YUKON, OKLAHOMA -- Linda Francis (Almeida) McKown, 81, of Yukon, passed away at home Feb. 21, surrounded by family after losing a long and gallant battle to cancer. She was the wife of Roland “Buck” McKown, a native Oklahoman, who is among the survivors she leaves. They said their wedding vows on April 16, 1953 in Newport, R.I. and would have celebrated their 60th anniversary this spring. She was the second youngest of sev¬en children born Nov. 28, 1931 in Fall River, Mass. to immigrant parents, the late Manual P. and Florence M. (Powell) Almeida. Her father came from St. Michaels in the Azores and her mother from Wales. Mrs. McKown grew up in Fall River, where she graduated from B.M.C. Durfee High School in 1949. She met her husband while she was working in the United Service Organizations Inc. (USO), a nonprofit organization that offers live entertainment, programs and other services to American troops and their families. Mr. McKown was in the Navy based in Newport at the time.They moved to Somerset where they lived many years and raised three children. Besides being a homemaker, Mrs. McKown held down several full-time jobs in the Fall River area for many years, including Stop & Shop, the American Automobile Association and a local insurance agency. While her family and job kept her busy, she was also very active in her church for many years at the old St. James Episcopal Church in Fall River, where she was baptized and later at the Church of Our Savior in Somerset. In 1972, Mr. McKown, with the support of his wife, decided to returned to his roots. So the family moved to Yukon, Okla. She continued to work in the insurance field in Oklahoma City, as she had for much of her life in Fall River. Settling into the Sooner State deepened Mrs. McKown’s faith. She worshiped regularly at the New Life Church and the Victory Christian Center. In 1981, Mrs. McKown made what she would look back on as the best trip of her lifetime, a personal pilgrimage to Israel to see the Holy Land. Over the years, she continued to make trips to the Fall River area, to visit family and friends and especially to worship with them in churches of various denominations. Mrs. McKown worked as a volunteer church cleaner for the Womens Guild. She was active in various good will projects, including Meals on Wheels. Her faith and prayer became the centerpiece of her life and she often stood as a pillar of love, strength and support in times of tragedy for family and friends. She would oc¬casionally back her faith by placing a blank personal check in an offering plate at church or at a Saturday dinner where a guest speaker gave testimony to his or her faith. When asked about it by a house guest one time, she responded that she could afford “anything for the Lord.” Often times while having breakfast in a restaurant after a Sunday church service, Mrs. McKown would lead a prayer for somebody she knew with a special need. One time it was for a nephew from Massachusetts, who had lost his newspaper job in Williamsburg, Va. The nephew traveled west to visit his aunt and stayed at her Yukon home for a month. On the morning that the nephew joined Mrs. Mckown and her church friends in a local pancake house, she instructed everyone at the table to lay hands on him. The group prayed for him to find a new job in his profession. The next day, the nephew was offered a job in Odessa, Tex. A few days later, he received his income tax return check from the IRS and headed to Texas to begin his new job. Mrs. McKown was the mother of the late Scott R. McKown; and the sister of the late Shirley (Almeida) Presten, Beverly Almeida, Joseph P. Almeida, Albert J. Almeida and Marie L. (Almeida) Vogler. Besides her husband, she is survived by a daughter, Shawn Lynne McKown-Wyer of Yukon; a son, Brett Michael McKown and wife Judy, of Piedmont , OK ; a brother, Kenneth C. Almeida of Rehoborth, Mass.; a sister-in-law, Betty Almeida, of Somerset, Mass.; grandchildren, Stacey Shea Webb and wife Jamie of Mustang, Okla,, Nichole Wyer Jett and hus-band Philip Jett, of Yukon, Mindy Wyer of Yukon, Angelique McKown, Lacey McKown;Brittany Chavez and great grandchildren, Desmend Wyer, Majaya Powell, Aidric Wyer, Serena Shea Webb, Sierra Shyian Webb and Wyatt Wesley Webb, all from Oklahoma. The Guardian Funeral Homes West Chapel, 5820 North West 41st St., Warr Acres, Oklahoma (405-495-9292) is handling the arrangements. A graveside service is set for 2 p.m. Wednesday in Cummings Cemetery Maud in Pottawatomie County, where she will join her late son Scott who died in a tragic accident at the age of 21. Her faith never waned. Contributions may be made in memory of Mrs. McKown to any charity in the fight against cancer.
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