He was born in Wilson, OK to Lemuel W. Sr and Ollie Bell Apala and was a member of Chickasaw Nation. His mom passed away in his early teens, so he moved to Wilson to live with his grandmother, which is where he attended Wilson schools and graduated from Wilson High School. In 1941 in Oklahoma City, he met his wife, Ruth Juanita Apala. They got married on September 26,1942 , had three kids and remained married for 74 years. On February 8th 2017, Juanita passed away. Lemuel enlisted in the Army in September 18, 1940 where he was a Command Sergeant Major in the Army serving in WWII and traveled to Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Sicily, Italy, Corsica, France, England, Scotland, Germany and Belgium. Lemuel got his Associate’s Degree from Murray State College, his Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Oklahoma and his Master’s Degree from Oklahoma State University. He was also working on his Ph.D through OSU. He was an industrial arts teacher and administer at Elgin. Lemuel retired from the Department of Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs where he held positions of teacher, counselor, financial aid officer, and acting superintendent while at Lawton, OK, Philadelphia, MS, Dallas, TX, Lawrence, KS, Horton, KS and finally Pawhuska, OK. While he was in Pawhuska, he and Juanita established a workshop for disabled people and acquired funding and helped with the building of group homes for the disabled. After his retirement, Lemuel went back to work teaching at Waurika and retired again. He spent 26 years with the BIA and 13 years as a teacher, counselor, etc.
He is preceded in death by his parents, Lemuel W. Sr. and Ollie Bell Apala; step-mother, Addie Apala, wife, Ruth Juanita McClenahan Apala; daughter, Kathryne Ruth Trammell; and sister-in-law, Patsy Carter.
He is survived by his sons, Robert Lemuel Apala, Sr. and wife Maneepun and Michael Lynn Apala; siblings, Mildred English, Kenneth Apala, Lawana Apala, and Gayle Benton, grandchildren, Robert Apala, Jr., Sharon Luttrel, Sherry Stinson, Aneliese Apala, Dustin Trammell, Ricky Grimm, 12 great-grandchildren, 5 great-great-grandchildren, and numerous other family and friends.
Visitation will be from 12p-4p, Sunday, December 16, 2018 at Memorial Park Funeral Home. Funeral Services will be 1pm, Monday, December 17, 2018 at Memorial Park Funeral Home.
