DENNIS WAYNE LAUBACH

Obituary

Dennis Wayne Laubach

March 28, 1947 – August 12, 2026

Dennis Wayne Laubach, 79, passed away on August 12, 2026 in Oklahoma City surrounded by his wife and three children after a sudden battle with lymphoma cancer.

Dennis was born on March 28, 1947 in Okeene, Oklahoma to Carl Phillip Laubach and Dorothy Marie (Osmus) Laubach. He was raised on his family’s farm southwest of Okeene.  He graduated from Okeene High School in 1965 and earned a bachelor’s degree in Agriculture Education from Oklahoma State University in 1969.

While attending Oklahoma State University, Dennis met Paula Jean Craig and they married on June 7, 1969 at the First Baptist Church at Leedey, Oklahoma.

Dennis developed a passion for farming and ranching at an early age and was especially attached to the cattle that he raised. He was particularly fond of Hereford cattle.

Dennis began his vocational agriculture teaching career at Adair-Casey, Iowa. Dennis and Paula moved back to Oklahoma after one year and he then taught vocational agriculture in Hunter for one year and at Geary for five years. While at Geary, Dennis taught many successful students and made many lifelong friends.

After seven years of teaching, Dennis took a position with Farmland Industries as a livestock feed and nutrition specialist, and the couple moved to Dennis’s hometown of Okeene. At Farmland Industries, Dennis became the leading feed salesman for his tri-state territory but declined a promotion to Kansas City in order to stay close to family and to become a full-time farmer and rancher.

Dennis and Paula raised three children in Okeene: Paul, Ross, and Victoria. Their farming and ranching business grew from an initial 80-acre farm to an operation encompassing lands in Blaine, Dewey, Major, and Roger Mills counties. The operation included Dennis’s great grandfather’s homestead north of Okeene, and Paula’s grandfather’s homestead at Trail, north of Leedey, both homesteaded in 1900.

Dennis loved his family and his work. He was well respected by his neighbors and peers for his knowledge in animal husbandry. Dennis’s partnership with Paula created a real-world story of the “American dream,” secured by his timeless saying, “the harder you work the luckier you get.”

Dennis and Paula’s accomplishments in their ranching endeavors never overshadowed their role as parents and grandparents, nor their belief that education was critical for success.

Dennis was preceded in death by his father and mother, Carl Laubach and Dorothy (Osmus) Laubach, his father-in-law and mother-in-law, Paul Craig and Nina (Cates) Craig, and a brother-in-law, Billy Joe Craig.

Dennis is survived by Paula, his wife of 57 years, three children: Paul Wayne Laubach of Okeene, Ross Wayne Laubach of Leedey and Victoria Denise Laubach and her husband Carlos Urrea Morales of New York City; two grandchildren, Alex Philipp Laubach and Sophia Marie Laubach, both children of Paul; Dennis’s older brother Jerry Laubach and his wife Annette of Stillwater; his younger sister Connie McFarland and her husband Mark of Tulsa; his sisters-in-law, Saundra Strickland of Pond Creek and Janet Mathews of Elk City, and many nephews, nieces, great- nephews and great-nieces.

The family will receive friends from 6-8 p.m. at Wilkinson Mortuary in Okeene.

Funeral services will be at 10:00 a.m., Friday, August 21, at the First Baptist Church in Okeene with an interment service and burial at 1:30 p.m. at the Trail Cemetery, north of Leedey. Services are under the direction of Wilkinson Mortuary in Okeene.

Memorial donations may be sent to the Okeene Hospital Foundation, 207 East F Street, Okeene, OK  73763. At the family’s request, attendees please dress in country-western or casual attire. For more information visit www.wilkinsonmortuary.com.