Kristian Daniel Willhight

Funeral services for Kristian Daniel “Kris” Willhight, 36, Burns Flat,  are set for 2:30 p.m. today (Tuesday) at Elk City First Baptist Church, officiated by Rev. Robert Colston.
Willhight died Thursday, Jan. 23, 2014, serving and protecting his community. He was born May 10, 1977 in Mt. Vernon, Wash., the son of Dian Louise and James Alan Willhight.
Willhight moved to Mangum with his mother in 1989 where he graduated from high school in 1996. He graduated from Western Oklahoma State College in Altus with an associate degree in criminal justice. He also graduated from the Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training program.
Willhight began working for the Oklahoma State Reformatory in Granite before beginning his career in law enforcement working for the Mangum and Granite Police Departments.
In 2010, he moved to Burns Flat and began working for the Burns Flat Police Department. He was an active member and was passionate about his work with the Mothers Against Drunk Driving program.
Willhight was a member of the Lutheran Church and Masonic Lodge of Mangum.
Survivors include his daughter, Evelyn Michelle Willhight; parents, Jim Willhight, Lebanon, Ore. and Dian Jackson and her husband, Haywood, Farmington, N.M.; five brothers and sisters, Bethanne O’Keefe and her husband, Evan, Farmington, N.M., Jamie Mills and her husband, Donald, Bloomfield, N.M., Byron Willhight and his wife, Opal, Bloomfield, N.M., Leeah Leonard and her husband, Sebastian, Farmington, N.M. and  Andrew Willhight, Bloomfield, N.M.; and his maternal grandmother, Hazel Adams, Farmington, N.M.
The family suggests memorial contributions may be made in his name at any Great Plains National Bank branch.
Burial will be at Riverside Cemetery, Mangum, under the direction of Whinery-Savage Funeral Service, in Cordell.