Mike was born on July 4, 1944, in Oklahoma City to James Franklin and Edith Helen (Semple) Truel. He graduated from Choctaw High School in 1962 and went to college at Southeastern University in Durant, OK. He then joined the United States Army in 1963. Mike was proud to be a retired Army Veteran. After his career in the Army, he went on to obtain his Master’s degree from the University of Oklahoma. Mike eventually retired in 2004 from a 17-year long career in civil service at Tinker Air Force Base.
Mike was a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and enjoyed learning about that heritage. He was a great-great-great-grandson of Chief Peter P. Pitchlynn.
He was a lover of all things with wheels. If he could ride on it or drive it, he wanted to. And more often than not, he did!
Mike is preceded in death by parents James F. and Edith H. Truel; wife Karen (Askey) Corona Truel; and sister-in-law Linda (Stearns) Truel.
He is survived by his wife Della (Ellison) Truel; daughter Angela Renee (Truel) Bergman and family; step-daughters Melanie Plunkett and Shani Bryan and families; step-son Vic Corona and family; brothers: Curt, Barry, and Patrick Truel and their families; three granddaughters; one grandson; one great-granddaughter; as well as numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, other family, and friends.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in Mike’s memory to The American Cancer Society.
