By Cara Cowan Watts | Cherokee 411
Apr 15, 1932 – Oct 4, 2026
Kermit, TX
Cherokee Nation Citizen
Elwood Wadsworth King Jr. was born April 15, 1932, in Checotah, Oklahoma, to Elwood Wadsworth King Sr. and Bertha (Coker) King. He was affectionately known as “Dub” to just about everyone. Dub married Glenna Faye Boling in Claremore, Oklahoma, on December 24, 1950. He was a longtime resident of Kermit, Texas, where he made his home with his wife of nearly 76 years and where they raised their four sons.
To put his lifetime in perspective, there were sixteen U.S. presidents over his ninety-five years. He was born during the Great Depression, lived through World War 2, the atomic age, the moon landing, the start and end of the Cold War, and the advent of the digital revolution. With all that he witnessed, He left this broken world to meet his Savior, Jesus, on October 4, 2026, in Midland, Texas.
While Dub grew up and attended schools in Tiawah and Inola, Oklahoma. He eventually moved to Kermit in 1955 to continue working in the oil field. For more than 40 years, he showed an uncommon work ethic that is rarely found today. He was always willing to do whatever needed to be done to love and support his family. It was common for him to have two or even three jobs during those family-raising years, including delivering milk and working as a mechanic at local filling stations. He retired from Bass Enterprises in 1995 with more than four decades of service. His family is all but certain the local Bass field office had to hire three men to replace him.
While hard work was synonymous with Dub, it was his deep, abiding faith in God and his service in local Baptist churches that truly defined his life. He served as a faithful deacon many decades in three Baptist churches in Kermit, most recently at Kermit’s First Baptist Church. He lived out this calling not as a church decision-maker, but through a life of service to the Lord. It was often said of him, well into his 80s, that he would go around Kermit “taking care of the old people,” especially widows.
Though his size 11.5 triple-E shoes where physically large, they pale in comparison to his heart for genuine service to others in the name of Jesus. Those are truly impossible shoes to fill.
The most important pillar of Dub’s long life was his family. He was born into a large family with six sisters and one brother. It is impossible to capture in a paragraph the impact he had on them, including his wife, sons, daughters-in-law, grandchildren, and generations beyond. He and Glenna built a home and a legacy that will remain a foundation for generations of the King family who follow them. They built the kind of home and life that is all too uncommon today. Dub was always faithful to his wife and family until his last breath.
