Gale Keyt O’Hair

At the age of 93, Gale Keyt O’Hair went to be with the Lord in his heavenly home on July 25, 2019.

Gale O’Hair was born in Clinton Township, Putnam County, on Aug. 4, 1925, to Marion and Mae (Keyt) O’Hair. He was blessed with a large, God-centered and loving family.

Raised on a small farm south of Morton, Gale enjoyed boyhood activities like baseball, basketball and hunting with his father, siblings, cousins and friends.

After moving to Indianapolis to find employment, he met and married Dorothy Jane Tonchoff on Sept. 26, 1943.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Marion and Mae (Keyt) O’Hair; wives Dorothy O’Hair and Mary O’Hair; son Douglas O’Hair; brothers Andrew, Dwight, Max and Robert O’Hair; sisters Mary Lou (O’Hair) Jarrett and Elva (O’Hair) Porter; granddaughter Jessika O’Hair; grandson, Justin O’Hair; great-granddaughter Jaded O’Hair; step-great-granddaughter Emmaleee Gilbert; and step-great-grandson Kevin Morin.

He is survived by three sons, Michael (Sharon) O’Hair of Kokomo, Dennis (Janet) O’Hair of Morton and Brian O’Hair (Tami Johnson) of Indianapolis; one daughter, Marilyn (Steve) Winters of Greencastle; nine grandchildren, Jeffrey Winters, Michelle (Adam) Wahl, Scott (Amy) O’Hair, Tiffany (Sam) Parr, Neil (Melissa) O’Hair, Joni (Rusty) Burch, Benjaman O’Hair and Andrew O’Hair; 12 great-grandchildren; four great-great-grandchildren; three stepdaughters, Paula (Mike) Wilson, Cheryl Morin, and Kathy Skidmore; seven stepgrandchildren, Scott (Erica) Morin, Tiffany (Craig) Bennett, Terri (Jed) Gilbert, Karen Grissom (Dave Black, Michael (Josh) Wilson, Sheila Wilson Spurling, and Gregory Harris; 18 step-great-grandchildren; and 12 step-great-great-grandchildren.

On Oct. 23, 1943, Gale entered into active duty in the United States Army. In January 1945, after completing stateside training, Gale headed overseas, leaving his wife and infant son to face combat in the European Theater (Rhineland and Central Europe) of World War II as a foot soldier for General George Patton’s 3rd Army, rising to the rank of seargent. Multiple times, he was in the presence of the rough-talking General Patton, who would say, “How are you doing son?”

Gale was referred to by army buddies as “the kid with a kid.” As a very young man, Gale experienced the horrors of war, including the death of army buddies and seeing the inhumanity of mankind in the prisoner of war and concentration camps. Gale O’Hair was a member of what Tom Brokaw defined in his book as the “Greatest Generation.”

Serving until the war ended, Gale promised the Lord that if he survived the war, he would never complain again. Keeping that promise, he served the Lord in many capacities in the church, as well as being a member of the Gideons, distributing countless Bibles, including to jail inmates.

Gale was honorably discharged as technician fourth grade from Battery B 869th Field Artillery Battalion on March 15, 1946.

Gale and Dorothy raised five children near Morton in a loving Christian home, and he was an active member of the Union Chapel UMC. Like many county churches, it served as the religious and social center for the O’Hair family. Over the years, the Gale O’Hair family has gathered for holidays and special occasions to celebrate the value and importance of family.

After 32 years with IBM, Gale retired in 1987, and continued to work at his true passion, farming. After the untimely death of his first wife, Dorothy, on Nov. 18, 1988, Gale met and married Mary Skidmore on Aug. 3, 1989. He moved to Greencastle and became an active member of the First Baptist Church.

Gale would often comment that some men have difficulty finding one good wife, but he had been blessed with two wonderful marriages. He continued to farm and package and sell squirrel corn until his health dictated that he finally retire. He also enjoyed hunting ginseng with his brother Max and others.

After Mary’s death on June 7, 2014, Gale moved to assisted living at Mill Pond in Greencastle. As of July 19, 2019, Gale had been at Mill Pond for five years. He has told the family many times that the staff “treat him like a king”

Gale led by example of what Christianity should look like and was constantly directing his family toward Jesus as their Lord and Savior. He was known by the family and friends as a “Prayer Warrior.”

In place of flowers, contributions can be made to the First Baptist Church, 404 Judson Dr., Greencastle, IN, 46135 and the Gideons at The Gideons International Processing Center, P.O. Box 97251, Washington, DC 20090-7251.

Funeral services will be held at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 28, 2019 at the Hopkins-Rector Funeral Home. Interment with military honors will follow at the Union Chapel Cemetery in Morton.

The family will receive friends from 4-8 p.m. on Saturday, July 27 at the funeral home and one hour prior to services on Sunday.

Condolences and memories may be shared with the family c/o www.Hopkins-Rector.com.