John Earl Batey

In the early morning hours of Tuesday, September 23, 2025, John Earl Batey passed away peacefully at the age of 88 after suffering from dementia for at least two years.
John was born on February 7, 1937 to Arthur and Anna Ruth Batey, the youngest of their ten children. The family grew up in pretty challenging circumstances on farm property along the North Canadian River on the eastside of Oklahoma City. He later became a wrestling standout for Midwest City High School, from which he graduated in 1954.
John did some traveling after high school (more about that later), but was back in Oklahoma City by 1958, when his niece, Eileen, introduced him to a nursing school classmate, Lou Ann Kippenberger. John and Lou Ann were married in November 1958 and remained married for over 40 years. They had four children – Lisa, Kevin, Cathi and Erin. John spent the bulk of his career with Western Electric, a part of AT&T, and he eventually completed an engineering degree. John also served in the National Guard and later the Army Reserves for 42 years, starting in 1954. He retired as a Colonel from the Army Reserves in 1997. Despite working full time and serving in the Reserves, John always found time for his kids, serving as a Boy Scout leader and occasional assistant coach, attending ball games, dance recitals, school plays, and any other activities in which his kids participated.
Although he was an Oklahoma boy through-and-through who declined several offers from Western Electric to transfer elsewhere in the county, John was a "road warrior" who loved to travel by car all around the United States and also took a few foreign trips. In the period between 1954 and 1958 he left Oklahoma to go exploring, living and working in various places. We, his children, wish we had asked more questions about this period, but recall that he worked for a time in a coal mine in Colorado and spent some time in Florida. There is a story about him considering going to Havana, Cuba to work in a casino – but those plans were thwarted by the Cuban revolution.
John also liked taking on temporary work reassignments, both for Western Electric and for the Reserves, serving a stint at the Pentagon and working in the suburbs of New York City during a 1970s telephone strike, and other assignments in Virginia, Wisconsin, Princeton and elsewhere.
In his late 40s, John took up windsurfing, and traveled to the Columbia Gorge most every summer to windsurf. That may explain why two of his daughters have lived in Oregon. He wasn't big on urban areas (although he did take the family to New York City for Christmas one year), but he loved visiting national parks and all the scenic parts of our country – one summer he and Cathi even drove to Alaska. He liked escaping from the Oklahoma heat by going to the mountains in summertime, and escaping from the harshest part of winter by spending a lot of time in the Corpus Christi and Padre Island areas of Texas. Although he traveled often, his thrifty ways meant he liked to cover a lot of miles in a day and the trips were often shorter than his travel companions might have liked. He didn't leave North America much, but in the 1990s he did join windsurfing pals on a trip to Costa Rica and later participated in a military exercise in Europe.
John retired young, at 51, having worked for Western Electric for 30 years. He went on to do a variety of other part-time jobs that would still give him plenty of time to travel, from driving a school bus for kids with disabilities, to a helping maintain exhibits at the Omniplex (now the Science Museum Oklahoma), to a short stint as a long-haul truck driver.
Several years after his divorce from Lou Ann, John married Joyce Yeager. In this period, after many years of rejecting the idea of having a dog, he took in a disabled poodle, Missy, who loved him unconditionally and was as obnoxious as could be to everyone else.
Joyce passed away in 2020 following a vehicle accident. Lou Ann passed away in late 2022.
All of his siblings predeceased John except his brother Wilbur, who lives – and still plays golf! – in Midwest City.
John is survived by his children and grandsons: Lisa Batey of Milwaukie, Oregon; Kevin Batey, wife Caren, and grandsons Matthew, Craig and A.J., of Richardson, Texas; Cathi Batey of Oklahoma City; Erin Batey and husband Mark Hackler of Edmond.
We are planning an interment of ashes with military honors at Arlington Memorial Gardens on Saturday, October 25th at 1pm. We would love for those who knew our dad to come share memories and stories of his life. If you are interested in joining us, please email your contact information to farewell.jeb@gmail.com and we will keep you informed as plans are finalized.