Gleta Gayle Elmore

Gleta Gayle Elmore, longtime area resident, went home to her Heavenly Father on Tuesday. Gleta Gayle Elmore was born the daughter of Lorenza Dee and Leah Fern (Hopkins) Leffingwell on Sept. 29, 1931, in Neodesha, KS. She was raised in the area graduating from Elk City High School in 1949. Gleta married her high school sweetheart Stanley Grant Elmore on Feb. 2, 1949, and they made their home in Elk City before moving to Dewey in 1958. Gleta was an entrepreneur and an agent for Sarah Coventry Jewelry. In the late ’60s she started Bluestem Day Care and ran the business for the next 10 years. Gleta was a teacher at heart and made sure her day care kids were prepared to succeed when entering kindergarten. Gleta went on to a successful career in real estate which she enjoyed very much. Gleta raised her family to love the arts and cherish each other. Weekends were perfect opportunities for visiting family and Saturday projects included arts and crafts which her daughters still enjoy doing today. Music and singing together often filled the family home. Gleta loved the Lord and shared her talents by helping at Sunday School and the after-school program the Dewey United Methodist Church provided for the community. Outside of church she spent countless hours volunteering with the Salvation Army. Gleta and Stanley enjoyed their time together in retirement, taking many memorable day trips and Stanley’s many fishing trips. They loved to watch Thunder basketball on TV and were enthusiastic fans. They shared more than 68 years of life and countless previous memories together. Gleta is survived by her loving husband Stanley of the home; four daughters, Cheryl Pratt and Michael of Guthrie, OK, Becky Pratt and Tony of Temple City, CA, Ginny Bourke and Steve of Oklahoma City, and Mary Elmore of Bartlesville; one brother Larry Leffingwell and Janet of Houston; one sister Gayle Young of Tulsa; and seven grandchildren, Nichole Elmore, Sterling Pratt and Kenzie, Clara Sexton and Greg, Mitchell Pratt, Carla Bourke, Casey Bourke and Hillary Thornton. She is preceded in death by her parents, two sons, George David Elmore in 1976 and Danny Grant Elmore in 1997, her step mother Margaret Leffingwell, her brother Danny Leffingwell and her sister Jacqueline Hotelling. Gleta’s family will receive friends at the Davis Family Funeral Home, 918-534-3030, 113 S. Osage (Hwy. 75), Dewey, on Thursday, May 18, from 6-8 p.m. In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to the The Salvation Army Auxillary, 101 N. Bucy Ave, Bartlesville, Oklahoma 74003. Funeral services will be held 10 a.m. on Friday, May 19, at the Dewey United Methodist Church, with Rev. Dale Durnell officiating. Interment will follow in the Dewey Cemetery. Services are under the direction of Carter Davis and the Davis Family Funeral Home. Online condolences and remembrances may be shared with Gleta’s family at www.DavisFamilyFuneralHome.com.

Gleta Gayle Elmore

September 29, 1931 - May 16, 2017