EASTAR Donates Medical Supplies

SPORTS/1B
Roughers roll
Muskogee sweeps Jenks on road in basketball
ABUNDANT
SUNSHINE
Wednesday
Jan. 15, 2014
Weather/8A
muskogeephoenix.com
Generosity
remembered
Paul Springer made sure
customers
were wellfed at the
diner he operated
south of
Muskogee.
Paul James
Springer,
Springer
71, died
Sunday. He was the owner
and operator of Paul’s Diner until his death.
Vann ousts
Howard for III;
Coleman wins IV
Phoenix Staff Writer
Official gives
budget warning
With collections to Oklahoma’s general revenue
fund continuing to trail projections last month, state
agency leaders should prepare for flat or even reduced budgets next year,
Secretary of Finance Preston Doerflinger said on
Tuesday.
Judge strikes down
gay marriage ban
Two return, two
new for Council
By D.E. Smoot
Story on Page 3A
75 cents
Ward voting claimed
its first casualty Tuesday
with the unseating of an
incumbent who lost his
district vote in 2010 but
rode to victory by winning the remaining
three.
Of the three incumbents seeking re-election,
Ward III Councilor
Randy Howard was the
only one ousted from office. Ivory Vann, a community organizer who
lost a 2008 City Council
bid, beat Howard with 64
percent of the vote, 185104.
Both David Jones of
Ward I, and James Gulley, Ward II, handily won
their bids for third terms.
Jones trounced two-time
contender John Lowrimore with 87.7 percent
of the vote, 315-44. Gulley outpaced two-time
candidate
Michelle
Green, a longtime com-
Federal judge:
Prohibition
‘arbitrary,
irrational’
Unofficial
election results
From staff and wire reports
Ward I — David Jones
(i), 315, 87.7 percent;
John Lowrimore, 44, 12.3
percent.
Ward II — Michelle
Green, 91, 37 percent;
James Gulley (i), 155, 63
percent.
Ward III — Randy
Howard (i), 104, 36 percent; Ivory Vann, 185, 64
percent.
Ward IV — Marlon
Coleman, 368, 87 percent; Dean Swan, 32, 7.6
percent, Claressa VealyDyer, 23, 5.4 percent.
(See COUNCIL, 2A)
TULSA — A federal
judge on Tuesday struck
down Oklahoma’s gay marriage ban, saying it violates
the U.S. Constitution, but
immediately stayed the effects of the ruling while the
courts sort out the matter.
In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Terence Kern
criticized a law that was
approved by voters in 2004
in this conservative state
known as the buckle of the
Bible Belt. He described
the gay marriage ban as
Source: Oklahoma State
Election Board.
“an arbitrary, irrational exclusion of just one class of
Oklahoma citizens from a
governmental benefit.”
Joel Cousins, a Muskogee financial adviser, said
he is thrilled with Kern’s
decision and held out hope
U.S. Supreme Court justices “will do the right
thing” when they weigh in.
Cousins said he and his
late
partner,
Frank
Medearis, knew an amendment to the Oklahoma
Constitution approved by
voters in 2004 with 75 percent support “was unconstitutional when they
passed it.”
“The majority always
wants to keep the minority
(See GAY, 2A)
Story on Page 6A
Congress
embraces budget
EASTAR donates medical supplies
A chastened Congress is
putting aside the crisis-driven budget battles of the
past three years, embracing a $1.1 trillion spending
bill that restores or smooths
the sharpest edges of the
automatic cuts imposed as
a result of its own dysfunction.
Story on Page 8A
Police: Man
stabbed multiple
times during fight
Theater patron
shot in dispute
An altercation over texting in a movie theater left
one man dead and another
in jail. Chad Oulson was
texting his daughter’s daycare, friends said, and Curtis Reeves, a retired Tampa
police officer, got mad. Authorities said Reeves shot
and killed Oulson with a
handgun after the men exchanged words.
By Anita Reding
Phoenix Staff Writer
Story on Page 6A
N.M. boy shoots
classmates
A 12-year-old New Mexico boy drew a shotgun from
a band-instrument case
and shot and wounded two
classmates at his middle
school Tuesday morning.
5A
6B
5B
Crossword 4B
Dr. K
4B
Life
3B
Obituaries
Opinion
Records
Scores
Sports
State
4A
7A
4A
2B
1B
4A
Breaking news, updates,
the latest weather: all at
muskogeephoenix.com
The Phoenix thanks
Susan Kinney
of Muskogee
for being a subscriber.
An NHI
Newspaper
Vol. 126 — No. 13
16 Pages in Two Sections
Muskogee, Oklahoma
Printed on recycled newsprint.
Founded
Feb. 16, 1888
© 2014 NHI
Rotary to send supplies to needy worldwide
Phoenix Staff Writer
Index
Business
Classified
Comics
Staff photo by Cathy Spaulding
Muskogee Rotary Club President-elect Darrell Ward, left, and Shawn Raper load a pallet of medical supplies
on a trailer Tuesday morning. EASTAR Health System donated four pallets of supplies to the organization’s
Medical Supplies Network.
By Cathy Spaulding
Story on Page 6A
Area
man in
hospital
after
stabbing
Outdated hospital carafes could
help improve health care in developing countries, Muskogee Rotary
Club members say.
Rotary members picked up several dozen boxes of supplies from
EASTAR Health System early Tuesday morning. They loaded four pallets onto a trailer bound for Rotary’s
Medical Supplies Network warehouse in Tulsa.
The network distributes the supplies to countries around the world,
said Muskogee Rotary Club President-elect Darrell Ward. “These supplies go to underdeveloped, Third
World countries who don’t have access to medical help.”
The Muskogee club has brought
supplies to the warehouse twice
each year for the past three years,
Ward said.
For this trip, Muskogee members
brought the carafes — 32-ounce
plastic containers with markings
used to measure liquids — and
some surgical supplies the hospital
no longer needed.
“These are still good, serviceable
items,” said EASTAR Marketing Director Michael Gilpin. He said the
supplies usually are items that have
outdated model numbers or needed
upgrading.
“These are things we take for
granted,” Gilpin said, adding EASTAR is glad to help the medical supply program.
Ward said the carafes would go to
hospitals or medical clinics.
Earlier, Muskogee Rotary members had picked up a chair and
portable toilet from a woman whose
husband was going into a nursing
home, Ward said. He said Muskogee
Rotary welcomes donations of walkers, wheelchairs, old, manually
cranked hospital beds and other
items from individuals or clinics.
He said he is not sure exactly
where supplies donated Tuesday
You can help
The Muskogee Rotary Club accepts donations of medical supplies
in good condition, including wheelchairs, walkers and manual (crank)
hospital beds. Contact Darrell
Ward, (918) 441-6099 or email
[email protected].
will end up.
“Rotary District 6110 is the only
Rotary district in the world with a
medical supply warehouse,” Ward
said.
The warehouse was founded in
1993 and has since shipped more
than 200 containers of medical supplies to 180 countries, he said.
“Every week, a different Rotary
group spends a half a day inventorying at the warehouse,” he said.
Ward knows first-hand what
needs people in third-world coun(See MEDICAL, 4A)
A Hulbert man is recovering in a Muskogee hospital after being stabbed multiple times.
Arthur Gene Hair, 53,
was listed in good condition
Tuesday at EASTAR
Health System, a hospital
spokeswoman said.
Hair was stabbed at approximately 8 p.m. Monday
during a fight in the 200
block of North Third Street.
When police arrived, a witness led them to an apartment where they found
Hair on the floor.
The initial investigation
states that an altercation
took place during which the
suspect pulled out a knife
and stabbed the victim multiple times in the chest and
abdomen, said Cpl. Michael
Mahan of the Muskogee Police Department.
Mahan said the initial report didn’t state what type
of knife was used in the
stabbing. He also said police have a known suspect
in the stabbing, and they
anticipate an arrest.
A Muskogee man who
was at the apartment and
witnessed the stabbing,
William M. Chuculate, 55,
was arrested on an unrelated charge. He was booked
into the Muskogee County/City Detention Facility
on a city complaint of possession of drug paraphernalia. He was released
Tuesday, a jail spokeswoman said.
Reach Anita Reding at
(918) 684-2903 or areding
@muskogeephoenix.com.
Judge rejects minister’s claim on Oklahoma plate
Judge: Warrior
shooting arrow
skyward not
overtly religious
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)
— An image on the Oklahoma license plate of a
young Apache warrior
shooting an arrow skyward
doesn’t convey an overtly
religious message, a federal judge ruled Tuesday in
rejecting the claim of a
minister who said the image was an affront to his
Christian beliefs.
U.S. District Judge Joe
Heaton dismissed the claim
filed against the state by
Bethany pastor Keith
Cressman.
The image was inspired
by the late Chiricahua
Apache
artist
Allan
Houser’s “Sacred Rain Arrow” sculpture, but there is
nothing about it that sug-
gests to the casual observer that the man is praying
or that the arrow he is
shooting is sacred, the
judge wrote.
“Viewed by itself, all the
disputed image involves is
a depiction of a Native
American shooting a bow
and arrow,” Heaton wrote.
“There is nothing about the
image that suggests he believes in one god, no god, or
several.”
Cressman’s attorney,
Nathan Kellum of the
Memphis,
Tenn.-based
Center for Religious Expression, said he was disappointed in the judge’s ruling and that he and Cressman planned to appeal.
“Mr. Cressman does not
want to promote the ‘Sacred Rain Arrow’ image ...
on his vehicle. It matters
not whether the court
shares his objection, Mr.
Cressman should not be required to convey the state’s
message on his personal
property against his will
and conscience,” Kellmun
said in a written statement.
A spokeswoman for the
attorney general’s office,
which represented the
state, did not immediately
comment on the ruling.
Kellum has said his
client isn’t asking the state
to get rid of the roughly 2.9
million license plates on
(See PLATE, 4A)
Local/State
Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2014
Muskogee Phoenix
State finance chief warns
of flat, reduced budgets
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)
— With collections to Oklahoma’s general revenue
fund continuing to trail
projections last month,
state agency leaders
should prepare for flat or
even reduced budgets next
year, Secretary of Finance
Preston Doerflinger said on
Tuesday.
Figures released Tuesday by Doerflinger’s office
show collections to the
state’s main operating fund
for the first six months of
the fiscal year trailed the
official estimate by nearly
7 percent. Collections to
the fund also trailed those
from the same time last
year by about 1.5 percent.
“Every state agency
needs a plan for flat appropriations and a plan for reduced appropriations, as
both scenarios grow more
likely by the day,” Doerflinger said in a statement.
The general revenue
fund is the primary source
of revenue for the Legislature to spend. Although
overall collections to the
Plate
Continued from Page 1A
the road that feature the
image, only that he be given another option for his
vehicle without incurring
an additional cost.
Oklahoma has more than
200 specialty license plates
featuring such things as logos for schools and universities, wildlife, and even
one featuring the phrase
“In God We Trust,” although each requires an
additional fee ranging from
about $18 to $35 annually.
The “Sacred Rain Arrow”
image was chosen for Oklahoma’s license plate five
years ago.
Medical
Continued from Page 1A
tries face. In 2013, he spent
five weeks in Nicaragua
digging
water
wells
through a Rotary International project. He said one
thing he noticed was how
much in need people are in
such countries.
state treasury have been
improving, collections to
the fund have been declining in recent years because
of an increasing percentage of revenue dedicated
off the top for various purposes.
While Doerflinger said
agencies are expected to
make it through the current fiscal year that ends
July 1 without mandatory
cuts, lawmakers are expected to have about $170
million less to spend on
state programs for next fiscal year’s budget, prompting the warning to agency
directors.
He described next year’s
budget as “tight, but manageable.”
General revenue fund
collections for the first six
months of the current fiscal year totaled $2.6 billion, which is 1.5 percent
less than the same time
last year, and 6.7 percent
less than the official revenue estimate upon which
the appropriated state
budget is based.
Houser is recognized as
one of the foremost sculptors of the 20th Century,
and the statue was displayed at the Olympic Village during the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake
City. It features a warrior
shooting the arrow skyward as part of a ritual involving a prayer for rain.
The statue is now displayed
outside the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa.
Houser, who died in
1994, would have turned
100 this year, and his
works are being displayed
at locations across Oklahoma as part of a centennial celebration. Five monumental-sized
bronze
Houser sculptures are being installed at the state
Capitol this week.
“We waste more water in
a day brushing our teeth
than they have in a week,”
Ward said.
He said he and another
Muskogee Rotary member,
Ken Herringshaw, are to
leave Feb. 1 for another trip
to Nicaragua.
Reach Cathy Spaulding
at (918) 684-2928 or
cspaulding@muskogee
phoenix.com.
Section A, Page 4
Deaths
Death notices are pub- tah Funeral & Cremation Serlished free of charge. Paid vice.
EUFAULA — COLE, Norobituaries appear below.
man, 63, Belle Starr Marina
owner, died Saturday. SerLOCAL
vices 2 p.m. today, First BapBREWSTER, Doenye
tist Church of Wainwright,
Elaine, 80, dress shop owner, Garrett Family Funeral Home
died Jan. 5. Services 11 a.m. & Cremation Service, ChecoSaturday, Cornerstone Funer- tah.
al Home Chapel, Cornerstone
EUFAULA — HOLLOWAY,
Funeral Home and CrematoMary Frances, 80, homery.
maker, died Jan. 6. Services
BUFFINGTON, Chloe
1 p.m. Friday, Coleman
Ellen, 84, retired, died TuesCemetery, Hunn Black & Merday. Services pending, Fosritt Funeral Home & Crematoter-Petering Funeral Home.
ry, Eufaula.
COOPER, Betty R., forFORT GIBSON — ROLmerly of Muskogee, 94, reLAND, Norma M. (Cunningtired, died Sunday. Services
ham) “Momma,” 77, home11 a.m. Thursday, Greenhill
maker, died Saturday. SerCemetery, Foster-Petering
vices 2 p.m. today, First
Funeral Home.
Baptist Church, Fort Gibson,
EAKMAN, James Robert, Clifford D. Garrett Family Fu68, high school teacher, died
neral Home and Cremation
Sunday. Services pending,
Service, Fort Gibson.
Cornerstone Funeral Home
HULBERT — JACKSON,
and Crematory.
Katherine L., 77, homemakMATTHEWS, Hughie H.,
er, died Sunday. Services
87, retired welder, died Fripending, Reed-Culver of
day. Services 11 a.m. today,
Tahlequah.
Fort Gibson National CemeHULBERT — RICHMOND,
tery, Foster-Petering Funeral
Flora Ann, 86, home health
Home.
provider, died Sunday. SerROZELL, Chrysta Mae
vices 11 a.m. today, First
Sue, infant daughter of Lacy
Baptist Church, Hulbert,
Rozell, died Jan. 10. Services Hersman-Nichols Funeral
10 a.m. Friday, Three Rivers
Home, Wagoner.
Cemetery, Okay, Foster-PePARK HILL — HICKS, Jutering Funeral Home.
lia Ann, 85, homemaker, died
SPRINGER, Paul James,
Monday. Services 1 p.m.
71, Paul’s Diner owner, died
Thursday, Reed-Culver
Sunday. Services 2 p.m.
Chapel, Tahlequah, ReedThursday, Lescher-Millsap
Culver of Tahlequah.
Funeral Home Chapel,
TAHLEQUAH — HLAD,
Lescher-Millsap Funeral
Floye K., 79, Keppler Oil
Home.
Company, died Sunday. SerSWARTZBAUGH, Lucia
vices pending, Hart Funeral
George, 90, homemaker,
Home of Tahlequah.
died Sunday. Services 1 p.m.
TAHLEQUAH — LAY, Jetoday, Memorial Park Cemeremy “Sean,” 38, heavy
tery, Foster-Petering Funeral
equipment operator, died Jan.
Home.
8. Services 2 p.m. Friday,
Reed-Culver Chapel, Tahlequah, Reed-Culver of TahleAREA
quah.
CHECOTAH — WHISENTAHLEQUAH — LISENHUNT, Rosa M., 80, retired
BEE, Dorothy, 86, homeWhite Stag, died Saturday.
maker, died Tuesday. SerServices 2 p.m. today,
vices pending, Reed-Culver
Checotah Mission Outreach
Full Gospel Church, Checoof Tahlequah.
TAHLEQUAH — VANCE,
Robert L., 67, brick mason,
died Monday. Services pending, Green Country Funeral
Home, Tahlequah.
TAHLEQUAH — WORTHMAN, Roberta, 96, licensed
practical nurse, died Sunday.
Services 10 a.m. Thursday,
Green Country Funeral Home
Chapel, Tahlequah, Green
Country Funeral Home,
Tahlequah.
WAGONER — BROWN,
Thomas Lester “Toby,” 67,
CBS cameraman, died Tuesday. Services pending, Hersman-Nichols Funeral Home,
Wagoner.
WAGONER — JONES,
“Sue,” 66, retired Sequoyah
Bay State Park employee,
died Jan. 7. Services 2 p.m.
Saturday, Shipman Funeral
Home Chapel, Wagoner,
Shipman Funeral Home &
Crematory, Wagoner.
WAGONER — McGRADY,
Thomas Jr., 82, retired, died
Monday. Services pending,
Mallett Funeral Home, Wagoner.
WAGONER — RICHMOND, Dee, 63, Oklahoma
Department of Rehabilitation
Services vocational counselor, died Sunday. Services
2 p.m. Thursday, Mallett Funeral Home Chapel, Wagoner, Mallett Funeral Home,
Wagoner.
LOCAL TIES
OWASSO — HAUG, Ruth
H., 88, homemaker, died
Monday. Visitation 9 a.m. to 7
p.m. Thursday, Clifford D.
Garrett Family Funeral Home
and Cremation Service, Fort
Gibson. Services 2 p.m. Friday, Fort Gibson National
Cemetery, Clifford D. Garrett
Family Funeral Home and
Cremation Service, Fort Gibson.
SALLISAW — GOLESKI,
Jo Carroll, 70, waitress, died
Sunday. Services pending,
Agent Mallory-Martin Funeral
Home, Sallisaw.
SALLISAW — SMITH,
Kenneth Gene, 67, retired
educator, died Saturday. Services 1 p.m. Friday, Agent
Mallory-Martin Chapel, Sallisaw, Agent Mallory-Martin Funeral Home, Sallisaw.
SALLISAW — WIGERT,
William Lee, 26, cement layer, died Saturday. Services 1
p.m. Thursday, Price Chapel
Church, Sallisaw, Agent Mallory-Martin Funeral Home,
Sallisaw.
STIGLER — DeSHAZO,
Viola “Spud,” 66, homemaker, died Sunday. No services
planned, King & Shearwood
Funeral Home of Stigler.
STILWELL — ROSS, Lola
Nadean, 82, homemaker,
died Monday. Services 10
a.m. Friday, First United
Methodist Church, Hart Funeral Home of Stilwell.
TULSA — LeGATE, Joe
“Mike,” 61, international flight
attendant, died Sunday. Services 1 p.m. Friday, Shipman
Funeral Home Chapel, Wagoner, Shipman Funeral Home
& Crematory, Wagoner.
SERVICES TODAY
COLE, Norman, 2 p.m.,
First Baptist Church of Wainwright. (Garrett Family Funeral Home & Cremation Service
of Checotah)
MATTHEWS, Hughie H.,
11 a.m., Fort Gibson National
Cemetery. (Foster-Petering
Funeral Home)
RICHMOND, Flora Ann,
11 a.m., First Baptist Church,
Hulbert. (Hersman-Nichols
Funeral Home, Wagoner)
ROLLAND, Norma M.
“Momma,” 2 p.m., First Baptist Church, Fort Gibson. (Clifford D. Garrett Family Funeral
Home and Cremation Service, Fort Gibson)
SWARTZBAUGH, Lucia
George, 1 p.m., Memorial
Park Cemetery. (Foster-Petering Funeral Home)
WHISENHUNT, Rosa M., 2
p.m., Mission Outreach Full
Gospel. (Checotah Funeral
and Cremation Service)
Muskogee County District Court
This report reflects public records
in the Muskogee County District
Court at the courthouse. The reader
should keep in mind that these are
charges, and not evidence of guilt.
Dispositions of the charges are published in subsequent reports. Many
names are similar and in some
cases identical to a person not
being charged. When names are
identical, the Phoenix will publish a
disclaimer, which more completely
identifies the person being charged.
Divorce decree
Angela Ensminger vs.
David Ensminger, incompatibility.
Protective orders
Phyllis Wyvette SmithRucker vs. Patricia Rucker,
Jan. 21.
Kinsey Shanell Mullen vs.
Erik Dylan Hutchinson, Jan.
23.
Jill DeAnn Thornton vs.
Travis Lee Thornton, Jan. 23.
Civil suits
Credit Acceptance vs. Benjamin Ward, petition for judgment, $3,353.70.
Autovest vs.:
• Matias Montoya, et al.,
petition for judgment,
$11,991.
• Suzy Morris, petition for
judgment, $7,083.56.
Arrowhead Mall vs.
Melanie Harris, petition for
judgment, $7,238.79.
Tinker Federal Credit
Union vs. Gregory S. Odom,
et al., foreclosure.
Wanda Prince vs. Twyla
Patterson, petition for judgment, excess of $20,000.
Small claims
Steve Johnson, et al. vs.
Darryl Boss, et al., $545, Jan.
29.
BancFirst vs.:
• Christen M. Stockton,
$1,550.68, March 5.
• Jason Carter Crum, et al.,
$2,011.31, March 5.
• Kelli L. Jones, $1,516.26,
March 5.
• Leona M. Calderson, et
al., $935.53, March 5.
• Curtis B. Ingram,
$1,125.77, March 5.
• Wesley W. Cox,
$1,453.03, March 5.
Karen Ann Duke vs. Jan
Ross, et al., $7,500, Feb. 10.
Initial appearance
BURRIS, Anthony. Possession of controlled dangerous
substance. Sounding docket
Jan. 27. Bond same.
McDANIEL, Shanta Renea.
Child neglect. Preliminary
hearing Feb. 3. Bond
$25,000.
Acceleration
McDANIEL, Shanta Renea.
Unlawful possession of controlled drug with intent to distribute. Hearing Feb. 3. Bond
$5,000.
Obituaries
At a glance
At its regular meeting Monday, the Fort Gibson Board of
Education:
• Heard a report on the
mid-term adjustment affect
on budget.
• Approved encumbrances,
change orders, payroll, Treasurer’s Report, Activity Fund
Accounts, transfers in the Activity Fund.
• Approved submitted
fundraisers.
EXECUTIVE SESSION:
Upon return to public session the board voted to:
• Extend contract of superintendent for three years.
• Hire Kyle Anderson as an
entry level technician for the
remainder of the 2013-2014
school year.
• Approve updated online
board policy manual including all omissions recommended by the OSSBA policy
service.
• Approve hiring Nancy
Contreras as pre-kindergarten teacher assistant and
James Rowan as bus driver
for the remainder of the
2013-14 school year.
• Approve policy revisions:
Reduction in Force policy to
match current law; Leader
and Performance Evaluation
procedures; Discipline policy;
Graduation requirements.
• Discussed calendar adjustment for snow day
missed on Jan. 6.
MEXICAN
BUFFET
Catering Av l b
The items here are paid obituaries as received from Muskogeearea funeral homes.
Paul James
Springer
1942 - 2014
Funeral services for Paul
James Springer, 71, of
Muskogee, OK, will be held
at 2:00 P.M. Thursday, January 16, 2014 at LescherMillsap Funeral Home
Chapel in Muskogee with
Brother Roger Pratt officiating. Pallbearers will be
Ellis Moore,
Tommy Weston,
Roy
Moran, Zach
Hamilton,
Trenton
Thompson,
and Bobby
Moore. Honorary pallbearers will be Dale Walker,
Ron Pitman Sr, James Winters, and David “Peewee”
Richardson. Burial will be
in Greenhill Cemetery in
Muskogee.
Paul was born July 18,
1942 in Fort Smith, AR, the
son of Paul and Georgia
Springer and died Sunday,
January 12, 2014 in
Muskogee. Paul was raised
in Red Oak, OK and Oklahoma City. On July 14,
1992 he married Stella
Rhodes in Muskogee. Paul
was the owner and operator of Paul’s Diner in
Muskogee.
Survivors include his
wife, Stella of the home;
son, Ron Pitman and wife,
Andrea, of Muskogee;
daughter, Kara Applegate
and husband, Randy, of
Broken Arrow, OK; grandchildren, Ashlie White,
Chelsie Taylor, Elle Pitman,
Allison Pitman all of
Muskogee, Jimmy Springer
and Kirstyn Springer of
Oklahoma City, Julie Rodriquez of Colorado; sisterin-law, Darlene Springer of
Oklahoma City; numerous
Doenye Elaine
nieces and nephews. He
Brewster
was preceded in death by
his parents; son, Jim Bob
1933-2014
Springer; and brother, BobDoenye Elaine Brewster,
by Springer.
80, longtime resident of
Muskogee, passed away
January 5, 2014 afBetty R. Cooper Sunday,
ter a lengthy illness.
1919 – 2014
Doenye was born DecemBetty R. Cooper, 94, died ber 17, 1933 to Thomas JefSunday, January 12, 2014 ferson Webb and Mattie
at Baptist Village in Okla- Jewel (Mihoma City. She was born at nor) Webb.
home in Muskogee, Okla- She grew up
homa on February 2, 1919 and attended
to James and
Muskogee
Ruth
Public
(Spencer)
Schools and
Donnelly.
graduated
Betty lived
from Central High School
most of her
with the Class of 1952.
life
in
Shortly after graduating
Muskogee
from high school, Doenye
where she was a lifetime married the love of her life,
member of First Presbyter- Earnest “Keith Brewster”,
ian Church. In her later on June 21, 1952 in Muskoyears Betty cared for young gee. They celebrated 56
children and that was her years of marriage together.
favorite job.
Doenye was a very active
She was preceded in member of Oldham Memodeath by her parents; her rial Baptist for many years.
husband, Dennis; her two She served in many capacsons, Jimmy and Butch, ities at the Church until
who both died in their child- her declining health made
hood; and her brother, Eu- it not possible for her to
gene (Bud) Donnelly. Betty continue her service.
is survived by her sister-inHer family fondly relaw, Marjorie Donnelly; members
how
much
nephew and wife, Pat and Doenye loved cooking and
Linda Donnelly; three great baking for them. Her
nephews and their wives, grandchildren especially
two great great nieces and remember the time they
one great great nephew.
spent with her at her home.
Graveside services will be Swimming, riding their go11:00 a.m. Thursday, Janu- carts, golf carts, feeding the
ary 16, 2014 at Greenhill catfish in the pond on the
Cemetery with Rev. Ann family property were just
Brizendine officiating.
some of the activities they
Friends may wish to re- all enjoyed and remember.
member Betty by making
Doenye retired in the
memorials to First Presby- late 1990's after a longterian Church, 500 W. standing career owning
Broadway, Muskogee, OK “Doenye's Dress Shop.
Doenye's clothing store
74401.
Funeral service arrange- started at Chandler Road
ments are under the direc- Mall and then as her busition of Foster-Petering Fu- ness grew, she moved to
neral Home. Condolences Lakeland Shopping Center.
She is preceded in death
to the family may be made
at www.foster-petering.com by her parents; her brother,
Tom Webb; her sister, Betty Jeffers; and her husband, Keith Brewster.
Doenye is survived by
her sons, Ray Brewster and
wife, Carole of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Mike Brewster of Stillwater, Oklahoma; her grandchildren,
Melissa Howell and husband Kenny of Denton,
Texas, Stephen Brewster
and wife Krista of Magnolia, Texas, Sarah Roark and
husband Jamie of Colorado
Springs, Colorado, Robyn
Brewster of Edmond, Oklahoma, Natalie Brewster
of Stillwater, Oklahoma;
her great granddaughter,
Emmerson Grace Howell of
Denton, Texas; her sisterin-law, Evelyn Webb of
Muskogee, Oklahoma; her
nieces and nephews; her
special friends, Virgil and
Sherri Medley of Muskogee, Oklahoma and many
other family members and
friends.
Doenye's family would
like to express 'special
thanks' to the Nurses and
Staff of Eastgate Village
and Hometown Hospice for
the excellent care and compassion they extended
Doenye during her illness.
A celebration of Doenye's
life will be 11:00 a.m., Saturday, January 18, 2014,
at Cornerstone Funeral
Home Chapel with Reverend Tom Shelton and
Reverend Glen Little officiating.
Funeral services are under the direction of Cornerstone Funeral Home and
Crematory, 1830 North
York Street, Muskogee, Oklahoma. Condolences may
be made to the family online at www.cornerstonefunerals.com