Robert Boone
September 25, 1931 - December 16, 2025
Robert Carrol Boone passed away Tuesday, December 16, 2025, at Stillwater Medical Center. A funeral service celebrating his richly lived life is scheduled for 2:00pm on Saturday, December 20th at First United Methodist Church, 200 S. 6th St., Ponca City, Oklahoma. A graveside service will be held immediately thereafter at the Newkirk Cemetery. Arrangements are under the direction of Trout Funeral Home & Crematory, 505 W Grand Ave, Ponca City, OK 74601.
Robert was born on September 25, 1931, to Temple and Ethel Boone on the family ranch in Hardy, Oklahoma. He attended local rural schools before attending Newkirk High School, where he met and became fascinated with Marijane Rupe. The two were married April 1, 1951, and subsequently moved to the jungles of Panama as part of his deployment with the United States Army during the Korean War. Living both on and off the base near Colón, Robert and Marijane had many exciting experiences, providing a glimpse of their adventurous spirit and love for one another that would be the cornerstone for their life together.
Following his service obligations, the couple returned to Newkirk, where they built the house they would make a home and share for 60 years. The couple gave birth to daughter Sally on July 25, 1957, and welcomed son Steve into the world April 11, 1963. His family, community and faith were especially important to him. He was immensely proud and quite content to call Newkirk, Oklahoma home and it was there that he created a well-lived life.
After working several years in the family’s abstract business, in 1968 Robert decided to blaze his own trail and began a degree program in horticulture at Oklahoma State University. Following graduation in 1972, he built and opened Greenfield Nursery a block South of the family residence in Newkirk. And so began 25+ years of landscaping design and installation, sod farming, and floral shop operation. He insisted Greenfield’s success be a “family affair,” oftentimes relying upon Marijane, Sally and Steve to get orders fulfilled, plants watered, weeds pulled and projects completed. He was meticulous about his work projects and maintained high quality standards for his customers. If you worked for Robert, you quickly learned how to work hard. He was very fond of and thankful for the many employees who worked for him, especially the dozens of local young men that worked on the landscaping and sod farm crews over the years. Robert returned to the abstract business full-time in 1989 and opened a real estate closing office in Ponca City later that year. He ran the business with Marijane, many longtime employees and later son Steve, until his retirement in 2005.
Robert always felt a calling for service to his church and community. He was a lifelong member of First Presbyterian Church of Newkirk and spent countless hours serving on boards and committees at church and with various local agencies and civic organizations over his lifetime. Upon the closure of his Newkirk church, Robert enjoyed worshipping and the friendships made at both First Presbyterian Church and First United Methodist Church in Ponca City.
He especially loved the great outdoors and the bounty that Mother Nature provided. He had a great appreciation for God’s creatures, large and small, and loved teaching his kids, nieces, nephews, and grandkids what things were and how the various plants, insects and animals “fit” together in God’s perfect design. He was our family’s very own St. Francis. In the summer of 1965, the family took their first camping trip to Cuchara, Colorado, which began an annual migration to the mountains that lasted for over 50 years. Built in 1977, “The Cabin” hosted family, friends, in-laws, and out-laws, serving as a jumping off point for the endless beauty of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range and Cuchara Valley. Robert was quite at home in the mountains, and he especially enjoyed sharing Cuchara’s beauty and vibe with others, oftentimes dragging winded guests all over area mountain trails.
He was especially fond of his grandchildren Jordan and Gavin. He always made himself available for them, loved imparting his “Papa Robert” wisdom upon them and cherished watching them grow up. Later, as adults, he welcomed their spouses Rob and Brittany into the fold and loved them like his own. Most recently, he was especially smitten with his new great-granddaughter Kit, who always put a twinkle in his eye.
Robert was preceded in death by his parents, Temple and Ethel Boone, daughter Sally, mother-in-law and father-in-law Mary and Gordon Rupe, sister Virginia Admire, and his faithful and loving pug, Chip (Chipper Dog uno). He is survived by son Steve Boone and his wife Kellie Boone of Ponca City, granddaughter Jordan Clapp and her husband Rob Jones of Tulsa, grandson Gavin Boone and his wife Brittany, together with their daughter Kit, of Tulsa, brothers Keith Boone of Winfield, KS, Richard Boone of Tyler, TX and David Boone of Manzanita, OR, several nieces and nephews, amazing late life friend and true companion Bayard Casey of Ponca City, and his faithful and loving pug, Chip (Chipper Dog dos).
Pallbearers will be nephews Jeff Parker, Jay Engelking, Brian Engelking and David Engelking. In lieu of flowers and in keeping with Roberts spirit, please consider making a contribution payable to the OSU Foundation, Memo: Sally Boone Spore Memorial Endowed Scholarship Fund, and mail to: The Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Attn: Finance Office, 320G Ag Hall, Stillwater, OK 74078-6027.
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