Woodward, Oklahoma - Joe Cheap, 85 year old long time Woodward business owner, passed away Wednesday, September 4, 2024 at his home in Woodward. Funeral services will be held at 2:00 pm Monday, September 9, 2024 at the First Methodist Church. Interment will follow in Elmwood Cemetery. Arrangements under the direction of the Billings Funeral Home.

Joe Max Cheap was born in Buffalo, Oklahoma to George Max Cheap and Juanita (Voris) Cheap. As the youngest child, Joe had 3 older sisters, Maxine, Bernita and Mary Ann, and an older brother Wilber. Joe's father owned one of the first gasoline stations established in northwest Oklahoma and also farmed some land in and around Buffalo, so Joe grew up knowing how to drive a tractor to work the land and how to work a gasoline pump at his dad's Champlin gas station. Even though Joe was always busy helping his Dad, he also found time to participate in all of the sports that Buffalo's schools had to offer. He was a good athlete in all sports, but he was a standout athlete in football, particularly during his high school years. He was the state scoring leader in all classes for the state of Oklahoma in 1956, earning All-State honors for the 1956-57 season. His monumental senior season led to a full scholarship offer at the University of Tulsa, where he signed a letter of intent for a full athletic scholarship playing football for the Golden Hurricane from 1957 to 1961. He held the record for the longest punt return in school history at the University of Tulsa for decades. He received the President's Award for the Most Congenial Player at the University of Tulsa due to his friendliness towards everyone, which would surprise no one that ever met him.

Although he had great athletic success for Buffalo High School, his greatest achievement was in earning the attention and affection of the love of his life - Lanus Prophet. They had known each other since childhood but started dating in high school. Joe and Lanus were married in Buffalo, Oklahoma on August 8, 1959. After graduating from the University of Tulsa, Joe and his wife and young family made a few coaching and teaching stops, moving westward across Oklahoma beginning in Shidler, OK, then on to Freedom and Laverne before buying Roberts Brothers Sporting Goods on the corner of 19th and Main Street in Woodward in late 1969. Joe Cheap's Sporting Goods opened for business in January 1970. Joe was a nearly constant presence in the store; greeting and helping customers 6 days a week, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Joe and Lanus as a team ran the successful business for nearly 42 years. Countless people have told Joe's family members stories of how much of an impact Joe had on their lives, whether it was from a free pair of football or basketball shoes or track spikes that he gave them when they didn't have enough money to pay, coaching advice, or just being a sympathetic listener when they needed someone to talk to.

Joe and Lanus raised four children in Woodward: Jeff, Scott, JoLyn and Chad - to which the loving parents sacrificed all of their lives to make sure that they were happy, healthy and had absolutely everything that they needed to be successful in life. Joe never really had hobbies in his life, other than occasionally raising a few cows (and for a few years, even emus) on his land south of Woodward, because all of his spare time was spent with his wife and children. Although running the sports store took a tremendous amount of work, Joe always found time to coach local sports teams at Kid's Inc., especially if he was able to coach his own kids in football and summer AAU (later TAC) track meets. He also scouted opposing football teams for Woodward Boomers and sometimes even Sharon-Mutual football at various times over the years. His greatest joy in life, in addition to his children when they were behaving themselves, were his grandchildren - Max, Sam and Ben Cheap, and Luke and Allie Meeker.

Joe was preceded in death by his son, Scott Alan Cheap, his parents George and Juanita Cheap, his parents-in-law Al and Margaret Prophet, his sister Bernita Johnson and her husband Roy Johnson, his sister Mary Ann Crawford, his brother Wilber and his wife Zona Cheap, and his brother-in-law Marvin McNaughton.

Joe is survived by his wife, Lanus Cheap of the home, his children Jeff Cheap, JoLyn Meeker and her husband Kent Meeker of Blanchard, OK, Chad Cheap and his wife Danica of Woodward, grandchildren Max, Sam and Ben Cheap, Luke and Allie Meeker, and Jaydan and Payten Koch, his sister Maxine McNaughton of Enid, and his brother-in-law James Crawford of Yukon along with many nieces and nephews.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Woodward Boomer Booster Club in Honor of the Scott Cheap Memorial Scholarship Fund, with the funeral home accepting the contributions.

Remembrances may be shared online at www.billingsfuneralhomewoodward.com