Obituary

Darrel Wayne Hightower was born in Tulsa, OK on Jan 11, 1948. He moved on from this world to his Heavenly home on November 14, 2023, at the age of 75. He is survived by his wife Suzette Hightower, his children, Brian (Shauna) Hightower, Amy (Dave) Comerford, Dustin (Grace) Hightower, and Sean Hightower. His siblings Beverly Hudson, Barbara Hudson, Roy Hightower, Bill Campbell, and numerous nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Roy and Dorthy (Dean) Hightower, his brothers Robert Hightower and John Hightower, his sister Linda Bland, brother-in-law Larry Hudson, a nephew Jerry Dale, and a niece Lori Gail.

He leaves behind 8 grandchildren listed in birth order, Malik McCullough, Veronica Comerford, MaKayla McCullough, Victorya Comerford, David Marshall Comerford, Darrel Mychael Comerford, Sophia Hightower, and Penelope Hightower.

Darrel graduated from McLain High School in1967 and was drafted into the US Army that same year. During his time in Vietnam, he was a member of the 1st Battalion 7th Cavalry. He received numerous awards and medals including the Bronze Star. After returning home he was a member of the Army Reserves and was a recruiter for the Army.

He had a career of 20-plus years with Graebel Van Lines. During his time with Graebel, he was both a short and long-haul driver and worked in dispatch for offices in Miami, Houston, and Oklahoma.

Darrel loved the outdoors; he enjoyed hunting and fishing. If you have ever been fishing with him, you know that “one more bite before we go” could mean several more hours of fishing. While living in FL he loved to go deep sea fishing. He became friends with the captain of the boat who would often hold the boat at the dock until he could get there. It was on one of those trips that he caught a kingfish that landed his picture in the paper.

There was never a time that he minded looking silly to make you laugh. At Thanksgiving, he would do a silly dance to turkey in the straw, or you might catch him with shaving cream on his face telling you he was the abominable snowman. Then there were the classics, “What’s that on your shirt” and the buzzer handshake. He always had a joke to tell and sometimes they were knee slappers. As his audience turned younger, he would tell knock-knock jokes and in a pinch, he could always fall back on the silly snoring.

He loved to watch the Sooners play football and if we were not together for the games you could count on a phone call when they scored. OU vs Nebraska was always one of his favorites and he loved having friends and family over to watch it with him.