Army—three times to Fort Benning, Georgia; to Mineral Wells, Texas for helicopter flight school; to Texas again for flight school; and once to Fort Rucker, Alabama. I also spent time in Iran with Bell Helicopter around the time of the Ayatollah takeover.

I flew for the military as a pilot and instructor for 31 years. I was grounded due to medical reasons in 1989. After this, we sold our home and moved to Texas to be closer to the kids. I had a taxidermy business for over 13 years in Mineral Wells.

I always had a love for fishing and hunting and did as much of it as I could fit into family life.

I was quite active in church in my younger years, but not as much as I should have been as I got older. My wonderful wife and I have been married 75 years. My wife and both my children and grandchildren are born-again Christians, as well as my two half-brothers, Mike and Mark Imboden.

As this is read, I will be in Heaven rejoicing with all who have already gone there. If you want to visit with me in eternity, just make sure you are a born-again Christian.

The only thing that was as good to me in life as Jesus was my wife. She did her best to keep me straight.

Thank you.

Love,

BILL

Graveside services will be 2 p.m., Friday, April 17, 2026 at New Hope Cemetery in Lone Camp.