Alfred “Al” Amend, Sr.

Funeral services for Alfred “Al” Amend, Sr., of Soper, Okla., were held at 10 a.m. Aug. 20, 2021 at Miller & Miller Funeral Home of Hugo. Alfred passed away Aug. 16, 2021, at the age of 83.

Alfred “Al” Paul Amend, Sr. was born on May 31, 1938, in Bay City, Mich., to Paul and Pauline (Reil) Amend. He was preceded in death by his parents; wife, Mary D. (Smith) Amend; son, Alfred Paul Amend, Jr. and brother, Leo Amend.

Al was a proud veteran of the United States Marine Corps, and that is where he met the love of his life, Mary D. Smith. Al and Mary D. married in California while they both proudly served in the Marine Corps. Al was honorably discharged on Feb. 2, 1961. After leaving the military, he worked for Steering Gear, a division of General Motors in Saginaw, Mich. After moving to Southeastern Oklahoma, he served as a law enforcement officer for 24 years. Afterwards he had a career as a youth counselor with Choctaw/Pushmataha County Youth Services where he worked with troubled youth and retired after 23 years. Al was sometimes called “that damn Yankee” by many of the old school troopers and officers during his career in law enforcement. He was a brilliant mechanic, and his family will tell you there wasn’t anything he couldn’t fix and often came to their rescue when they were stuck on the side of the road. He built his own race cars for years and raced on dirt tracks in Michigan and in Oklahoma. Al loved NASCAR and anything to do with racing. He was very supportive of his family and friends; his family was the number one thing in his life. He will be greatly missed by everyone who knew and loved him.

Al is survived his son, Todd Amend and wife, Carla of Soper; daughter, Britt Adams of Soper; grandchildren: Sarah Stone, Elizabeth Merker and husband, D.J., Lucas Adams and wife, Katie and Payton Amend; great-grandchildren: Jacob, Karter, Karlee, Braelyn, Ryan, Remi and baby Merker on the way; also, Anthony “Man” Thompson and with numerous other family, friends and loved ones.

Interment followed the service at Soper Cemeter with the Rev. Kelly Clark officiating, under the direction of Miller & Miller Funeral Home.