Submitted by

Karen Stewart

James B Trout

James B. "Jim" Trout, local retired funeral director, died Saturday at the age of 86. A native Ponca Citian, he had lived here his entire life.

The funeral has been scheduled for Wednesday morning at 10:30 a.m. in First Presbyterian Church with the Rev. Andy Gifford officiating. Burial will precede the memorial service at the Resthaven Memorial Park. Arrangements are made under the direction of Trout Funeral Home and Crematory.

Born to Earnest M. and Nelle Trout on Jan. 26, 1921, Jim attended the local schools and graduated in 1938. He then attended Northern Oklahoma College, later completing his education at the San Francisco (Calif.) College of Mortuary Science where he was co-valedictorian in 1954. While still in high school, Jim went to work as an ambulance driver at the age of 15 when his father and his brothers opened the E.M. Trout and Sons funeral home in 1936. He retired when the family sold the business in 1977 after 41 years. Jim and his twin brother Jack, when they were four years old, were chosen to unveil the Civic Center Fountain and World War I Memorial when they were originally constructed in 1925.

After retiring, Jim worked for a time as photographer for the Lee Drake Real Estate firm, and later as an emergency driver for the local Red Cross office, delivering blood over north central Oklahoma. He was always involved in or a member of civic organizations, serving on the board of directors to the Kiwanis Club, the Ponca City Humane Society, Salvation Army, and the Kay County Tuberculosis Assoc., and was a member of the Ponca City Chamber of Commerce, Boy Scout Council, Band Parents group, and other organizations. He was an active member of the Gideons. At the time of his death, Jim was the oldest member of the Kiwanis Club, having joined the club 58 years ago in 1949. He was nominated for Kiwanian of the Year in the Oklahoma-Texas district twice and was named to both the Kiwanis Legion of Honor and Kiwanian of the Year in 2000. He also served as a substitute driver for Meals-On-Wheels for 25 years, and tutored reading at E.M. Trout Elementary School.

He was one of two current members of the Presbyterian Church who had attended services in all three church buildings including the old frame church on North Fourth Street and was the first baby to be baptized in the brick church building on Fourth and Cleveland. Jim was a member of the youth choir as a child and later taught Sunday school for 23 years. He had served several terms on each of the church boards including elders, deacons and trustees. He was a member of the TNT Sunday school class, the men's bible study group, the former Mariner's organization, and many committees in the church.

His hobbies included photography, collecting cameras, solving crossword puzzles, fishing, and tennis in his younger years. He loved to travel and had toured all 50 states, most of them several times, and had made 17 trips to Europe, Asia Minor, and Africa in addition to vacations in Hawaii, nine Caribbean islands, and the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa.

Professionally he has belonged to the Kay County, Oklahoma State, and National Funeral Director's Associations.

Jim married the former Joel Fant on Sept. 24, 1949 and they celebrated their 58th wedding anniversary last fall. They have lived in their present home at 116 N. 11th Street for 53 years.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by a daughter, Elodie Reavis and husband Gary of Woodward, and his son, Bill Trout and wife Janet of Bartlesville, and five grandchildren, Dustin Reavis of Tulsa, Katie Reavis of Stillwater, Ryan Trout and wife Emily of Broken Arrow, and twin son and daughter Jonathan Trout and Jamie Trout of Bartlesville. Also surviving are two brothers, his twin Jack Trout and wife Louise, Ernest and wife Lou all of Ponca City, and his sister, Phyllis Baker-Gehrig and husband Bob of Carmichael, Calif.

Memorials may be given to the Presbyterian Goodland Boys Home in Hugo or to the Ponca City Humane Society.