Roosevelt News
-- East Coast Edition –
-- Printed in Loving Memory of
Wanda J. Jackson 1934 - 2011 –
Editors:
Carolyn Niebruegge May Michael
L. May
From the Editor
Welcome to the first “Roosevelt News -- East Coast
Edition!” Please don’t judge our future
performance (good or bad) on this first edition. It is a “hurry up and get it out” edition. The real editor (Carolyn) made it clear to me
that we “have to put something on the street soon”--people are expecting
it. So here goes. First of all we both need to thank all of the
great people who now or at one time called Roosevelt, Oklahoma,
their home for all your encouragement and assistance in helping us to get
together a good database of current e-mail addresses that we can build
upon. Secondly, don’t be confused over
the brains behind this endeavor. It’s
not me, it’s Carolyn. She has put in
countless hours working to “make this thing happen.” Even though she graduated from Snyder, from
the work she has poured into this, I wouldn’t be shocked to find a small Rough
Rider tattoo conspicuously placed in some obscure location on her body. I’ll check and let you know. I seriously thank her from the bottom of my
heart for helping to see that I am able to fulfill Wanda’s wish that the
“Roosevelt News” would live on. However,
without you and your support and assistance Wanda’s dream will fail. You must send us stories, comments, updates
on your family, news that you have of another present or former Roosevelt resident that needs to be shared. We can and will find local obituaries to
publish, but, again must depend on you for those out of the area. All information received will be subject to
our editing and determination as to it’s appropriateness for printing
(remember, this is a “G” rated paper). I
am confident that as much interest as we have seen in “bringing the paper back”
we’ll get the assistance we need. We
hope you enjoy our efforts!
Michael L. May (mlm)
A Belated Tribute to
Wanda J. Jackson
I think it would be totally wrong to start this project that
I know Wanda thought I would take on without relaying a few things about her
that you may or may not know. First of
all, I don’t think I should waste my time telling you that she was a little
“SPECIAL” because you know that already.
Wanda’s “little world” in Kiowa
County was enriched and
driven by the things she could do for her community. She had several “pet” areas of interest --
the Roosevelt News, the MyFamily.com web site, the High School Reunion, the
alumni in general, the Roosevelt Cemetery, Picture Trail, Find A Grave, and
chatting with the “passers by” at Sunny’s every morning as she had her regular
-- biscuit with gravy and jelly (never understood the jelly and gravy on the
same biscuit). All of these interests
played a major role in her life and in my opinion, extended her life many years
beyond what it could have been. Wanda
was “driven” to achieve and excel. She
liked to play herself down as being just a girl from the country, but for those
who knew her well, she was nothing short of brilliant and made every effort to
see that everything she did was done only one way, correctly. She always kept me on my toes and never
failed, when given an opportunity to correct my grammar, whether written or
spoken. Wanda didn’t miss much. Her wit was quick and her eye sight sharp. She was one of the most passionate people I
have ever known and I feel truly blessed to have been able to call her my
friend. I made every attempt to enjoy
her company at Sunny’s once or twice a day when I got back to Oklahoma.
Most every person who passed through the door stopped for a quick
word. If they didn’t stop, she stopped
them. As I look back, I know that she
started preparing me for this job quite some time ago. Each trip to Oklahoma garnered more pieces of Wanda’s
“little treasures” that she had compiled over time. They ranged from pictures, to writings, to
mere musings, to pertinent history of the Roosevelt
community, Roosevelt Schools, and all of those who attended class there. All I needed for her “offering” to be
complete was her latest copy of the Roosevelt News contact list. The one I ended up with is at least two or
three years old. Fortunately, through
the excellent work of my dear wife, Carolyn, and with the assistance of many
present and former residents of the Roosevelt
community, we are well on our way to getting it up-to-date.
Now let me tell you something that you may not know about
Wanda. For all the wonderful things
Wanda did for the alumni and the community, in my opinion, her final
contribution will live on the longest.
On a phone call over 4 years ago I mentioned to her about an
international database called Find A Grave (http://www.findagrave.com/) that housed
information on over 64 million burials worldwide. This database is used extensively by persons
heavily into genealogy. It is one of the
best sources of genealogical information.
This excited Wanda immensely. You
probably know that she worked with local Vo Tech students to photograph and
publish in Picture Trail (http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/listing/user/rooseveltcemetery),
on the internet, all of the markers in the Roosevelt Cemetery. I sensed that Find A
Grave would become a “Mission”
for her. It did. In the last 3 years and 7 months of her life,
she documented and registered 4,574 burials in Find A
Grave. They were from several local
cemeteries and included the entire roll from the Roosevelt Cemetery. Most of these included pictures of the
markers and complete obituaries (if she could get access to them). This is an amazing accomplishment! On my next visit with her after informing her
of the Find A Grave site, it became obvious from the passion I saw in her eyes
that this might possibly be her last major project. I told her at that time, “Wanda Jackson, Find A Grave
will become your legacy.” I firmly
believe it is. Her contribution there
will last throughout the ages.
My last year with Wanda lacked the excitement of earlier
times as her illness was starting to take its toll on her frail little
body. Her eyes still sparkled, but she
just didn’t have the energy to make those “two or three times a day” visits to
Sunny’s. Our visits were confined to her
home--less talk and more of her “treasures” being passed my way. I knew that time was short and accepted that
Wanda just wasn’t up to “doing it” much longer.
On January 13, 2011, this wonderful lady left this earth leaving behind
many friends and memories.
PS Alums, in case you
weren’t aware, Wanda was not a Roosevelt
graduate although she did teach school there.
She graduated from Snyder
High School in 1952.
mlm
HOT AND DRY!!!
As most of you have read or heard on the news, the weather
conditions in southwest Oklahoma
could hardly be worse. Very little rain
has fallen since October, 2010. The lack
of moisture brought a very meager wheat crop.
The first 7 months of 2011 has brought no relief. So farmers are still suffering with no
moisture to bring up fall crops.
Ranchers are faced with no grass and ponds virtually dry so many are having to sell their cattle. The water supply for the cities and towns is
getting low and voluntary water rationing is in force in most places. Without rain soon, the situation will be even
more dire. The
many consecutive days of temperatures considerably over 100 makes the situation
even worse. This hot, dry weather
affects everyone, not just farmers. All
businesses suffer when farm crops fail.
Let us all pray that relief will soon come to those all over the USA
who are suffering from these weather conditions.
Thoughts from the
Squirrel Lair
- I've learned that:
Just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them
to doesn't mean they don't love you with all they have. Author: Unknown
- Be thinking about an appropriate, long term means to honor
Wanda for all she’s done for the Roosevelt
community. Send ideas to us or bring
them to the reunion.
Roosevelt High School Reunion 2011
Watch this space for news on the upcoming Roosevelt High
School Reunion which will be September 30 and October 1. We will be bringing you updates on the plans
for the Reunion. In addition, we will include a list of all of
those who have sent in their registrations to attend. Watch to see who of your classmates/friends
plan to attend and encourage those who are not on the list to come. The more the merrier!!
Birthdays and
Anniversaries
We have compiled all of the birthday and anniversary
information we could from Wanda’s files.
We are sure we are missing some.
Please send us the birthdays and anniversaries for your family and
friends so that we can have a list as complete as possible. We are going to start with what we have from
Wanda’s files so if we miss you, please send us the information so we have it
for the news next year. In addition,
should any of the birthdays we list be wrong, also please let us know.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO:
July 21 – Ruby Fern Johnson
July 22 – Carol Hawkins Cooper
July 22 – Carly Michelle Webb
July 26 – Robert Glen Harmon
July 26 – Tucker Johnson
July 28 – Chris Pena
July 28 – LaDonna Turner
July 28 – Gilbert Alonzo
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO:
July 28 – Will & Christel Funkhouser
July 28 – Bruce & Diane (Stafford)
Yandell
From the Email “Bag”
July 11, 2011
I have only one e-mail address, and it is the one you have
used to send me this message. Thank you so much for doing so; however, I
will be unable to attend the reunion. I am in an assistant living
facility in Tennessee.
I'm here because my younger son and wife live here. He is a professor at Lipscomb University located here.
Thanks again.
Ruby Fern Johnson
rubyfernjohnson@gmail.com
7/17/2011
Mike,
Thanks for taking on this task of
keeping the Roosevelt News ongoing. It is wonderful that someone will
volunteer to do this at this time for so many others who will benefit.
Wanda did a wonderful job and she
certainly will be missed.
Kaye Sheets Jackson and I, Eric C.
Jackson, live in Kampala, Uganda where we are the Mission President's over
the countries of Uganda, Rwanda, Sudan,
Ethiopia, Djibouti and Eritrea all countries located in
the North Eastern Quadrant of Africa. We
have lived in Africa now for over four years
and we love to receive the Roosevelt Newspaper and hear about all our old
friends and associates. We plan to serve
for about two more years or so then we will return home for a rest period and
some attention to our children and grandchildren (20). We will certainly want to come to the reunion
at that point and see all our friends.
We thank you and the others who
keep this information flowing from person to person so we all can keep
up with and somewhat stay connected to each other. Say thanks to all those from the area who
write to us from time to time to let us know how they are each doing. We love
those personal letters and emails.
If you have any costs associated
with this work we would be more than happy and willing to contribute to a fund
that would keep the expenses away from your pocket books. That is the least we could do to make it easier
for you to help all the rest of the Roosevelt
people.
We send our love and affections to
all our friends tonight from Kampala.
We just returned home from Juba, Sudan, where it was 115 degrees each day so it
felt a little like western Oklahoma
in the summer time.
Eric and Kaye
Jackson
Class
1962
ecjmkj@aol.com
7/17/2011
Hello Mike:
Yes, I have missed the weekly emails from Wanda with the
latest happenings of the Roosevelt community.
So nice of you to carry on that correspondence to all of us who have left the area.
My husband and I are currently living in Stuttgart,
Germany, but still have our
home base in Yukon,
Ok. We have been in Germany
since the summer of 2008 and have loved every minute of it. Germany is a beautiful country and
should be on everyone's "must visit" list. We have been fortunate
enough to travel to several other European and Northern African
countries and experience the difference in cultures of each country. It has
been an incredible experience for this small town Oklahoma girl!!
Our blended family includes 4 sons, 1 daughter and 10
grandchildren. All but one of our children lives in or around the Yukon area. Only our
oldest son lives in the Chicago
area and has 4 of our grandchildren there. Needless to say, we have
a lot of catching up to do when we return home for visits.
I am hoping to attend the reunion this year; it sounds like
there will be many folks there and much visiting with classmates and friends.
Kathy (Boyd) Cacini
Class of 1968
kcacini@yahoo.com
Please send us your updates so that we have lots of Email “Bag” news to share.
Obituaries
We are listing below those from the Roosevelt
area who we know have passed on since Wanda last put out news. We know we don’t have a complete list, so if
you have lost a family member or friend from Roosevelt or one with connections
to the Roosevelt area, please send us the information so that we can print in
future editions. We have included a link
to the complete obituary where possible.
Wanda Jackson,
http://www.memorialsolutions.com/sitemaker/sites/becker0/obit.cgi?user=304091Jackson
Wendell Johnson (Class of 1955)
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/tucson/obituary.aspx?n=thomas-johnson-wendell&pid=148623712
Jerry Brown (Class of 1963)
http://rayandmarthas.com/CurrentObituary.aspx?did=11643c10-e210-4c55-ada8-e993aa7ebcf9
Bernice Files
http://www.rayandmarthas.com/CurrentObituary.aspx?did=75236d33-e783-4b0f-8e5a-41f52abd99e6
Arless Ray Orr (Class of 1963)
http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/deer_park/obituaries/article_b0a578f5-1cbf-5a18-b831-21abaf7f7dca.html
Johnnie Sears
http://rayandmarthas.com/PastObituary.aspx?did=b90b2d98-ea84-44ec-bdc9-6d266020e657
Johnie Kay (Muldowney) Holliday (Class of 1965)
http://rayandmarthas.com/PastObituary.aspx?did=45e5cd36-c436-47a0-a329-6b7c368fbd98
John Brett Cooper
http://rayandmarthas.com/CurrentObituary.aspx?did=96032a8c-c9a4-434b-8dd7-c7492c206c44
Nancy Elaine Barnes
http://rayandmarthas.com/CurrentObituary.aspx?did=d9facaa3-9d95-494f-9ace-36729e59f232
Useful Links:
Becker Funeral Home of Snyder, OK
http://www.beckerfuneral.com/?page=snyder
Ray and Martha’s Funeral Home of Hobart, Mt. View,
and Carnegie, OK
http://rayandmarthas.com/
Roosevelt
Cemetery Layout
http://www.234enterprises.com/Roosevelt%20Cemetery%20Layout.htm
Roosevelt
Cemetery Markers (Picture
Trail)
http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/listing/user/rooseveltcemetery
Roosevelt
Cemetery on Find A Grave
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=99397&CScn=roosevelt&CScntry=4&CSst=38
Hobart
Rose Cemetery
on Find A Grave
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=99399&CScn=Hobart+Rose&CScntry=4&CSst=38
Hobart
Resurrection (Catholic) Cemetery on Find A Grave
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=2246374&CScn=Resurrection&CScntry=4&CSst=38
Mountain Park Cemetery on Find A Grave
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=99042&CScn=Mountain+Park&CScntry=4&CSst=38
Snyder Fairlawn Cemetery on Find A Grave
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=98391&CScn=fairlawn&CScntry=4&CSst=38
Email Addresses
This newsletter is an email edition. The only way for you to receive it and keep
up-to-date with your friends from Roosevelt is
for you to keep us informed of changes to your email address. So please be sure to notify us at mmay@234enterprises.com should your
email address change. We also encourage
you to send us email addresses for friends and family who might also like to
receive the newsletter so that we can include them on our list.
Feedback
We welcome your comments and feedback on our first issue of
the Roosevelt News, East Coast Edition. mmay@234enterprises.com