George Boyd Kernek was born January 12, 1940 to Boyd Kernek and Wilda Williams in Holdenville, Okla., and died August 14, 2022.
Memorial services will be held at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, August 20, 2022 at the First Baptist Church in Purcell.
George spent his childhood growing up in Holdenville, playing sports. His athletic ability became apparent very early on. During his sixth grade year in 1950, he jumped higher than his actual height, setting the high jump record for the Little Olympics. That record still holds to this day.
During his high school years, George lettered in three different sports; basketball, baseball, and track.
He was the first Wolverine basketball player to dunk a basketball during a game in 1958.
He was also an all-state basketball player that same year.
After high school, he attended The University of Oklahoma on a basketball scholarship where he was a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. During that time, he earned two letters in basketball and two in baseball.
At the end of his junior year at OU in 1961, he signed a contract with the Saint Louis Cardinals.
He went on to graduate from OU in 1965 and served his country as a member of the Army National Guard.
George retired from the Cardinals in 1971, and became a Farm Bureau insurance agent in Lindsay, Okla.
In 1979 he moved to Purcell, Okla., to work for National Insurance Agency, then went on to start The Kernek Insurance Agency, which he retired from in 2009.
George was a huge supporter of his community in all aspects.
He retired from the Rotary Club with 42 years of perfect attendance, even in his travels to Brazil with Joyce, he managed to find a Rotary to attend.
He served as president of both the Lindsay and Purcell Rotary Clubs, and was honored to be a Paul Harris Fellow.
He was President of the Purcell Chamber Of Commerce as well.
George was a faithful member of the First Baptist Church of Purcell for 30+ years. He (along with his wife Joyce,) taught a couples Sunday school class there, also serving on the finance committee and heading up the committee to build the new sanctuary. He went on to become a member of the First Baptist Church of Wayne.
George was a man gifted with extraordinary talents and abilities, yet there is one thing that took precedence over all of the accolades, trophies and honors he received throughout his lifetime, that was the never ending love he felt for his Lord Jesus Christ and his family. He loved with a consistent ferocity that is a rare treasure. He will be GREATLY missed.
George is survived by his wife, Joyce Kernek of the home; daughter, Julie Kernek Smith; daughter, Bobbie Jo Wells and husband, Coby Wells; grandchildren, Trey King and wife, Rebecca, Gatlin Wells and wife, Logan, Makenna King, Cobi Jo Stiles and husband, Shance, Kylah Hunter and Dalton Doshier; sister, Ann Kernek Kaiser and husband. James Kaiser; children, Tim, Wayne and Boyd Kaiser; brother, Keith Kernek and wife, Lee, and their children, James and Ross Kernek and Sara and John Collins and great-grandson, Treyson King.
In lieu of flowers, please donate to the George Kernek Purcell High School Memorial Scholarship Fund. Make checks payable to the Purcell Public School Foundation, in the memo line: George Kernek Memorial Sports Scholarship. Mail checks to the Purcell Public School Foundation, 919 1/2 North 9th Street, Purcell, OK 73080.
