Okey Lester King Jr.
Loving father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, Okey Lester King Jr., passed away on the morning of March 30th, 2023. Okey was 82, when he was welcomed home to the Lord.
Okey was born on Tuesday, September 30, 1940, at home on the hill above Roxalana at 7 a.m. He was the third child, and the first son, of Okey L. King Sr. and Edna Stone King.
Okey was a member of the Roxalana EUB Church and attended Roxalana grade school. He then attended Dunbar Junior High School and Dunbar High School in 1959.
In July 1959, Okey moved to Camp Ann Bailey in Caldwell, WV. In December of the same year, he joined the Army, where he served from May 1960 to December 1962. Okey spent his years in the Army stationed in Germany, during the rebuilding of the Berlin Wall and the Cuban Missile Crisis. When he returned home, he attended West Virginia State University.
In 1964, Okey became engaged to his now wife of 58 years, Carolyn Grimes. The two were married on November 15, 1964. Later in the same year, Okey was a charter member of the Charleston IPHC. He worked 11 years at the Dunbar Post Office.
Okey returned to Caldwell, WV, in 1975. Okey received a Bachelor of Science in Ministries from Maranatha College. In 1977, he was licensed as a minister in the Virginia Conference. He was ordained in 1979. Okey served as a pastor at Second Creek from 1979 to 1981. He served 41 years as pastor of Peniel IPHC. In 1992, Okey received a Bachelors of Arts in English and History from Bluefield State College, where he graduated with his daughter, Joy King Price.
Okey was an amateur genealogist and amateur gardener. Okey was a storyteller, known to those who listened to his stories as ‘Old Roxalana Boy’ and ‘Old West Virginia Man’. He loved sharing history and sharing God’s word.
Okey is preceded in death by his father, Okey L. King Sr.; and his mother, Edna Stone King; along with his older sisters, Imelda King Wolf and Betty King Spurlock.
Okey is survived by his wife, Carolyn Grimes King; his children, Okey L. King III (Stephanie Porterfield) and Joy King Price (husband, David Price); his grandchildren, Jonathon King (fiancée Skylar Ballenger) and Maria Price; his great-grandchildren, Nevaeh, Aiden, Bentley, Grayson, and Emersyn; his best friends, Woody Cox and Darrell Alexander; and his best furry friends, Leckie and Bella.
“Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
Matthew 11: 28-30
Funeral service will be 12 noon, Wednesday, April 5, 2023, at the Morgan Funeral Home Chapel, Lewisburg, WV. Visitation will be 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Tuesday, April 4, 2023, at the funeral home. Burial will follow the service in the Lewisburg Pentecostal Holiness Church Cemetery.
Online guestbook can be signed at www.morganfh.net.
Arrangements by Morgan Funeral Home, Lewisburg, WV.
