Stephen Wade Arms, 71, passed away peacefully on December 4th, 2023, in his home with family by his side. He was born October 11th, 1952, in Okarche Oklahoma. He was the youngest of six children to United States Army Major, Buford Arms and Mary Kathern Peeper.
As a young boy Steve loved to ride his bike. When he was 7 and 8 years old, he had a paper route and would work on his own bike to ensure the papers were delivered. He talked about mowing the Loosen lawn and how he would have to use grass sheers to clip and edge the grass. The year that Penn Square mall opened he rode his bike all the way there. It took him all day to get there but he did it.
One Summer he built a bike at a local store. He had been working hard all summer to save up to buy it! After Months of hard work, he finally saved enough! He rushed over to the shop with money in his hand to find the bike had already been sold.
He was devastated. Shortly after that, Christmas rolled around and to his surprise his sisters Mary Ann, Susan and Vicki bought it for him.
When Natural gas came into Okarche in the early 60s, Arms plumbing was established. Buford formed the plumbing company and Steve, and his brothers David and Tom were the only plumbers in town and their job was to crawl under every house and business to plumb the natural gas in.
During his Jr high and High school years he won many wrestling matches. He was coached by Larry Davidson and was involved with the team’s first tournament victory along with his teammates Pat Mueggenborg, Rickey Howard, Tom Kroener, Lawrence Alig, Jay Themer, Rickey Jones and other team members.
TSgt Steve Arms enlisted into the United States Air Force and served two years as a Law Enforcement Specialist. He was stationed at Hanscom Base in Massachusetts before moving to the Vance Air Force Base in Oklahoma and served in the Vietnam War. Steve was honorably discharged in 1973 and was a man who wore many hats. He was an assistant parts manager at Carters Chevrolet and drove a semi-truck for them delivering trucks to Alaska, Mexico, and his favorite, the East Coast. The best years of his life were spent racing with Mark Carter. He was a crew chief for Mark Carter Racing and loved to take Tracy to the races with him. They shared a great passion for the sport together.
Steve met the love of his life, Jenny, at Loves Country store in October 1981, to this union they had a son, Tracy and later married in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 8th, 1988, where Tracy was the best man.
He worked in the oil field for Mustang Fuel, and Duke Energy along with Enron. Steve decided to go on to become owner and operator as a truck driver. He stepped into the Federal Credit Union in Oklahoma City with $1.68 in his pocket. From there he owned three different semis. But the White Peterbilt was the one he loved the most. He made sure to take different routes often so he could take his wife to antique stores and stop at every garage sale along the way. He would say “you never know what you’re going to find at one of these.” One time it took them two days to get to Dallas, he loved to take the long way there, it was called “stop and shop.”
One of his favorite things to do was to take Tracy on many road trips in the Semi. He always wanted him to travel with him and show him all of Oklahoma. When Tracys daughters, Jadyn and Adyson started school, he made sure the girls got to ride in the New Peterbilt but mostly enjoyed taking the girls to school in the El Camino.
He loved to host pool parties for everyone along with the grandkids and their friends. The girls could talk him into going anywhere; from McDonalds for “high dollar coffee” to prom dress shopping way before they were old enough to go to prom. His girls were his pride and joy. Nothing they did could disappoint him, not even when they stole his truck to go joy riding in the middle of the night.
One of the most memorable and proudest times of Steves life was connecting with his daughter Nikki and granddaughter Kandace. He loved traveling to watch Kandace play soccer as much as he could and was so proud of her. Especially when Kandace got a race car. He would always say she has a little bit of her papa in her.
During his retirement he did not like to sit at home, so he would get in his pickup truck and drive around town. He knew what was going on before anybody else did. He loved to listen to the world news and gun talk. He always had good stories to tell his wife or anybody else who would listen to him and if he thought you weren’t paying attention he would tap (slap) you on the shoulder and say “ain’t that crazy” or his most famous line “That’s no BS.” Most of his stories started with “you’re not gonna believe this” or “I bet you’ve never heard nothing like this.” He enjoyed working on his Vette while watching tv in the garage, tinkering with the pool, going to the cabin at Tiger Mountain on weekends, and spending as much time with his family as he could.
Steve never met a stranger. He was loved by so many and acquired many nicknames around town. From Harold, Harry, Buff, Pete to Crazy Steve. Everybody has a story to tell you about how wild, crazy and free spirited the man in the pickup truck with the dogs was.
Steve was always a humble man and loved with all his heart. He would always say he has lived a great life, and most people wouldn’t believe half the things he has done or seen. His motto was to “HAVE FUN.” We will all miss the longest, greatest stories and the man they came with.
He is survived by his wife Jenny Arms, son Tracy (Brittany) Arms, daughter Nikki Arms, granddaughters Jadyn Arms, Adyson Arms, Kandace Schultz, and grandson Jeff along with brothers David (Nancy) Arms, Tom (Sherri) Arms and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, sisters Mary Ann Wiewel, Susan Baustert and Vicki McHone and nephew Matt Wiewel.
A Vigil/Rosary will be held on Monday, December 11th, 2023, at 6:00 pm and the Funeral Service at 11:00 am on December 12th, 2023. Both will be held at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Okarche. Burial and Military honors to follow at Holy Trinity Catholic Cemetery.
