David Michael Kretchmar was born on June 18, 1946 to Edward Marion Kretchmar and Alice Ada Hoskins Kretchmar.

He returned home to meet the Lord on February 18, 2022.

Dave grew up west of Kingfisher and attended Sts. Peter & Paul Catholic School and Kingfisher Public Schools.

While Dave was in high school, he played football, ran the track, and spent a lot of time in speech therapy class being Roy Moore’s “gofer.”

As a young man, Dave learned to play the drums and was in several bands.

In recent years Dave was in the James Ave Band and played with several other men in the Kingfisher community.

Dave was always a talkative guy and made a lot of friends in those early years and those people have remained friends for life. Dave graduated from Kingfisher High School in 1965.

He worked for Pioneer Telephone for a short time. From 1967 to 1968 Dave was drafted into the United States Navy where he was stationed in Da Nang Vietnam and worked in a warehouse.

While he was there, several young men from Kingfisher passed by and Dave tried to make them feel comfortable by providing them with clean, dry clothes and sending them to the mess for a nice hot meal.

After his release, Dave enrolled in Oklahoma State University’s Institute of Technology in Okmulgee and earned an associate’s degree in refrigeration and appliance repair. He then went to work for a Whirlpool appliance dealership in Chickasha.

On October 28, 1972, Dave married Mary Loretta Reherman. He liked to call her “Retta” and he teased and pushed her from their first date until the end of his life.

Dave and Loretta made their first home west of Norge and he continued to work at the appliance dealership in Chickasha.

Their son, Brian was born during their stay in Chickasha. In 1978, the family

In 1978 the family moved back to Kingfisher. Dave went to work for Pioneer Telephone and Kevin was born a year later.

After Loretta’s mother died, the family moved to the farm and Dave took over the farming operation.

He didn’t have very good equipment to start with. Art Annuschat once told him that he cultivated like Fred Flintstone.

But later, Art told him, “Dave, I didn’t know if you were going to make it, but you kept working hard and you made it. I’m proud of you.”

It meant so much to Dave.

During Dave’s years with Pioneer, he burned the candle at both ends, working for Pioneer by day and cultivating by night.

He also did community service.

He was a member of the local American Legion post and served as a commander for a few years. Dave also served on the board of the Kingfisher County Wheat Growers Association.

He enjoyed helping out at the annual meeting and at the meal. He would entertain the other members of the council while they prepared the meal.

After retiring in 2012, Dave was able to spend more time with family and friends and farm full time, which he loved. He enjoyed visiting other farmers in cafes, giving advice to children and grandchildren, and teaching grandchildren how to do things around the farm.

Dave and Loretta loved doing things with their friends. They especially enjoyed Sunday breakfasts and trips to Branson with Gary and Gerry Mueggenborg.

They also enjoyed eating chicken with Wendal and Diane Brodrick.

When Dave really wanted to learn something, he would head to the “Halls of Knowledge”, aka the Annuschat Dairy.

These Annuschat brothers loved to talk and pass on knowledge almost as much as Dave. He really liked these guys.

He also loved going to the feedlot and shooting the breeze with Scott Winters. Loretta had to find Dave several times. Scott thought it was really nice that Loretta cared about Dave’s well-being.

Dave loved God, his family and friends and his Church of Christ family. He also had a great love for his country.

He has never met a stranger. He always had a smile on his face and a cheerful demeanor and a great sense of humor.

He treated everyone with respect and had a great work ethic. He strove to instill these qualities in his children and grandchildren.

In 2015, Dave’s health began to deteriorate and he had to undergo kidney dialysis for nearly five years until he received a kidney transplant in July 2020.

He was a strong man. He was on dialysis three days a week and he didn’t feel very well, but he rarely complained. The dialysis nurses adored him and he brightened their day with all his stories.

During his last three or four weeks on earth, Dave spent time entertaining nurses with his stories and calling friends and family on the phone.

The nurses had to run to his room several times to scold him for consuming too much oxygen while talking.

Dave always hoped there would be dogs in heaven and absolutely no Mondays. We hope he gets his wish.

He will be truly missed.

In his wife’s opinion, the world would be a much better place if there were more men like Dave and fewer politicians.

Dave is survived by his wife, Loretta; son Brian and wife Sharine of Mustang and their sons Tristen and Jaxon; son Kevin and wife Ashley of Kingfisher and their children Kolton, Kaleb and Kurtis Kretchmar and Taylor and Skyler Peterson; his sister Carole Rayburn and her husband Dean; former sister-in-law Joan Schoelen and large extended family.

He was predeceased by his parents, Ed and Alice Kretchmar; brother, Ed Kretchmar, Jr., and in-laws, Henry and Lucille Reherman.

Services for Dave were held on Friday, February 25 at Kingfisher Church of Christ presided over by the Reverend Daniel Mayfield under the direction of the Sanders Funeral Service.