Pauls Valley, Oklahoma — Allen Seymour Rodke of Pauls Valley was born to Benjamin Paul and Hazel Gladys (Murray) Rodke on November 13, 1939 in Pauls Valley and departed this life on March 11, 2013 at the age of 73.
Seymour’s family moved to Oklahoma in the early 1940s. During his youth, he and his father enjoyed working on scooters and cycles, which included a Ranger, a small Harley, and an Indian Chief. The Rodke family helped found Metropolitan Baptist Church in Oklahoma City.
Seymour graduated from Northeast High School in 1957. He attended Oklahoma State University and then moved to Enid, Oklahoma where he was employed by National Cash Register Corporation.
Seymour and Virginia “Gini” Mussler were married on June 30, 1963 at a Young Life Ranch in Buena Vista, Colorado by Bud Carpenter, a good friend and Young Life leader. They moved to Dayton, Ohio in 1967, the home of National Cash Register. Seymour traveled throughout the United States as a specialist on NCR computers and bank proof machines.
In 1971, the family moved to the Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas, area, where Seymour started his first company, Allied Business Machines. During the next 30 years, he purchased and sold several companies that dealt in office machines, accounting systems, computers, and computer software.
In addition to Allied, these companies included Western Data Processing, Texas Cash Register, and Rodke & Associates.
Seymour was a very involved owner of his companies and helped his friends and employees when they were in need. He enjoyed attending the Independent Cash Register Dealers Association conventions throughout the United States and meeting with all of his friends in business.
Seymour secured many successful transactions when he owned Texas Cash Register, including large sales to 7-Eleven Corporation and the Army-Air Force Exchange Service.
He received numerous sales awards, including a Cadillac, a trip to the Caribbean, and several trips to Japan and Hong Kong.
Seymour retired and relocated to Pauls Valley in 2001 to manage the family farm that had been his father’s Chickasaw Indian allotment.
The Rodke family was one of the first Chickasaw families to settle in Garvin County.
Seymour enjoyed and told many good stories about the Indians and the West. He collected Indian and Southwest art. He was a sports car and outdoor enthusiast and enjoyed hunting, camping, fishing, and hiking with his many pet dogs.
Seymour especially enjoyed traveling with Gini on trips to England, Scotland, and to Italy for their daughter’s wedding.
Traveling extensively during their retirement years, they went on some great trips, which included jeep riding on many old mining roads in Colorado. They took their grandsons with them on one of these trips in 2012. They enjoyed riding their Harley over Beartooth Pass and through Yellowstone National Park and also riding snow mobiles in Yellowstone.
Seymour planned lots of wonderful trips, including a float trip through Grand Canyon, riding jeep roads in Big Bend National Park, and exploring every part of New Mexico in their jeep and on their Harley.
Seymour had a good sense of humor that he kept with him until the end. He loved his family and friends and was good at keeping in touch with people around the country.
He especially missed his good computer and hunting buddy, Michael D. Lesieur, who passed away several years ago.
Seymour is preceded in death by his parents, Benjamin Paul and Hazel Rodke, and his son, Brian Allen Rodke.
He is survived by his wife, Virginia of the home; his daughter, Elizabeth Rodke Washburn, her husband, Kevin K. Washburn, and their sons, Colbert Evan and Ford Wallace Washburn of Chevy Chase, Md.; sister, Vera Pauline Rodke; nieces Gabrielle Garrett Wakeland, Erin Garrett Lyles, and Pamela Filipelli, and their families; and numerous cousins.
A celebration of life will be held at 1 p.m. on Friday, March 15, 2013 in the Stufflebean-Coffey Chapel of Remembrance, officiated by Reverend Mark Watson.
Interment will be at the Paoli Cemetery under the direction of Stufflebean-Coffey Funeral Home. Reverend Mark Watson will be officiating.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the United Methodist Women at First United Methodist Church and PAWS Animal Shelter in Pauls Valley.
We invite you to send a message of condolence and view the family’s guestbook at www.stufflebeanfuneralhome.com.
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