90 year old Bob Strait, veteran of D-Day, dies two months after wife’s murder at hands of savage home invader

On May 5, Tulsa World reported:

A 90-year-old man who was attacked in his home in March along with his 85-year-old wife died Friday morning, according to his family and Tulsa police.

Bob and Nancy Strait were attacked in the 3300 block of East Virgin Street late March 13 or early the next day, police said.

Bob%20and%20Nancy%20Strait%202.jpg
Bob and Nancy Strait. They were in the
wrong place at the wrong time—their home.

The Medical Examiner’s Office will determine whether his death is a result of the injuries he sustained in the attack, Officer Jason Willingham said.

If so, Tyrone Dale David Woodfork, 20, who was arrested March 15 in the attack, will be charged with an additional count of first-degree murder, Willingham said.

Tyrone%20Woodfork.jpg
Tyrone Woodfork, rapist and murderer of 85-year-old
Nancy Strait, showing his remarkable resemblance
to the son President Obama never had

Woodfork is already charged with killing Nancy Strait, who died March 15.

Strait’s daughter, Andra, said Friday night that her father’s “zeal for life” was gone after Nancy’s death. She said his condition took a turn for the worse Tuesday evening and that on Wednesday morning he asked about the state of his late wife’s grave.

After he heard that it was being kept in good condition, Andra said her father stopped speaking and eating until he died with family members by his side about 10:30 a.m. Friday.

Andra said that before the attack her father was still active for someone his age who had serious kidney problems and would even do some yard work. After the attack, she said, his demeanor changed.

“At the hospital, he was done,” she said.

She said he was released from the hospital to live with family about a week after the assault. Strait would occasionally be able to watch baseball on television, she said. But with late-stage kidney failure, a broken jaw from the attack and a broken heart from the death of his wife, she said the last days of her father’s life were difficult ones.

“He got to missing Momma,” Andra said.

Longtime friend Robert Botz agreed, noting that Bob Strait “just gave up after his wife passed.”

“It’s nothing we weren’t expecting,” Botz said.

A medical exam showed that Nancy Strait was sexually assaulted during the attack, and police found Bob Strait with a wound on his face caused by a BB gunshot, according to a police report.

Both were beaten, police said.

A 2001 Dodge Neon, 42-inch television and $200 were among the items stolen from their house, according to the report.

Neighbors described the Straits as fixtures of their neighborhood and said they often did them favors. Nancy baked for neighbors and Bob often mowed their lawns, they said.

Neighbors have established an Alert Neighbor program in response to the attack.

The Straits’ home was built in 1950 and had never been sold, Tulsa County Assessor’s records show.

Family members said the couple met on a blind date on Thanksgiving 1946 and were married within a month.

Bob Strait was in the 101st Airborne Division during World War II and took part in the D-Day invasion, according to his family.

He later worked with the Tulsa oil derrick supply company Lee C. Moore and was on the crew that built the derrick that Tulsa’s iconic Golden Driller now rests on, his family says.

Friends and family described the Straits as generous and respectful people who would go out of their way to help anyone who needed it.

Andra said that she and the rest of the family “really appreciate” the outpouring of compassion and support from the community. She said that an exact date for the funeral has not been selected yet as the family waits for the Medical Examiner’s official opinion.

- end of initial entry -


Paul K. writes:

You wrote, “Tyrone Woodfork, rapist and murderer of 85-year-old Nancy Strait, showing his remarkable resemblance to the son President Obama never had.”

Inspired by Obama’s expression of paternal identification with Trayvon Martin, I’ve started thinking of the president as “Trayvon Senior.”

LA replies:

Good one! It will enter the lexicon.


Posted by Lawrence Auster at May 10, 2012 02:23 PM | Send
    

Email entry

Email this entry to:


Your email address:


Message (optional):