Funeral Services Held Thursday For OHP Trooper Killed In Crash

Before his burial in Sapulpa Thursday afternoon, friends and family gathered in Marietta to honor Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper Bill McClendon. <br/><br/>His fellow troopers say McClendon treated them

Wednesday, October 4th 2006, 12:16 pm

By: News On 6

Before his burial in Sapulpa Thursday afternoon, friends and family gathered in Marietta to honor Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper Bill McClendon.

His fellow troopers say McClendon treated them like family. Trooper Lance Schroyer said McClendon was on hand when both of Schroyer's children were born.

He said McClendon gave him a special outfit, embroidered with his own Highway Patrol badge number, for his newborn son to wear home from the hospital. "He had a smile on his face, and he pulled it out. It was a little onesee. Yeah, you'd never seen a grown man so excited. [laughing] and for a grown man to get it."

Funeral services were held at Marietta High School for McClendon.

OHP trooper Bill McClendon was killed Sunday when his patrol car collided with a tractor-trailer rig on the Turner Turnpike near Claremore. The truck driver was also killed.

Investigators say McClendon was making a U-turn to drive through a turnaround in the inside retaining wall when his car and the truck collided in the eastbound lanes of the I-44.

The funeral procession traveled from Marietta to Sapulpa for burial in Green Hill Cemetery.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol has set up a fund for trooper McClendon's three children. Donations can be made at any Spirit Bank in Tulsa.