Anna Belle Lane

On July 24, 1934, Anna Belle Coffman was born in a small cinderblock home in Oklahoma City to her mother Mabel Mae (Norvell) Coffman and her father James “Shorty” Edgar Coffman. She was their fourth child, and the first to survive infancy. She lived to the age of 92, before she was taken home to heaven on September 29, 2026, by her Lord and Savior, Jesus.

As the family grew, Anna became big sister to three brothers, Jimmy, Luther, and Patrick and one sister, Shirley. Unfortunately, meningitis would take Patrick from them before he was even two years old.

Anna’s “Daddy” was an Oklahoma City fireman and “Mama” was a housewife. For a while they rented a home behind a small general store ran by his stepfather, Mr. Hill, and his mother whom Anna called “Grandma Hill”. The Coffman’s lived a modest but full life that included vegetable gardening in the spring and summer, canned vegetables through the year, catfish caught by her daddy and brothers, and slept under handmade quilts. Anna and Jimmy would get to accompany Mr. Hill to the wholesale market at the stockyards to supply his general store. She said he would hang on tight to their hands and would reward them each with a sack of candy for their good behavior.

Anna attended Oklahoma City Public Schools and graduated from Capitol Hill High School in 1952. During high school, she was in the school chorus and the Red Cross. She took typing, shorthand, and other clerical classes and her parents bought her a typewriter to practice at home. It was a good thing she did so well in her clerical classes, since her dream of a career as a flight attendant was dashed by her lack of height.

Instead, Anna started her clerical career one week after graduation as a file clerk with an insurance company where she made eighty dollars a month. Later, she became secretary to the owner of The Leo Maxwell Furniture Company. She enjoyed special projects there including the selection of bedroom furniture the company donated to the Oklahoma Baptist Children’s Home. She lived at home with her family before she married and used her extra income to treat them to occasional take-out meals and to take her much younger sister Shirley clothes shopping.

Before she married, she obtained a unit clerk position at the Oklahoma City VA hospital. During slow times on the unit, she would review patient charts to teach herself medical record formatting and medical terminology. Thanks to her initiative and excellent typing skills, she transferred to the VA medical records department and became a medical transcriptionist. She was promoted to the position of medical transcription supervisor at the VA and later held the same position at the Tinker Air Force Base Hospital, which was her last federal position. Anna received several meritorious service awards before retiring after 32 years. She was proud when presented with a flag that the office of U.S. Senator Don Nickles flew over the U.S. Capitol in honor of her retirement.

While medical transcription was her profession, her heart was for her family.

In 1956, Anna married Fred R. Lane after meeting him earlier that year at a root beer stand when out for the evening with a group of friends. They raised five children together, before divorcing after 22 years of marriage.

She loved putting on their birthday parties, making Halloween costumes, doing Christmas baking, decorating, and gift shopping and wrapping. Every Saturday, she baked while she had the kids help clean house. She attended PTA meetings and made cakes for school fundraisers. She also served as leader of Robert’s Cub Scout troop, led the girl’s Blue Bird Troop, and attended Scott’s scout activities. Her fried chicken, pot roast, and lasagna were family favorites. Her kids loved her chocolate chip and her peanut butter cookies and their choice of birthday cake.

Anna joined Witcher Baptist Church in the early eighties where she, Scott, and Linda were baptized. Later she attended First Baptist Church in Edmond.

As her children went to college, she welcomed them home for holidays and summer breaks, and always welcomed their friends, dates, and eventually their spouses.

Anna looked forward to welcoming grandchildren and chose to be called Nanna instead of grandma. She was overjoyed when each of her fifteen grandchildren joined the family and again when she welcomed each of her twenty-one great grandchildren. Nanna deeply mourned the loss of Lana Marie who passed away in infancy.

Nanna enjoyed babysitting her grandchildren, taking them out for their birthdays, and attending their ball games, recitals, and school and church programs. Whether in large gatherings, small groups, or one-on-one, Nanna loved being with her family. She was always interested in the books they read, subjects they were learning, and their activities. With such a large family, Nanna’s Annual Christmas Party got moved from a family home to an outside venue featuring fun food, board games, and gift exchanges, a gathering which will continue each year in her memory.

Anna enjoyed “coffee that could walk”, a soft nightgown and a warm fire, gardening until the weather got hot, yellow roses, and was an avid OU fan. She loved nostalgic movies and shows. Many of her grandkids and great grandkids have memories of watching Pride and Prejudice (with Colin Firth), Meet Me in St. Louis, and House Without a Christmas Tree, with their Nanna.

Preceding her in death were three infant sisters, her father James Edgar Coffman, mother Mabel Mae (Norvell) Coffman, brothers Luther, James, and Patrick Coffman, and granddaughter Lana Marie Hickman.

Anna’s survivors include her sister Shirley Hayer and her husband Larry; her children Robert Lane and his wife Darla, Patricia Lane, Susan Henderson, Linda Hickman, and Scott Lane and wife Keri. She is also survived by her grandchildren, their spouses, and greatgrandchildren: Meredith Rathbone and husband Brian and children Kate and Lane; Morgan Lane; Hilary Perry and husband Eddie and children Evelyn and Olive; Aly Wyatt and husband John and children Betty, Stan, George, Buck, Gladys, Elsi, and Ned; Lauren Thapa and husband Kushal and children Neel and Avi; Laura Pryor and husband Ian and children Arthur and Lila; Kristen Humphrey and husband Chris and children Scott, Sammy, Ruthi, Lydia, Hattie, and Henry; Michael Lane; Andrew Hickman and wife Hope; Joel Lane and wife Sarah; and Kyle, Conner, Thomas, and Josi Lane; and her nieces Melissa Hayer and Sheri Hayer.

The family is deeply grateful to each of the staff of Tessa’s Landing (Tessa Gregg, Tiffany Jeffries, Bobbi Thomas, Francis Robertson, and Caress Fuller) and the staff of Centric Hospice (Whitney Ezell, Cynthia Bland, Jessica Martinez, Chelsea Sursa, Misty Bollman, and Stephen Robinson) for the professional and loving manner in which they provided care to Anna.

On reflecting on Mom’s life, we are thankful for her ability to work full time while fully engaging in our lives. We appreciate having been taught the importance of relying on each other in both good and difficult times.

Though her declining health made her later years challenging, Anna felt blessed to have never broken a bone and to have kept an intact mind to her last days. In summary, Anna was thankful to God for her many blessings, for each member of her family, and especially for the gift of salvation through Jesus.

Celebration of Life Service

Anna Belle (Coffman) Lane

Baggerley Funeral Home

930 South Broadway, Edmond, OK 73034

Friday, October 9, 2026

10:30 a.m.

Serving as honorary pallbearers are Anna’s grandsons:

Michael, Joel, Kyle, Conner, and Thomas Lane and Andrew Hickman.

A special thank you to Rev. David Hodges for his support and assistance to the family.

For those wishing to make a charitable donation in Anna’s memory, the family recommends The Children’s Miracle Network (cmn.org), also in memory of Anna’s granddaughter Lana Marie Hickman.