William Wayne "Bill" Eakin

William Wayne Eakin died peacefully on Saturday, August 23, 2025, after a brief illness with his wife, Carole, and sister, Patricia, by his side. He was born to Wayne Anderson Eakin and Joan (Throckmorton) Eakin on May 2, 1949 in Cherokee, Oklahoma.
A memorial service to take place at Waurika Methodist Church is being planned for a later date. Cremation arrangements are being handled by Whitt Funeral Home/Oakcrest Cremation Center.
Bill graduated from Oklahoma East Central State on a debate scholarship in 1972 and the University of Oklahoma Law school in 1975. He went into practice in Waurika, Oklahoma with Richard Stone in 1975. He was elected District Judge of Jefferson County in November, 1986. He then went into private practice in 1992 in Waurika. Bill was a member of the Waurika Methodist Church where he occasionally taught Sunday School. He served his community as current and past President of the Waurika Lions Club where he was a member for over 45 years, on the board and current President of the Waurika Senior Citizens Center, on the Waurika Dept, Library and Historical Restoration board, and as Waurika City Judge from 2007 to 2017.
Bill wrote many historical newspaper articles in the Waurika newspaper, many about his own family. Bill's great-grandparents, W.A. Eakin and his wife Ittie, lived in Petersburg, Oklahoma, south of Ringling, since the 1890s, establishing Jefferson county's first dry goods store in that area and built a home on the family ranch in 1906. His grandfather, Buel Eakin, attended school in Spanish Fort, Texas in the early 1900s and rode his horse to attend, except when the Red River flooded and he got the day off.
Bill's parents, Wayne and Joan, predeceased him in 1991 and 2009 respectively as did his uncle Tommy Throckmorton and aunt JoAnn Eakin Throckmorton. He is survived by his wife, Carole, whom he married on November 5, 1987, at his parents' ranch in Petersburg, OK; his sister, Patricia Eakin, a teacher in Tahlequah, OK; and many cousins and friends. Other survivors include stepson, Anthony Zanetti of Reno, Nevada; granddaughter, Jessie Zanetti Burdett, her husband Myles and their daughter, Zoey of Carson City, Nevada; granddaughter Dani Zanetti and her children: Dakota, Morgan, and Kyle of Hawthorne, Nevada.
Bill was a kind and caring friend to many, never had a negative word to say about others, and always gave praise easily.
Online condolences can be made at www.whittfh.com.