Arthur Leon "Ondie" Bagwell, born 5 April, 1932 in Armstrong County, Texas, passed away December 13, 2021 in Claude, Texas. He was 89 years old.  Services will be on Monday, December 20, 2021, Gruver United Methodist Church at 10:00 a.m. with Rev. Steve Chappell officiating.  Burial will follow at Gruver Cemetery.  Arrangements are by Boxwell Brothers Funeral Home in Spearman.

Anyone who knew Leon knows he was quite a character. His life unfolds not as a neat timeline, but as the many stories he always told with a wry smile, now shared through generations of his family. Stories of:   Growing up on the Bagwell family farm as the second youngest of 14 children, learning both the value of hard work and the fun of causing mischief and mayhem. Learning to race horses as a young teen on that same farm, which instilled in him a lifelong passion for the sport and no small amount of competitiveness.

Enlisting in the US Air Force to serve his country in the Korean War, being stationed in the Philippines and Japan. Along with his more traditional service, he also played baseball for the US Air Force team with several of the enlisted New York Yankees. Though, he'd tell you he was more proud of the stray chihuahua his unit adopted and named Chisana Tomodachi, which means 'small friend' in Japanese.

Graduating from Claude High School, but being sent home early from the ceremony because of both a tornado nearby and a spooked bat swooping the school principal. Graduating then from Sam Houston State University to teach agriculture in Canyon, though that graduation ceremony was significantly less eventful.

Meeting Nell Dean Bagwell née Knight in 1954 while dancing the Virginia Reel, and soon running off to Tucumcari to marry her. They raised three children together, establishing themselves permanently in Gruver around 1965, where they remained. Nell Dean and Leon were married for 58 years, until her death in 2012.

The Bagwell home in Gruver grew to hold generations of Bagwells, holding dozens if not hundreds of gatherings packed with laughter, love, competitive and wild games, and of Nell Dean's food. The home served as a de-facto center of Leon's life: Next door to the church he gladly offered prayers in for decades. Across the street from the elementary school his own children and grandchildren attended. Near the heart of the town he adored, and built his life in and around.

Leon's life story(ies) taught his family the real value of life: connection and joy, mischief and fun, discipline and duty, and pride of accomplishment. Though he will be deeply missed, his family is grateful that he and his wife are finally reunited. He had missed her so very much.

Leon was preceded in death by his wife, Nell Dean.

He is survived by three children and their spouses - Toni Atwood and her husband Phil, Terri Newsom and her husband Lynn, and Toby Bagwell and his wife Kristi - seven grandchildren and their spouses, and eleven great-grandchildren.