Doris Vermell Maxey

Doris Vermell Phelps Maxey (97) died April 11, 2023. She was born to Jones Emerson Phelps and Lola Elma Ryan on October 30, 1925 in Savanna, Oklahoma. Doris and her family moved from Savanna to McAlester and later to Atoka, Oklahoma, where she graduated from high school. Doris married Wilbur Maxey in 1948 and they were married for 64 years and they had two children, Vermell and Wendell. She worked at The Department of Public Welfare, Black Sivalls & Bryson, Firestone, eventually retiring from Control Data as an executive secretary in 1986.

Doris loved to play the piano and sing. She was a charter member of the Mayfair Heights Methodist Choir since 1953. She enjoyed a good cup of coffee and playing bridge with her husband Wilbur and their Mayfair neighborhood friends. She also loved to travel, taking trips to the Rose Bowl; to Branson, Missouri; and even to Cancun with her daughter and granddaughters. Doris attended the Remington Park horse races and liked visiting the casinos with her family, particularly with her beloved daughter-in-law Linda. She was also a proud tribal member of the Choctaw Nation, a Cub Scout Leader and “Queen of Distraction” as a parent.

To know Doris was to love her. Quick to laugh, she was incredibly witty, ever ready with a funny quip. She made quite an appreciative audience for any joke, regardless of how bad or good it might be. The real standout of Doris’s vibrant and rich life is the love she shared with her family. Her many beloved grandchildren and great-grandchildren lovingly referred to her as “Nana D.” Though undoubtedly already contributing her singularly lovely voice to the heavenly choir of angels, she will be terribly missed here on earth.

She was preceded in death by parents; her husband Wilbur Maxey, her son Wendell Maxey; her brother Ralph Phelps and wife Harriet, her sister Lahoma Cavazos. She is survived by her daughter Vermell (Mel) Maxey Luetkemeyer and husband Bob, daughter-in-law, Linda Maxey; grandchildren Daniel Luetkemeyer and wife Tara, Angie Borin, Kay Laubach and husband Tim, Becky Madden and husband Jack, Shelley Garcia and husband Tony, Misty McClure and husband Kyle, Mindy Johnson and husband Shawn; great grandchildren Brooklyn, Emmie, Luci, Luke, Reese, Karly (Mathias), Keyton, Nicholas (Tiegan), Emily, Caitlyn, Kellen and Lauren; and two great great-grandchild, Eden and Lola; her sister LoAnne Childers and husband Gene, sister-in-law Roberta Maxey.

A special thanks to the Doctors and Staff at Integris Hospice House for the loving care they gave to our Nana.

Funeral Services with be held on Friday, April 14, 2023 at 10:30 AM at Epiphany of the Lord Catholic Church, 7336 W Britton Road, 73132. Burial at Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens, 8701 NW Expressway, OKC, 73162.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.chapelhill-okc.com for the Maxey family.